Twins UK

We asked Delyth Raffell, Owner of Twins UK, to tell us about the present status of her business:

“I believe I have laid strong foundations for growth with a clearly defined corporate image and brand and will continue to build on this over the coming years. I have been successful in gaining good sales and membership growth particularly in the last nine months. Most importantly, the feedback from my customers has been very positive and they are now starting to return on a regular basis.

"Prior to April 2007, I was also employed and ran the business on a part-time basis. Since focusing all of my efforts on growing the business, sales have doubled.

"Overall, I am pleased with the growth shown so far but there is still a lot of untapped potential which I aim to reach over the next two years whilst still maintaining my current customer base.”

Delyth uses Sage 50 Financial Controller (now Sage 50 Accounts Professional) and the Protx Payment System.

"I chose Sage on the recommendation of a friend who had used Sage products before and found them easy to use and understand. I visited the Sage website and reviewed the functionality in each level of product and chose Financial Controller as not only would it meet my company’s current needs but would allow my company ‘room to grow’.

"I have attended a training course and am very happy with my decision as this package will deliver the results I require to manage my business effectively.”  

Delyth also appreciates the support she gets from SageCover:

"I like having the ‘security net’ of SageCover as the product is still relatively new to me and I know if I encounter any issues then I have a back-up which is manned by experienced people who will be able to help me resolve any issues I have.  The information available on the website regarding FAQ is also very useful and I have used this in the past."

In looking to the future, Delyth’s plans for Twins UK include continual customer focus, website re-development and further growth.

Powerdial Systems Ltd

Lorraine Shannon, Office Manager for Powerdial Systems Ltd, tells us about their business:

"In terms of its history and growth, since its beginnings in 1993, Powerdial Systems Ltd has made steady growth, initially employing four people; it now has over 30 employees. More recently, dramatic changes to the telecommunications industry have increased the company focus on new technology and new staff training. The company has a successful history of using Sage software.

”Powerdial have used Sage accounts since day one. Simply because it works. As the main user, I had used the software almost since the early 1980s and therefore witnessed the development in the software first hand. The integrated system works for our organisation and it is very user friendly.”

Recent software upgrades have also brought their own rewards:

“Day to day processing routines such as bank receipts, payments, invoicing and more recently purchase order processing are simple to train new staff on and the correction facility is now better than ever. On a management level, the reports available are more than adequate to begin a financial analysis with and the new Sage 50 Accounts 2008 with drill down on the Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet is very welcome."

Lesley has strong reasons for continuing to upgrade their software: 

“Keeping up to date with the latest version is crucial for us.  As a technology organisation it would go against the grain to be behind with the times! It means our auditors can also be assured that we can send them reports and backups, and they can upload these onto their systems at the latest version. 

"The upgrade process is simple and easy to perform (we have multi-users on different operating systems and have had no problems).  As Sage is always developing the software to make life easier, it would be a no-brainer not to keep up to date.” 

And, she feels that SageCover is invaluable:

“Having a helpful friendly person at the end of the phone when there is a query/problem.  The website is also a starting point for us now if we have a query.”

Powerdial Systems future presents new challenges and opportunities.

“We are currently in the process of launching a new product which will take the organisation into another playing field of the industry. It is requiring investment and training but the rewards will hopefully be seen in our coming years accounts. To this end, we have just upgraded our system to be Multi-Company and this system will be used in the coming months.”