Eureka Solutions and Sage 200 deliver a solid foundation for Greentech Sportsturf

Greentech Sportsturf is one of the UK’s leading sports turf contractors. Based near Stirling, they are specialists in the design, construction, renovation and maintenance of natural and artificial sports surfaces. Established in 1998, Greentech have worked on some of the great fields of play, such as Gleneagles, St Andrew’s Links, Hampden Park, Aberdeen Football Club and Murrayfield Rugby Stadium.

Greentech also supply a wide range of products directly to their customers, including scientific sport turf management equipment, fertilisers, grass seed, sands, grits, gravels and turf.

WHAT WERE GREENTECH SPORTSTURF’S CHALLENGES?

Prior to engaging Eureka Solutions, Greentech’s finance team had been operating on a Sage 50 system for ten years. While Sage 50 had served the business well to a point, Greentech had outgrown it due to the increasing complexity of contracts and volume of transactions. Reconciling sales and purchases was a very manual process and there was difficulty establishing the profitability of projects and estimating costs.

Although the Greentech team researched alternatives, including Xero, they decided not only to remain with the Sage brand that they had found so reliable, but to upgrade to Sage 200 with the support of a reputable partner. During consultation with finance and accounting peers, Eureka Solutions was recommended to Greentech. Eureka Solutions has been implementing Sage systems since 2004 and the team are among the most technically proficient Sage experts in the UK.

The Greentech team were confident that establishing a relationship with Eureka Solutions – five times winner of Sage Developer of the Year – would ensure a successful project implementation.

“Our business is roughly 50:50 between product sales and contractors, and we needed a system that would allow us to report reliably on these two cost centres. The contract accounting functionality of our system was limited, and we aimed to implement a new system that would better support this side of our business in particular, giving us the enhanced visibility we required.”

Eric Carroll, Greentech Sportsturf’s Company Accountant.

THE SOLUTION

On scoping Greentech’s requirements, Eureka Solutions confirmed that Sage 200’s core financial management functionality combined with its contract and stock management capabilities would be the ideal solution for current and ongoing requirements. Eureka Solutions also recommended that Greentech opt for the Eureka ‘Plus Pack’ Addon, which includes over 80 features that enhance and streamline Sage 200’s functionality, particularly in the areas of stock transfer and order processing.

Referring to the upgrade itself, Eric comments that “Eureka Solutions were great in that they eliminated the ‘fear factor’ associated with the change; the support during the transition to our new system was excellent.”

Once in place, the Sage 200 implementation has met – and in many ways exceeded – Greentech’s  original expectations.

The productivity improvements that Sage 200 has delivered have enabled Greentech to grow the business without having to increase the number of staff. As an example, Greentech has recently been heavily involved in works at the new training facility at Aberdeen Football Club. This is the biggest contract Greentech have ever undertaken involving not only their direct contractual work but also the management of subcontractors.

“Sage 200 has been a big factor in the success of this and other large contracts, giving us the visibility to run them efficiently and without the need for extra resource.”, explains Eric.

The wider team has also benefited with how much time the company saves by not having to duplicate order related processes, with the Office Manager commenting that there have been ‘huge time savings’ in both stock management and order processing.

GREENTECH SPORTSTURF & EUREKA SOLUTIONS’ ONGOING RELATIONSHIP

The Greentech team are confident that they will continue to get the most out of their Sage 200 system due to the nature of their relationship with their account management and support team at Eureka Solutions.

“Every member of the Eureka Solutions team is always helpful, both on and off-site. The staff involved in the implementation and in our technical support since then have always gone the extra mile for us, and their product knowledge is excellent. We always get a quick response and appreciate that the team is proactive, showing a genuine interest in our business.”

The value that Eureka Solutions places on long-term relationships with customers is evidenced further by Greentech’s observations of the ‘very reasonable approach’ they have to any chargeable time, and both parties look forward to working together into the future.