Harvey's Brewery streamlines orders with Access Finance software
Harvey’s Brewery is a family business, with a member of the eighth generation currently working there. They sell their award-winning traditional ales throughout the South East, in their Lewes shop and online. The company is also a Fine Wine merchant selling a selection of carefully sourced wines from around the world. Harvey’s Brewery owns 49 public houses in London and the South East operated under tenancy.
Challenge
- The need for a finance systems that can accommodate the evolving business landscape.
- Struggling to efficiently managing a very large number of orders within a short timeframe
- The necessity to find a system that can support the high volume of orders while ensuring effective stock control systems and purchasing processes
Approach
- Implementing a finance solution that prioritises cost-effectiveness and places a strong emphasis on order processing and purchase control
- Choosing a financial system that offers flexibility for customisation without incurring high maintenance costs
- Looking for the Finance software that is easy to implement and has minimal impact on existing operations
Results
- Smoothing out order processing peaks and reducing manual intervention
- The ability to customise the solution to fit their needs, such as adding wine lists
- Financial information is now readily available, contributing to more informed decisions
Finance Software Success Story: Harvey's Brewery
Brewers Harvey & Son now manage more customers, without growing headcount thanks to Access Financials.
The Challenge
When Financial Controller George Glass joined Harvey’s, they had been working on an order processing and sales invoicing system, which was, unfortunately, not delivering. Therefore, George felt that they needed to go back and start again.
He explains, “I have 30 years background in finance and IT, so I looked at what we were doing and said, let’s get ourselves to the point where we can move forward with products that are going to give us the reliability, and the space to grow and ability to handle the changing in the environment in which we live.”
To make the business work they have to handle a very large number of orders in a very short time. Most of their ordering takes place two days before they make the delivery. What Harvey’s needed was a system that could support that, but also ensure that their stock control systems and purchasing processes were effective.
The Solution
Having used Access in previous roles, George chose Access Financials as the finance solution to drive Harvey’s forwards. “Access probably had a fairly easy ride from my point of view because it’s the fourth installation that I’ve done. However, we did look at other products and the things which really made Access stand out was its cost-effectiveness, and the focus was on the order processing and purchase control systems.”
There are reasons why George keeps on using Access’ financial software at the companies he works at:
I feel that the database behind Access Financials has been designed by someone who understands accounting. I’ve also found the flexibility it offers in terms of customisation to ensure that any development doesn’t leave you with a large maintenance bill.
The Result
Since implementing Access Financials Harvey’s have been able to smooth out some of the peaks they had in terms of order processing. George explains how the software is making a difference, “We still have the peak of order processing in the mornings, however, we’ve been able to implement a web portal for a number of our customers to place orders, and that feeds directly into Financials, removing manual intervention and speeding up the overall process.”
Harvey’s have customised the solution to fit their customers' needs, including adding wine lists to Financials so that the information they need is right there.
