Blue Rock Systems

Intact Acquire Blue Rock Systems

Charlotte Orchard — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 10:42:43 +0000

Intact, the Hemel Hempstead-based provider of software and technology solutions to the merchant and distribution sector, has acquired a UK-based software house, Blue Rock Systems.

The Southampton business has been reselling, implementing and supporting Intact ERP systems (enterprise resource planning) for over 16 years.

The announcement was made by Intact CEO, Justin Lawless, today (20th of June 2022), who said that the move will strengthen Intact’s market share across the target verticals in which it operates and will bolster the company’s talent pool to support ambitious growth plans for Ireland, the UK and global markets.

“The acquisition of Blue Rock Systems is part of Intact’s strategy to become the leading provider of ERP and business software solutions in the merchant and distribution sector.

“This important development adds to our strong customer base and involves a team of highly skilled individuals, with deep software industry expertise, who will enhance customer service and support our growth plans.”

Intact’s historic profits facilitated the self-funded multi-million-pound acquisition, without the requirement for outside investment.

Blue Rock Systems’ full team has been retained as part of the acquisition deal, which will see Intact employee numbers increase from 200 to 243 staff across Ireland and the UK.

The UK company recorded robust revenue and profit growth in recent years, aligned with excellent customer and employee retention rates, Justin Lawless adds.

“Blue Rock Systems grew revenue 30% last year, returning double digit profit growth. Its 43 staff and senior management are all vastly experienced in the software industry and, working collaboratively as part of Intact, will add immense value to our product and service offering.”

The UK software business was formed in March 2005 by Managing Director, George Troullis, Sales Director, Glen Jewell, and Lance Norton, the company Commercial Director.

George Troullis will oversee the business incorporation, complementing the Intact senior leadership team. This will facilitate collaborative integration of the company’s people, processes, systems and cultures, ensuring a seamless transition to Intact for more than 150 customers of BRS UK.

Blue Rock Systems already implement and support Intact developed systems across a network of UK trade customers. They have also successfully developed complementary products including e-commerce, POD scanning and on-line auctioning, to expand the solution on offer. The company specialises in the same target verticals as Intact, primarily merchants and distribution.

In February this year, Intact invested in a new, expanded state-of-the-art UK headquarters in Hemel Hempstead, in the Greater London area.

Blue Rock is Intact’s second software business acquisition in England. In 2016 the software company acquired Ramtac, another of its UK VAR partners, (value added resellers), which has facilitated market expansion.

Intact’s annual turnover, currently in the region of €17 million, has grown over 500% in the last ten years, with more than 60% growth anticipated in the coming year.

The desire to expand the world-class team at Intact, by strengthening it with an influx of high-performing people, was a key driver for the acquisition, CEO, Justin Lawless said.

Blue Rock Systems is a growing, profitable business, with a team who are at the top of their game, according to founder, George Troullis.

“The synergy is excellent, and the combined expertise will strongly boost customer resources. This acquisition will see existing and new customers benefit from an expansion of services and improved processes, with an integrated team sharing best practice to ensure we maximise Intact market performance.”

Grant Thornton, the Dublin-based professional services firm, and legal firm, Flint Bishop, advised on the Blue Rock Systems deal and strategy.

For more information, click here.

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3 key benefits of an ERP system you can manage yourself

Charlotte Orchard — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 16:02:28 +0000

Builders’ merchants’ systems should be simple, straight forward, and practical.

But why not raise the bar, and choose a system that enables a “computer-savvy” (but not a systems expert) member of the team to configure, write reports, design screens and carry out changes in-house?

One of the big differences with iQ is that we’ve been able to do so much stuff ourselves, it’s so easy to get your head around the control desks etc. They provide instant visibility of how the business is running without the need to print out reams of reports. – Peter Caldicott, Premier Contract Supplies

Internally, making changes and fixing issues has never been so easy. The ability to make autonomous changes to real-time business problems is a gift. We’ve made changes to iQ continuously and it has become our culture to question and improve – Joe Williams, PGR Builders & Timbers Merchants

#1 – Save time and money

Having the ability to make changes and additions to your software in-house reduces time and money spent waiting for a support team to do the work for you.

Creating your own business specific workflows, triggered alerts, scheduled reporting, user-specific dashboards, security policies and audit trails can save users many man-hours trawling through data or reviewing manual business controls.

The ability for our team to autonomously edit reports, dashboards and alerts provides far more visibility than our old system and enables us to adapt quickly and efficiently. – Carlwyn Coombes, George Bence & Sons

#2 – Be more dynamic

Customers have reported increased interest from their teams who can configure and use the system in a way that suits their method of working, presenting them with the data they need as and when they need it.

They are more dynamic, productive and can adapt to the ever-changing needs of the growing business, quickly and easily meeting market challenges, pivoting and take advantage of new opportunities.

We now have an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system without limitations, that can do what we want it to do – we just have to decide now what the problems are in the business that we can tackle with iQ. – Graham Cuthbert, Premier Contact Supplies

#3 – Create best practice

Some people don’t like change.

However, having an in-house “champion” who knows the business processes, knows how to make minor changes to the system when needed and can teach other members of staff how it will benefit them first-hand is key to creating best practice throughout the business.

This improves professionalism, efficiency and productivity throughout the business with the additional benefit of improved communication and collaboration between teams.

iQ enables us to become more productive and set up rules and controls which can be mirrored throughout the branches to ensure that our teams follow best practices. – Tim Payne, South Coast Building Supplies

Choosing an ERP system that can be configured in house, by a computer-savvy staff member who knows the inner workings of the business, allows you to get the most out of your software.

It can be fine-tuned to the business needs, by the people who know the business best. In fact, it can be imperative in creating continuous improvement and long-term growth.

Would you benefit from a system you can manage yourself?

Get in Touch

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Fortis member George Bence & Sons looks to the future with iQ from Blue Rock Systems

Charlotte Orchard — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 09:27:52 +0000

Blue Rock systems are pleased to announce that Fortis members George Bence & Sons have placed their order for a large user iQ system.

George Bence & Sons are the Cotswolds leading independent builders’ merchant, with a multi faceted business encompassing specialist areas such as roofing, decorating, plumbing and retail kitchen & bathroom outlets. They also opened their 7^th branch in Ledbury at the start of the year.

Established in 1854, they are a sixth generational family-run business, serving the local community & economy, winning a variety of industry awards over the years such as Best Independent Merchant, Best Showroom, Family Business of the Year amongst many others.

They have confirmed their move from vLine to iQ with a large user order to support their continued growth with the speed and flexibility of iQ, combined with excellent reporting and easy to use management tools.

A real focus for the investment will be to automate many of their day-to-day processes, enhance customer service via system generated notifications and provide customers with the ability to manage their account on-line with the real time portal service.

Commercial Director, Carlwyn Coombes, told us:

“We were early enablers of the vLine system through Blue Rock around a decade ago. The superior service that Blue Rock offer along with the strength of the system has provided us with many opportunities to recommend to other merchant businesses friends over the years. More recently we have been galvanised by the feedback of other merchants who have spoken highly of the new system iQ.

This move from v-Line will help us be more productive and keep a “finger on the pulse” of our growing business and we are confident that we will be supported through the process by the team at Blue Rock. The ability for the Bence’s team to autonomously edit reports, dashboards and alerts will provide far more visibility and enable us to adapt quickly and efficiently.”

Blue Rock Sales Manager, Simon Barber, added:

“All of us at Blue Rock are excited to get started with Bence. their business is steeped in history, and I am honoured that we will be part of that moving forward.

I have known Paul and Carlwyn for years and am flattered that they have put their trust in Blue Rock and the iQ system moving forward.”

Is it time to improve the flexibility of your software solution?

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Interview with Joe Williams, Group Systems Manager at PGR Builders & Timbers Merchants

Charlotte Orchard — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 11:07:08 +0000

NBG members PGR Builders & Timber Merchants is a family-owned independent Builders and Timber Merchants established in 1984.

Their 10 branches operate throughout Essex and Surrey and stock a vast range of building materials and supplies: from bulk products like sand and decorative aggregates, blocks, bricks and lintels, to landscaping products and cladding as well as small essential items such as chemicals and tools.

Along with their sister company Connect Plumbing & Heating supplies (who trade from their 5 depots in the Essex area), PGR went live with iQ after moving from vLine around 2 years ago.

Since then, they have become huge innovators in iQ, making changes by themselves and using ePOD, Intact Journeys, REST API to integrate with their Kick website, and SMS messaging to communicate with their customers – they haven’t stayed still!

Glen Jewell, Sales Director at Blue Rock Systems, spoke with Joe Williams, Group Systems Manager at PGR Builders & Timbers Merchants about their journey with iQ so far, and their relationship with Blue Rock.

Glen: First things first, how have the last 24 months been for PGR, and how have the challenged we’ve all faced moulded the company?

Joe: Since the first lockdown there have actually been many positives in terms of business, in what was a tragic time for most of the world.

Digitalisation and automation were at the forefront of our agenda to make sure we could carry on providing the exceptional service we pride ourselves on, whilst following the guidelines of social distancing in the workplace and home working.

We have continued with our changing culture, with the help of iQ which has allowed us to run leaner and have a more focused outlook on the most important areas of our business, our customers & employees.

Glen: What remain as the current challenges in the industry?

Joe: Material shortages finally started easing at the end of 2021, but now we’ve got the soaring cost of electricity and gas which just adds to the never-ending price increases we have experienced since the pandemic began.

With energy bills increasing by as much as 54%, pressure has been put on our suppliers (due to our energy-intensive industry which manufactures concrete, steel and cement). Ultimately, the higher prices are passed on to us – this remains the biggest challenge of the year so far.

Glen: What made you choose Blue Rock over our competitors? And what is working with Blue Rock like?

Joe: The main reason we chose Blue Rock was the relationship we had already built with the team when they supplied and supported vLine for us years ago.

This allowed us to start on iQ straight away with people we already had a relationship with.

We know that the team are both friendly and capable which makes it very easy to work alongside them.

Glen: And what prompted the move from vLine?

Joe: The main issue was speed. We were struggling as a company with the speed of vLine in all aspects and found that we couldn’t move forward as a business without an upgrade to our software.

Glen: How has iQ changed the way your business runs?

Joe: Our business has seen more productivity, more efficiency and more visibility than we have ever had before.

This is all due to what iQ can show and highlight – which with the right people looking at it, helps resolve issues before they become problems.

Glen: Which departments have seen the most benefits so far?

Joe: All departments have seen substantial improvements along our 2-year journey.

Initially, it was branch & sales staff who saw the biggest improvements; however, in the past 6 months, all other departments have been streamlined.

Glen: You’ve been one of our biggest iQ innovators – how are you finding making changes internally? What does the ability to make autonomous changes mean to PGR?

Joe: Internally, making changes and fixing issues has never been so easy.

The ability to make autonomous changes to real-time business problems is a gift.

We’ve made changes to iQ continuously and it has become our culture to question and improve.

Glen: Which module/feature has brought the most benefits to PGR?

Joe: I would say there are three in that category.

The first is the ability to schedule tasks, reports, and anything of such nature. For a department to receive information at the time/day they wish, without any human involvement, allows our business to function 24/7.

The second area would be control desks. They provide visibility to problems and allow efficient resolutions in real time.

The third would be the Intact Access App. This app has allowed us to run paperless deliveries at the height of this pandemic, resulting in the safety of our customers and our drivers.

Glen: And what about customer service? How has iQ helped?

Joe: iQ has helped in various ways. One would be the speed we can now serve customers.

The second would be the POD image capture, which then shows on the customer’s invoice.

The third would be how iQ links up to our website, to provide a seamless self-service portal for our customers.

Glen: In your experience and hindsight, what words of wisdom would you give for companies embarking on an installation?

Joe: Allow for plenty of time to prepare data and screen designs.

Also set out goals early on, both ambitious and achievable, as iQ has many options that can help your business develop and improve.

Glen: You never seem to stop, so what’s next for PGR?

Joe: We are an extremely proactive business, so naturally, all opportunities will be evaluated where necessary; we will continue with opening new branches, as well as a strong focus on digital and online.

How can iQ help you?

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H&B member William Hercock replace legacy system with iQ by Blue Rock

Charlotte Orchard — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 08:44:47 +0000

Blue Rock systems are pleased to announce that H&B member William Hercock have placed their order for a 30 user iQ system.

Established as a coal merchant in Leicester as far back as 1899, William Hercock are now the leading supplier of building, timber and landscaping products in the Leicestershire and Rutland area, trading from their three branches in Melton Mowbray, Birstall and Oakham.

Their delivery fleet of rear mounted cranes, tippers and flatbeds enable them to deliver their huge range of building supplies throughout the surrounding areas.

They originally considered Blue Rock’s services around 10 years ago, but unfortunately went in a different direction – a product package which they have now outgrown due to it having separate accounts and CRM systems.

Now going ahead with a fully integrated modern merchant system with iQ by Blue Rock, Tim Hercock, Managing Director, commented:

“As a business we had been discussing the software system for a few years before I took over the business from my brother.

Since that process has completed, I have wanted to improve the systems throughout Hercocks.

We choose Blue Rock and IQ because we were impressed with the speed and flexibility of the system compared with others we assessed, combined with excellent reporting and easy to use management tools.

It is a big step forward and will enable us to grow our business and improve the service we can offer our customers.

We received positive feedback from other H&B members who have adopted the system which made the decision-making process easier.”

Blue Rock Sales Manager, Simon Barber, added:

“I was personally involved with Hercocks about a decade ago when they decided against coming on board with Blue Rock at that stage and unfortunately opted to go with another supplier.

Fast forward to today and its with great pleasure to finally welcome them into the fold at Blue Rock.

Adding another H&B member into the customer base, the business and its requirements are perfectly suited to what we offer and we all look forward to many years successful partnership together.”

Is it time to improve the flexibility of your software solution?

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Interview with Peter Caldicott (Director) and Graham Cuthbert (Operational Manager) of Premier Contract Supplies

Charlotte Orchard — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 14:31:17 +0000

Since 1998, BITA member Premier Contract Supplies (PCS) has become one of the leading bathroom contract supply companies in the UK.

Set up by Vince Caldicott to sell heating supplies and bathrooms to the public, he saw a gap in the contract market for a high-quality sanitary ware supplier and created Premier Contract Supplies with a warehouse in Frimley.

They now boast 7 branches, offering a national service and have built strong relationships with key housebuilders and manufacturers of bathroom equipment.

On a drive for efficiency and improved customer service, PCS realised they needed to replace their accounting software Exchequer (and other integrated solutions) with a more flexible, scalable and functional solution.

It was with this in mind that they placed the order with Blue Rock, with iQ installed in late 2021.

Glen, Charlotte and Billy from Blue Rock travelled to the North Laines in sunny Brighton to visit PCS at their Estimating Office, and to have a chat about skiing, gardening and camping over a pie and a pint in their local pub.

Glen Jewell, Sales Director at Blue Rock Systems, spoke with Director Peter Caldicott and Operational Manager Graham Cuthbert about their experience with iQ so far, and their new relationship with Blue Rock.

Glen: It’s only been 4 months Peter, so it may seem a bit soon to carry out a case study but I hear you’re seeing a lot of changes since having iQ installed?

Peter: Yep, we’re seeing an improvement in efficiency and getting some great feedback. Of our 50 users, the vast majority are extremely happy with how it speeds up how they work – we have a few still getting to grips with it, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Graham: Yeah we’re already seeing the benefits compared to our old system – I thought we’d feel more pain before we saw any advantages, but it’s not been like that at all.

We know that there’s also so much more we’re going to be able to get out of it as we go forward.

Glen: Where would you say you’re seeing the most benefits?

Peter: Purchase ledger are extremely happy – we had a member of staff return to PCS after a few years and she couldn’t believe how much easier and more efficient it was to work with than the previous system was.

For me, the ease of access to data is so helpful for reporting and data analysis – management accounts are easily visible, much less fiddly than running reports.

The internal sales account managers absolutely love it – they were our main focus when looking to go ahead with iQ in the first place and that department is probably where the biggest gains are.

Everything in iQ is better than it was with Exchequer.

The way proof of delivery, Blue Scan, works improved our efficiency straight off the bat. The way it handles rebates, pricing, visibility of margins is brilliant from a reporting point of view.

“One of the big differences with iQ is that we’ve been able to do so much stuff ourselves, it’s so easy to get your head around the control desks etc. They provide instant visibility of how the business is running without the need to print out reams of reports.”

Graham: I’ve found the workflows to be very powerful. I can also pull data very quickly – it just works. It enables me to help the other teams quickly. The ability to send a customer proof of delivery is so helpful too.

Glen: What made you go ahead with Blue Rock in the first place?

Peter: I found that Blue Rock are completely different to other software companies we’ve dealt with and spoken to. With others, after the initial sale is secured, you lose that personal relationship. You’re handed over to a different team and never speak to the Directors or Management until they’re trying to sell to you again.

“With Blue Rock, we can speak to the Directors when we need to, and they’re always on hand to sort any issues out. This was brought home to me at the initial stages of the installation when Blue Rock were happy to contribute, without hesitation, extra time to keep the project on track – it was a real team effort.”

When we visited the Southampton office it was very friendly, George (BRS Managing Director) introduced himself, said he had an open door if we had any issues – and I don’t think I’ve ever found that with another company before.

Glen: Having a strong start with iQ is often down to how the company approach the process, and the Blue Rock support desk has said that PCS are easy to work with, friendly and made the go-live period run very smoothly – it’s a two-way street and being easy to work with on both sides leads to a successful go-live.

What’s on the cards for the future with PCS?

Peter: First of all, we’ll be taking time to analyse the data we can now see clearly, to see where our processes can be more streamlined and efficient.

We’re also going to be going ahead with the warehouse management system soon, and we’ve been looking at the transport module to see if that’s a route we want to go down.

An e-commerce customer portal is also in the pipeline – we had a demonstration from Blue Rock and were very impressed and can see the benefits for our customers, being able to view their orders with the live connection to the web from iQ.

Graham: We want to tighten up and fine-tune the way we use iQ, to fully benefit from the features we have available to us.

We’re going to look into using the integrated dashboards with live data more – before we had to download and import CSV files!

“Being able to carry out automatic invoicing has been a huge time saver too – we were doing an invoice run every morning so being able to do this automatically in the evening is great.”

We now have an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system without limitations, that can do what we want it to do – we just have to decide now what the problems are in the business that we can tackle with iQ.

Need a software solution without limitations?

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Briarwood Products place order for fully hosted iQ

Charlotte Orchard — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 12:19:15 +0000

Blue Rock systems are pleased to announce that Briarwood Products, based in Highbridge, Somerset have placed their order for a fully cloud hosted 15 user iQ system.

Briarwood are the UK’s largest supplier and manufacturer of fibre cement roof sheets, which they manufacturer from their own production facility in Italy and distribute nationwide via their own specialist transport fleet.

They were established in 1978 by innovative farmer Alan Janes, who started sourcing the best roofing products for his own farm buildings to improve the welfare of his livestock – soon selling these products to other local farmers. They began distributing the highest quality fibre cement profiled sheets in 1992 after Alan discovered them in Italy, and have continued to expand rapidly ever since – even acquiring the Italian supplier in 2020.

Due to their massive growth over the last couple of years – turning a £12m turnover in March 2020 into a £30m turnover in March 2021 – Briarwood realised they needed to replace their current Sage 50 software with a solution that could grow with them, provide efficiency and automate day to day routines as much as possible.

As well as the iQ software solution, they have also placed their order to host the application in Blue Rock Systems’ dedicated hosting centre. By doing so, they intend to take the pressure off their need to maintain a central server themselves and provide a more stable and guaranteed delivery of the system to all users across the organisation and enable seamless expansion.

Simon Barber, Sales Manager commented:

“The Briarwood site is amongst one of the most impressive in terms of size I have ever been to, the warehousing capacity is huge!

As a team they are working from Excel sheets and personal knowledge to keep things running, iQ will be perfect to help them get control of the day-to-day processes within their growing organisation.

We all look forward to working with the team at Briarwood Products for many years to come.”

Oliver Janes, Managing Director at Briarwood Products added:

“Our general manager, Andy McEvoy, had used the iQ system, installed by Blue Rock, in a previous life and knew how powerful and comprehensive the system was.

After meeting with the team at Blue Rock we knew they were the perfect partner for us moving forward.

Our business has grown exponentially in the past few years and iQ is essential to help us keep a handle on that growth moving forward.”

Is it time to automate and streamline your processes?

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H&B Member C & C Supplies Places Order for iQ by Blue Rock

Charlotte Orchard — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 14:05:22 +0000

Blue Rock Systems are delighted to announce that they have been awarded a 35-user contract to install IQ at C & C Supplies Collinson Ltd

H&B Group member C&C Supplies Collinson Ltd is a family owned and run independent builders’ merchant in Garstang, near Preston in Lancashire.

Their roots trace back to 1850, where they initially traded as brick makers, wheelwrights, decorators and sign writers, and have evolved over the years to supply everything you would need to build a house from scratch – from concrete for foundations to ridge tiles, and everything in between.

Their order for a 35-user iQ system replaces their current Pegasus Opera system and will be part of a full modernisation project across all aspects of their business.

C&C have a reputation for excellent customer service (just check out their Google and Facebook reviews!) and the introduction of iQ will only enhance this.

Their existing team can be more productive by automating and streamlining their existing processes, and iQ will send notifications to their customers based on rules that they set.

Paul Mallett, General Manager at C&C Supplies told us:

“As a Company we have been looking to upgrade our computer software for a few years to enable the business to move forward.

We looked at a few systems and chose to go ahead with iQ by Blue Rock.

At initial meetings we felt Blue Rock were the company we trusted to invest in future proofing our business, and after talking to fellow H&B members our views were reinforced.

Our business is quite unique and Blue Rock offer a system that can adapt and evolve as we go forward.”

Commenting on the new partnership, Simon Barber, Sales Manager, added:

“We were introduced to the team at C&C’s by another local H&B member who has been a Blue Rock customer for a few years.

As soon as I sat down with their friendly team I knew we had the perfect match, both with our iQ software but also in the culture of our businesses.

I look forward to seeing the results of this modernisation project for C&C and would like to take this chance to welcome them to the Blue Rock family.”

Is it time to automate and streamline your processes?

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Interview with Tim Payne, Managing Director of South Coast Building Supplies

Charlotte Orchard — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 09:43:30 +0000

South Coast Building Supplies are one of the H&B Group success stories of recent years.

Formed in August 2008, they now boast 4 branches supplying building materials across Dorset and Hampshire and have recently heavily invested in a new e-commerce system.

Looking to their future and the next phases in their growth plans, South Coast Building Supplies recognised the need for a more suitable and targeted software solution to help them. After years of fitting their business around software, they were keen to move on to a system that could fit around their business, allowing them to process and trade how they would like.

It was with this in mind that they engaged with Blue Rock at the beginning of 2021 to discuss the Intact iQ system.

As well as placing their order for the Intact iQ system, they opted to host their system with Blue Rock through its dedicated hosting centre, meaning more security and availability across their branch network.

Glen Jewell, Sales Director at Blue Rock Systems, interviews Tim Payne, Managing Director of South Coast Building Supplies

Glen: Tim, how did SCBS come to be the business we know today?

Tim: We made it up as we went along really. Gary (Ellis, SCBS Director) bought it off administrators when it was known as Southern Brick, with no experience of running a construction supply company but lots of experience in building materials.

He contacted me because I knew the financial requirements for the business, and we kept on a lot of the Southern Brick staff as they knew the prices, suppliers etc.

We’ve grown from turning over £170,000 in the first month to £3.3 million in the first year and have grown by about 20% each year – with a revenue of over £22 million today.

Glen: What software were you using at the time?

Tim: Within the first 12 months we started using Sage 50 for our accounts but we also needed an ERP system, so we went to market and, at that time, opted for a cheaper and simpler option.

Glen: We failed to win you over at the time, unfortunately…

Tim: Yes, it was just a case of needing a low-cost option at the time to get us going, but once we reached a £15m turnover and had four branches, we needed more strategy – we couldn’t keep making it up as we go along.

We needed to be more structured in terms of job roles, organisational structure, how we buy things, margin controls, and installing iQ was a big part of that – it gave us control.

Glen: Your old ERP system didn’t have its own financial ledgers and linked to Sage 50 I believe?

Tim: That’s right, we were working on two systems and the integration was not as comprehensive as we wanted.

iQ was a lot more reliable and scalable – in terms of size and processes.

The number of workarounds we were having to do was holding us back from growing to where we wanted to get to but iQ has removed many of those already and will continue to evolve.

Glen: So, you’ve been using iQ for a few months now, how are you getting on with it?

Tim: We’ve got all four branches using it now with great success, although we’ve only been live for a few months. We are already using the Transport Scheduler module, which our Winchester Road branch, in particular, have got nailed – it adds value daily.

Over the next 2-3 months we will be sharing that learning with the other branches, creating a best practice and setting an example. Our transport specialist particularly noticed how it was making his life easier.

We’ve set up shortcuts on desktops to make finding reports so much easier, a click of a button is so simple.

Glen: With new installations, some staff don’t take to change that well, but all you need is a “champion” within the business to use a feature effectively. They realise how much easier it makes their day, and they snap it up.

Tim: We’ve still got the odd member of staff to win over to the new system but we’ve got processes and training planned – once they realise how much more efficient it makes them, it won’t take long.

Glen: So, what’s in the future for South Coast?

Tim: Tune, tune, tune, efficiency, efficiency, efficiency. That’s the main aim at the moment. IQ enables us to become more productive and set up rules and controls which can be mirrored throughout the branches to ensure that our teams follow best practices.

There may be a new site on the horizon, we’ll see. We also want to develop the e-commerce side of the business, which will be catered for by Blue Rock and iQ.

Glen: Are Blue Rock doing a good job for you?

Tim: I think what makes the difference is the extra support and flexibility that Blue Rock provide us with. We choose to install a brand-new system in the second half of the pandemic and when product shortages were rife – an exceptionally busy and hectic time.

This meant that if we needed some additional ad hoc training, advice or changes then we could lean on the Blue Rock team and they always came through for us.

We’re in the early days still so we need our handheld a bit, but when we do raise an issue or need some help, it’s sorted straight away.

We’ve had absolutely no doubts about working with Blue Rock or thought “why did we do this”.

In fact, we’ve recommended Blue Rock to a few merchants now.

Want your software to fit around your business?

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Blue Rock sponsors the BMN Online & Digital Initiative of the Year award for the 5th year

Charlotte Orchard — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 10:22:36 +0000

Blue Rock are just about to start their 17th year in business, supplying business software, infrastructure, and e-commerce exclusively to independent merchants and their suppliers. Sales Director Glen Jewell discusses why they’re continuing to champion the digital innovators...

Innovation

Some of the team at Blue Rock have worked together for over 30 years, and we remain surprised at the pace that information technology continues to evolve.

We would like to think that, in our 17 years of business, we have pushed the boundaries of innovation.

By fine-tuning the world-class solutions that we sell, we squeeze out every last drop of productivity across our customers’ businesses.

From smart inventory management, powerful sales tools and automation, to linking with suppliers systems, e-commerce and much more, the value to be gained from modern, industry-relevant, technology is huge and wide-ranging.

Blue Rock has sponsored this award for 5 years to celebrate the innovative merchant – those that invest in and embrace information technology not begrudgingly, but because it makes them more competitive against the nationals and global players, makes life easier and ultimately brings improvement to their bottom line.

Remaining Competitive

The visionaries amongst our customers tend to fare the best when it comes to modern technology because they are genuinely excited about how it can help them reach their goals – which they invariably do, helped significantly by their positive attitude towards it.

Either with our help, or independently, they are able to configure and flex their “systems muscle” to combat challenges on a real time basis.

The last 18 months have been testimony to this as we’ve seen that companies with the right software tools and mindset have excelled.

One-Stop-Shop

Blue Rock have always sought to provide merchants with a choice.

Those that prefer a single point of contact for their information technology, a “one-stop-shop”, can opt to take on board the business software, hosting, e-commerce, ancillary software, and hardware from Blue Rock.

Alternatively, if customers wanted to work with other suppliers for the ancillary software and infrastructure, we would never stand in their way.

Blue Rock’s ethos of supplying industry-standard technology and non-proprietary solutions facilitates both approaches and lends itself to further innovation on the part of the merchant, with no barriers other than imagination, time, and budget.

Keeping e-Commerce Simple

A fifth of our construction material supply customers now use e-commerce in one form or another.

The majority use Blue Rock’s industry-standard solution while the others either link to existing e-commerce solutions or one of the ‘best of breed’ solutions available.

Our aim has always been to keep e-commerce as easy as possible to implement and maintain by providing an exceptionally high level of live integration into the back-office system, coupled with the features and technology that a world-class e-commerce system could provide.

Blue Rock’s logic is that there is no point in offering e-commerce if it isn’t financially viable or is resource hungry; it has to be within the reach of the independent merchant and supplier.

Customer Portal

We have seen a growing trend in independents starting their digital journey by implementing a customer portal first, with the ability for their clients to access their account, proof of deliveries, quotations and make payments online.

This not only offers a great service improvement but reduces administration enquiries during the day.

An affordable customer portal solution is essential for trade suppliers, especially for those serving the smaller trade accounts where bookkeeping must be done out of working hours.

Recipe for Success

A vital component in the success of e-commerce remains the attitude and aptitude of the merchant – regardless of how simple we make it to achieve.

The merchant will need internal resources to gather imagery and videos, edit customer-facing text, ensure that categorisations are logical and friendly to navigate – and of course, the e-commerce shop must represent their business – not only in branding but also tone.

The role of your internal e-commerce person or team is as much marketing as it is information technology.

Online & Digital Initiative of the Year

In this award – the Online & Digital Initiative of the Year – we celebrate the merchant who embraces technology in order to provide their customers with a seamless digital experience.

We reward the attitude, drive and determination which leads to achieving a successful online business; more than just a ‘web shop’, this is a virtual branch that enhances the merchant’s modern image and brand, whilst providing valuable user features that greatly improve both the internal and external customer’s experience.

Want to be amongst the digital innovators?

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