Technology pays off for Scottish bakery chain

Scottish bakery group Harry Gow’s investment in technology has helped the group grow significantly, opening their 16th shop this spring.

Harry Gow’s use Merit Technology’s Smart Office Manager (SOM) software to manage their bakery, and two years ago became the first company to begin trialing Merit’s pioneering new Web Sales Management module.

The software is a web-based system accessible from any PC or web enabled till. The beauty of Web Sales Management is that there are no upfront software development costs, which allows firms to invest in growing their business whilst reducing overheads through improved productivity each month.

Office Manager Maureen Sinclair said: “Web Sales Management has played a vital role in the company’s expansion over the last few years. It basically allows us to analyse individual shop performance. The staff in the shops use it to record their sales for the day and send their orders for the next day in over the internet.

“Previously we had a member of staff in our head office collating all of this information as it was faxed in from the shops, whereas we now have a seamless, automated system, allowing that employee to use her time far more effectively.”

“The great thing is that every time we open a new shop the money we save increases because there are no additional admin costs for us. We’re easily saving 25 man hours a week at our present size, and that saving will grow with each new store we open.

Bob Young, a director at Kent Science Park based Merit Technology, said: “We’ve been providing Harry Gow’s with our software for many years and we understand their business. Harry Gow’s was an ideal place to trial the Web Management System in its final stages of development.

“We’re absolutely delighted that it’s been able to play such a big part in their growth and we’re looking forward to launching Web Sales Management throughout the UK this year.”