UT400 attracts new merchants despite C-19 slowdown

Trading conditions are tough right now, there's no getting away from it. But we are confident that UT400, our all-new, Cloud software system for merchants can help.

It can help with forecasting the unforecastable, stock management, efficient trading and administration – it can help your business. And it can do it while your staff stay safe. UT400 requires no social distancing required - thanks to UT400 being 100% cloud-based, everything from demo to installation can be done remotely, keeping merchant staff safe and their business healthy.

We were thrilled to welcome another new customer to the Ten-25 family earlier this

month: Global Timber Products. GTP is a rapidly expanding business which has seen successive 20% year on year growth and was looking to upgrade from its Sage-based operating system to something much better. Having just moved to a purpose-built, four-acre site, the time was right to select a new trading system, so they went through a competitive selection process across the leading market solutions - and chose UT400 as the right one for them.

“We looked at all the main systems on offer in the market,” explains Suki Bains, Specialist Sales Manager at Global Timber. “I’ve worked with several other systems in the past, but we wanted to make sure we chose something that would be just right for our business. And even more than that, we wanted to work alongside a team who understood what we’re about, and who we knew we could trust to respond to our evolving needs.”

A changing marketplace

It has become increasingly apparent in recent years that merchant businesses need to embrace digital technology to keep up with the pace and demands of modern trading. For some that’s not a big leap, but for others who are still using manual or older legacy systems, it’s a lot to think about. We wanted to make it as easy as possible for merchants to make that transition, so everything about UT400 from the ground up has been based on making it as easy to use as possible.

For a small, family-run business, word of mouth could not be more important. And it seems that word is starting to spread and gather pace. Thank you to anyone out there who has put in a good word about our products and services. In the last few weeks, we’ve been thrilled to welcome a surge of new customers including sawmills, timber merchants, builders’ merchants, plumbing suppliers and steel stockholders.

The best choice for flexibility, efficiency and great service

UT400 is incredibly flexible, so it works equally as well for any type of trading business, and it allows for a huge amount of customisation, so you can very quickly switch between metrics, weights, lengths, split packs and so on – if you buy, stock and sell products, this software will be able to help you.

"We wanted to work alongside a team who understood what we’re about, and who we knew we could trust to respond to our evolving needs.” Suki Bains

“UT400 offers huge flexibility,” agrees Suki. “Ten-25 were able to customise things for us, and the system is easy to adapt as we grow. We loved that it’s available from absolutely anywhere, on any smart device, so for remote access it’s really useful. Operationally though, the biggest winner for us was just how efficient it is – it will save us a huge amount of time, on paperwork, reporting, stock management, operations, everything, making us a more efficient and productive business, with much faster availability. And it was very cost effective too!”

“Customer service was also an important part of the decision,” he adds. “Ten-25 seemed

really well suited for us – honest, down to earth and really flexible and responsive. We’re a very people-centred business so it was important that we like and trust the people we work with. I asked around and their other customers spoke very highly of them, so we felt confident about going with them.”

Feedback like this means the world to us, and I look forward to many years working alongside the team at GTP.

Providing the service merchants want

UT400 is the culmination of nearly 40 years’ experience designing and delivering industry specific trading systems for merchant business. A 100% cloud-based system, it is a huge jump forward for merchants looking to make the transition to digital operations and is, at this point and to the best of my knowledge, the only 100% truly cloud based merchant business system available in the UK.

We consulted many existing customers and talked to people throughout the industry to make sure we were building the system that merchants both needed and wanted. But it wasn’t enough to make it effective – it had to be easier to use, to take out as many of the daily stresses and frustrations as possible. We even brought in an experienced video game designer to make sure the user interface is as engaging and simple as possible. We are thrilled with the results, and have had so many positive comments back from users and people demo-ing the system.

“If we’d wanted to find that information with our old system, we’d have needed to get a spade and start digging!”

Drenagh Sawmills

Flexible pricing for flexible use

In order to be as useful and accessible as possible, we have introduced a more modern subscription model of pricing, with different pricing tiers for different user requirements.

We were well aware that many legacy systems have a bit of an all or nothing approach with users, meaning you pay for a lot of features that most of your staff won’t ever need or use. We have broken it down into levels, so that delivery drivers and yard operatives can access a stripped back version, with sales, finance or senior management having their own levels of access. That keeps it relevant and engaging, but also cost effective for more of the business to be involved.

More staff on the system means more up to date information available throughout the business, giving an accurate, real time view of operations and stock.

Our aim was to build a system that can help every merchant unlock the full potential of its entire workforce, making everyone’s day jobs that little bit slicker, and the information more readily accessible. Those little differences add up to a massive commercial advantage, and significant time savings, which add up to increased profitability.

Set up for staff safety, and business health

As a 100% cloud-based system, UT400 does not need to wait for the current coronavirus pandemic to end to start working for customers. Everything from system demo’s to installation can be done remotely so there is zero risk for staff.

Modern business demands flexibility and easy access. But even we couldn’t have

foreseen the current global health situation with Covid-19. Thanks to the digital nature of this system, and the incredible technology available to us today, we are finding that it’s perfectly feasible to manage the whole process, from initial enquiry to online system demo to installation and onboarding, on a fully remote basis. That means it’s absolutely safe for customers, and actually offers a really quick and efficient way to work. It’s much less disruptive for the business and doesn’t put anyone at risk. Ordinarily we prefer to meet customers in person, but with that being difficult in the current climate, we’re delighted to be able to offer a really workable alternative.

For anyone wishing to find out more or request login details for the online demo system with absolutely no obligation, please email info@ten-25.co.uk.