Based in Whitchurch, Shropshire, The Wood Yard Limited is a traditional timber merchant, which has been supplying local tradesman (and keen DIYers) for more than 130 years. The company has recently undergone a rebrand and has used the opportunity to expand its range of products and services as well as increase the depth of stock.
Traditionally supplying an extensive range of machined and sawn softwoods as well as hardwood, over the years The Wood Yard has continued to adapt its offerings as tastes and demands have changed. It now offers cutting and planing services, a wide range of doors (supply and installation), and glass and key cutting services.
“We are extremely proud of The Wood Yard,” says managing director Andrew Haydock. “It is the go-to place for local tradesmen and DIYers, and we always offer a friendly and professional service.”
The Wood Yard has recently added a new layer of direct trade to the business where production is outsourced and delivery is made direct to the customer both in the UK and abroad. The Wood Yard also has a self-storage business where it rents containers to the trade, existing customers, and the public.
Historically The Wood Yard was part of a larger group that used previous versions of the Epicor BisTrack solution, and employees were familiar with the straightforward software. However, the older versions that the business was using didn’t possess a sales ledger function, so expensive accounting software had to be purchased, maintained, and interfaced to the BisTrack software. This was expensive and slow. The company didn’t want to move away from using BisTrack software, and whilst higher in specification than many would think necessary for a single-site operation, its flexibility to accommodate the new activities was a key determinant in the choice.
“Updating our version made the accounting function much easier to manage,” says Haydock. “The simplicity of the quoting and converting to sales order function is a real time saver and the flexibility of the system has made everything easy.”
“Our new version of BisTrack software has more bells and whistles which offer time savings and our half yearly stock takes can be replaced by regular stock checks,” continues Haydock.
The BisTrack solution helps many small to medium-sized builders and timber merchant businesses to grow – in fact, around 40 percent of the top-performing companies are using Epicor BisTrack software to grow their business, according to the results of Builder Merchants Journal’s ‘Trailblazers’ research.
“The Wood Yard just goes to show that BisTrack software is just as useful to smaller merchants as to those larger independents,” explains Stuart Hall, sales director at Epicor UK. “The BisTrack solution is powerful but scalable and highly flexible. As their companies flourish and evolve, they can tap into it as and when they need to—it really does help your business grow.”
Challenges:
- Fast business growth
- Was managing the business using an old version of BisTrack software
Solution:
- Epicor® BisTrack™
Benefits:
- Total controllability over trade across the business
- Faster and more efficient service at the trade counter
- Improved credit control
