European Heritage is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of high quality tiles. The company’s range includes slate, travertine and limestone tiles from all over the world and also specialises in durable stone-effect porcelain tiling.
The company also sells wood flooring, wet room and under floor heating products. As a successful, growing business, the company needed to invest in a modern, adaptable integrated system and chose K8 from Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS).
James Dow, systems manager at European Heritage, explains: “When I started working here much of what we did was handwritten. We had got to the stage where we needed to review the business processes so we could move the business forward.”
Helen Hutchinson, also from European Heritage, adds: “The previous system just wasn’t working for us; it was, by comparison, archaic and was unable to keep pace with our growing business requirements. There wasn’t any delivery system, pick system and the stock figures were always corrupt.”
European Heritage approached The Tile Association for advice on tile trading software. James explains: “I contacted The Tile Association, who recommended KCS as a leading business software solutions provider to the tile industry. It was reassuring to us that KCS were strong in the tile market place, so I made a call.”
Helen adds: “A friend of ours in the tile business was also using their system. He invited us to his premises for the day to see how their business operated using K8. They sold it to us. They put the cherry on the top. They said it was the best thing they ever did.”
KCS was contacted and asked to specify a solution that would meet the needs of European Heritage.
Following a series of in-depth demonstrations, European Heritage placed an order for K8. Helen explains: “We agreed a project plan to convert from the old system to K8. KCS consultants were extremely helpful and understood our requirements. Their skills gave us huge confidence and the standard of service we received was as fantastic then as it is today. Since going live we haven’t looked back.”
James adds: “The thing I like about KCS is that I keep learning new things. The training facilities are fantastic. The consultants are always happy to help and there’s always something new to learn. One example is the advanced analysis course I recently attended. Since completing it, I have been exploring all the elements of advanced analysis and am amazed at the extent of the functionality within K8. This enables us to get all of the important information at the touch of a button and drill into it if we require the detail.
“In our search for a business management solution, we talked to many industry contacts – KCS’ K8 was highly recommended to us. Not content, we then visited KCS customers to see the system in action – again, the feedback was superb. Since our successful implementation, we’re the ones recommending K8. If you’re in the tile business you’d be foolhardy to look elsewhere.”
