Longwater Construction Supplies Ltd and Longwater (South East) Ltd have decided to use K8, the ERP system developed by Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS).
The Longwater companies are based in Norwich and Essex and serve all types of customer from DIY enthusiasts to major groundworking companies. A fleet of nine trucks in Norwich and two in Essex deliver materials throughout East Anglia. The companies have further plans for growth both geographically and by product. Finance Director, Colin Clark, believes the customer service delivered by a very experienced sales team is what sets them apart from the competition. He said: “Our high levels of service extend to our yard staff and delivery drivers who all regularly receive praise for their reliability, helpfulness and overall dedication to customer needs.”
According to Mr Clark, the driver behind the software upgrade at Longwater was due to the need to be in better control of the companies’ success and to be able to develop methods of improvement to a very positive and focused business model. “We needed a system that gave us the ability to fully understand why we are so strong in our competitive market,” he said. “K8 was well known to many of us, as some of our team have used it in previous merchant roles. We also looked at upgrading our existing product as well as solutions from several other software providers. But the KCS offering had a great reputation and was regarded as the market leader by other merchant business owners we questioned.”
Longwater has purchased a 30-user K8 system that will be deployed on an on-site server. “The promise of what K8 will deliver is great and we fully believe that all promises made to us will come to fruition,” added Mr Clark. “We’re anticipating greater adaptability in the analysis of our performance by product groups and by customer. I’m also confident that K8 will show us how we can take advantage of what we could be doing – on top of what we’re already good at!”
