Nurturing a Flourishing Business with Sage

In 1986, Henry and Shirley O’Kelly established a sawmill in the foothills of a Dublin suburb. To drive their business forward, they harnessed innovation and a personal commitment to excellence. Their hard work paid off handsomely: now one of the largest full-service timber product manufacturers in the country, Timbertrove recently installed an integrated Sage solution to nurture further growth, while also increasing efficiency and productivity.

About the Company
It all started with a dream: in the early 1980s, Henry O’Kelly worked as the sole owner of a plant hire company. However, economic conditions at the time made the going tough. Living at the edge of a forest as he did, and with an abiding interest in timber, Henry did what many people facing a challenge do: he took a risk.

‘We had a large property located right at the edge of the forest, and Henry knew that he had the room to grow,’ Shirley O’Kelly, Henry’s wife and the Financial Controller and co-director of Timbertrove states. ‘Times were difficult, and he knew that he needed to diversify. Henry had always been interested in timber, and that passion led him in the right direction.’

The O’Kelly’s built a sawmill on the property. To generate sales, they began designing and building a range of fence panels. Those proved to be successful, so they tried their hand at a range of garden sheds and treehouses. Their ability to innovate, and their commitment to manufacturing, design, and customer excellence, led to continuing growth.

Today, Timbertrove is one of Ireland’s largest manufacturers and designers of value-added timber products. Their extensive range includes everything from Cape Cod Cladding, Latitude Decking, and unique Post Caps, to sheds, gazebo’s, treehouses, decking, fences, and trellises. Now employing over twenty-five people, and with both retail and wholesale operations, their commitment to their customers has contributed to exceptional growth and profitability.

‘We pride ourselves in the fact that we offer a complete professional service,’ Shirley explains. ‘When a customer contacts us, we’ll sit down with them to determine their exact needs. We’ll then come back to them with specific drawings designed to meet and exceed their expectations, together with production and erection schedules and a budget. Unlike larger timber product suppliers, we give our customers exactly what they need at a realistic price. Moreover, we stand behind every product that we manufacture and sell.

‘Our company is, and has always been, a family business and our philosophy places our customers at the centre of our business. That translates into loyalty to our customers and loyalty to our staff. The result has been a growing company where customers come back to us again and again, and a staff that has been with us for an average of almost fifteen years.’

The Challenge: Nurturing Growth
For years a user of Take Five, the accounting software solution, Shirley’s back office capability was challenged by the company’s continuing growth. ‘Take Five was a wonderful product, but as we continued to expand I knew that we were stretching its capabilities,’ she states. ‘We also knew that Take Five was coming to end of life, so we felt that it was an opportune moment to consider a new accounting software solution.’

Shirley knew that any replacement solution would have to nurture even more growth by increasing the company’s productivity and efficiency. Additionally, she wanted the new system to somehow nurture relationships with both existing, and prospective, retail and trade customers.

With these objectives in mind, Shirley approached Business Network Communications, the Naas based Sage Business Partner. ‘We had worked with Business Network Communications previously, and we trusted their judgement,’ Shirley states. ‘We gave them a list ofwhat we wanted the new system to do, and a budget, and asked them to recommend a solution that we could live with now, but that would also grow with us into the future.’

The Powerful Integrated Solution Sage 50, Sage Paypoint, and ACT! from Sage
Having studied Timbertrove’s requirements, Business Network Communications recommended a powerful integrated software solution from Sage. Business Network Communications managing director Mark Clinton explains:

‘Timbertrove is a wonderful example of a company that is continuing to grow even in a challenging economic environment,’ he states. ‘They had a number of requirements: first, the accounting solution should not only be easy to use, but should also increase productivity and efficiency. That back office solution must also act as the repository of all historical accounting data, as well as being capable of tracking both individual cash customers’ transactions, as well as trade customer histories.

‘The solution also had to enhance their ability to serve their customers even better by empowering their retail tills. And finally, the solution had to provide them with the flexibility to grow as the company continued to grow. In this manner, an investment in additional software capabilities would provide a high return on investment to them.’

Timbertrove was provided with a recommendation for a highly integrated Sage solution including Sage 50, Sage Paypoint, and ACT! from Sage.

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