Leading UK ports operator selects spend control solution from Sapphire Systems
Released on: August 7, 2008, 11:42 pm
Press Release Author: Victoria Park
Industry: Software
Press Release Summary:
Sapphire is one of the largest independent providers of financial and business management applications in the UK. Included in our portfolio are the market-leading SunSystems, SAP Business One, SAP Business ByDesign and Proactis solutions.
Press Release Body: Peel Ports to implement a 1000 user Proactis Spend Control solution
LONDON, UK - 06 August 2008. Sapphire today announced that it is to supply and implement a 1000 user Proactis Spend Control System to the Peel Ports Group. Peel Ports, a division of the Peel Holdings group, is the second largest ports group in the U.K. handling over 60 million tonnes per annum. It operates the ports of Liverpool, Medway, Clyde, Heysham and the Manchester Ship Canal, providing a broad range of port facilities and services to shippers and cargo owners. It also has various Shipping and Overseas operations. It employees 2115 staff across the group and has an annual turnover of £450m.
Graham Wilmott, Head of Shared Financial Services, at Peel Ports, said \"Over the years a number of business acquisitions have resulted in Peel Ports operating several disparate purchasing and stores systems. This has meant a lot of rekeying and duplication of data, which over time has became a significant issue for us. It has also become increasingly difficult to get meaningful and timely cost control information. We needed to implement a group-wide procurement system to overcome these problems and help us to streamline the whole purchasing process right across the business\".
Following a formal evaluation process Peel Ports selected PROACTIS from Sapphire Systems. Graham explained \"Our brief was to find a system that our business users would find easy to use. We cited amazon.com as an example of the simplicity we were looking for from the system we wanted. It had to be easy to use and it had to deliver clear business benefit. It also had to integrate with our SunSystems financial management system - and we felt that PROACTIS ticked these and other important boxes.\"
In selecting to work with Sapphire Systems, Graham said \"Sapphire\'s pre-sales team really went that extra mile to ensure that our business could thoroughly review the benefits of PROACTIS - we had several demonstrations and, to validate our requirements fully, we asked Sapphire to prove a number of key business scenarios to us by way of user workshops. Sapphire put in a lot of personal time to ensure that we were totally happy with system\".
Peel Ports expects the new PROACTIS system to start rolling out across the business towards the end of the year. Graham explained \"The real work begins now and there will be challenging times ahead in re-designing existing processes and changing current behaviours in order to maximise the benefits of the PROACTIS system. We are looking forward to Sapphire sharing their previous experiences to help us with this.\" Graham added \"When the system is fully live we hope to realise such benefits as enhanced visibility over spend and clearly mandated processes that will help to manage and regulate our purchasing procedures. We look forward to PROACTIS being able to provide a simple clearly defined procurement process for all our business users and a one stop shop for all our purchasing needs.\"
David Singh, Sapphire\'s Sales & Marketing Director concluded \"We are delighted to be welcoming Peel Ports to Sapphire\'s growing PROACTIS customer community. PROACTIS will provide Peel Ports with real cost savings. By having one business wide procurement system, Peel Ports will not only be able to procure more efficiently but they will have full visibility over their cost pipeline too which, in the current economic climate, is vital for any business big or small\".
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About Sapphire Systems plc Sapphire is the worlds leading reseller of SunSystems, an SAP Gold partner and Proactis reseller. Since 1986, Sapphire have offered their customers wide-ranging practical expertise in selecting and implementing advanced financial accounting and business management solutions and today provides software, services and support for hundreds of customers worldwide from their offices in London and Manchester. Sapphire is a founder member of the British Application Software Developers Association and is featured in the Deloitte & Touche Fast 500 Technology 2006 rankings. www.sapphiresystems.co.uk
About Peel Ports Peel Ports is a division of the Peel Group - one of the leading property and transport companies in the UK, with assets valued at over £4.5bn. It is the second largest ports group in the UK provides a range of port facilities at the Mersey Docks & Harbour Company, Clydeport, the Manchester Ship Canal and Medway Ports www.peel.co.uk/peelholdings/peelports/ports.html
About Proactis Proactis is a specialist in Spend Control software helping organisations achieve dramatic cost savings, streamlined procurement and corporate compliance since 1996. Proactis Spend Control is an advanced eProcurement solution that moves responsibility to requesting users whilst maintaining complete budgetary and sourcing control. It incorporates purchase-to-pay, eSourcing, eCommerce and Supplier Relationship Management. Benefits include cost-pipeline visibility, source consolidation, reduction in maverick spend and major improvements to the month-end close cycle. Proactis\' customer base has grown to more than 200 user organisations across diverse industry sectors, including financial services, Government and Not-for-Profit. Proactis is headquartered in the United Kingdom, and is represented throughout Europe and North America. It is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange under the symbol PHD.L www.proactis.com
Media contact: Victoria Park +44 (0)20 7648 2000 victoria.park@sapphiresystems.co.uk
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