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Author: Steve Riley Date: 22 Apr 2009 New management at Progressive Solutions InternationalProgressive Solutions International Limited has promoted Operations Director Arthur Duffy to Managing Director for all UK operations, at the same time inviting him to join the board of the North American parent company. Joining him on the management team is Neil Richards, newly appointed as Services Director for the UK. Mr Duffy, 50, has been with the company for three years, during which time the company has recorded consistent growth – 40% in the last year and a turnover of more than £3.4m. He leads a team of 30 employees in the UK, has overall responsibility for business direction in Europe, and drives sales within the key markets in the construction supply industries. He commented: “Businesses are depending upon IT more and more, so we're in a strong position to provide a service, not only to support them through the current difficult times, but also to help them bring their ideas to fruition.” Mr Richards, 41, joins the company from Hewlett-Packard where he was UK sales manager for technical sales and previously head of the computer giant’s 70-strong UK pre-sales division. Progressive Solutions, based in Runcorn, provides a suite of software, called bisTrack. More than 100 builders’ merchants, timber companies and other construction supply companies now use the software, and Progressive’s strength is how well they understand the peculiarities of this specialised market. The bisTrack software allows customers to computerise the basics of their business such as buying stock, selling products, pricing, bar-coding and analysing sales. The company prides itself on providing business solutions, rather than just software — using the wealth of information available from the software as a tool to improve business processes, via bisTrack’s advanced management tools. Commenting on the company’s investment in new management, Len Williams, President and CEO of parent company Progressive Solutions Incorporated, based in Vancouver Canada, said: “Arthur has a wealth of experience from the construction and IT industries and of growing businesses over many years. The company is in a new phase of growth despite the economic downturn and his passion for finding solutions to customers’ needs can only mean a great future for the business.” He added: “Neil comes from a blue-chip background. He is firmly devoted to the notions of customer satisfaction and moving our organisation forwards. We expect his very results-driven approach to make a significant impact on how we service our customers and drive the development of new tailored software solutions for customers.” |
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Testimonials
What will YOU do with your week off?
"With the time saved we've carried out branch refurbishments and I've taken my first holiday!"
John Cavanagh, MD, Cavanagh Timber"There’s no doubt that bisTrack is a good tool. We’ve a fantastic record for growth and we’re getting a lot out of bisTrack now, particularly over the control of our business."
Mike MacLellan, MD, GPH Builders Merchant"bisTrack was a big investment for us but it's the best change we've ever made. We've grown so much over the last four or five years, we simply couldn't have carried on using a manual system."
Gerwyn Thomas, partner, TL Thomas (builders' merchant)"With bisTrack we now have real-time information on our profitability, which allows us to continually optimise and make decisions on our business plan."
Stuart Hall, General Manager, Lawcris Panel Products“Hargeaves are ideally placed to take advantage of the offer – whilst we plan to continue using e-Xact to update our product file we also want much better control over special product sales and purchases."
Gordon Rothwell, James Hargreaves MD"There’s no doubt that bisTrack is a good tool. We’ve a fantastic record for growth and we’re getting a lot out of bisTrack now, particularly over the control of our business."
Mike MacLellan, MD, GPH Builders Merchant"I can export information into Excel by right-clicking and manipulate it to my heart's content."
"If we hadn't changed to bisTrack we simply couldn't have grown like this."
Nigel Williams, Chairman, Premier Forest Products"There’s no doubt that bisTrack is a good tool. We’ve a fantastic record for growth and we’re getting a lot out of bisTrack now, particularly over the control of our business."
Mike MacLellan, MD, GPH Builders Merchant"Good customer service is easier to achieve with good IT systems to back up our staff. Progressive provides us with an efficient system for dealing with customers, and good management tools to enable us to concentrate our efforts in the right direction."
David Dunmow, Group Finance Director, James Latham plcWhat will YOU do with your week off?
"With the time saved we've carried out branch refurbishments and I've taken my first holiday!"
John Cavanagh, MD, Cavanagh Timber"I can drop-down and drill into any business information easily, which enables me to analyse a situation very quickly. It gives me complete control."
Mark Congdon, Financial Director, Noyeks Newmans"The time was right for a change of software at Alsford's and we selected bisTrack from a shortlist of three. The key criteria was 'business fit'. We wanted a Microsoft Windows, intuitive solution which would best serve our claim to be 'The Timber Experts' in all our 20 branches."
Neil Fuller, MD, Alsford Timber"We were drowning in paper and, as a business turning over £2.2 million, the time had come for us to invest in business management software."
David Biddle, MD, Huntingdon Timber & Roofing"Inventory accuracy is higher because everyone is more focused and our staff can see the benefit of getting it right."
Ian Murchie, Operations Director, Howie Forest Products"bisTrack is an excellent piece of software and getting better. Their approach to meeting our needs is excellent. eBusiness is not going to be big for another 12 months but PSI are there already, which means we’re ahead. They're very open to ideas and keep getting better at turnaround."
Adam Myers, Beesley & Fildes"I can export information into Excel by right-clicking and manipulate it to my heart's content."
"I can drop-down and drill into any business information easily, which enables me to analyse a situation very quickly. It gives me complete control."
Mark Congdon, Financial Director, Noyeks Newmans"I'm happy bisTrack will grow with us. If we find we need something which isn't already incorporated, I'm confident Progressive will work with us to fill the gap."
Operations Director, CF Anderson“Hargeaves are ideally placed to take advantage of the offer – whilst we plan to continue using e-Xact to update our product file we also want much better control over special product sales and purchases."
Gordon Rothwell, James Hargreaves MD"We improved net margin by 3% within 6 weeks of going live on bisTrack."
Andy Halpin, Payne Timber
