Over the last decade, First Choice Foodservice has established 1,000 catering and restaurant customers, 5,000 product lines, a 30-strong fleet and annual revenues of £15 million. It had been running its business on Aptean Swords. But, to accelerate growth over the next 10 years, with the economic climate looking set to stay stormy for some time yet, its directors realised they needed a more intelligent business solution and more responsive support service.
They chose STL in part for MMS Evo’s rich, wholesale-specific functionality and agility, and its open Microsoft platform which makes it is easy to install, integrate, customise, and scale up or down to match current needs. But also, crucially, because they felt STL was a safe hand on the tiller.
Steve Ainger, Managing Director, First Choice, said,
‘The idea of moving our whole operation onto a new IT platform at this time was daunting. But STL’s team worked hard to get us ship-shape by, for example, prioritising our operational requirements and tidying up our source data. They then helped us navigate any issues as they arose. In all, we completed our migration in just four weeks.’
Now, First Choice is benefiting from MMS Evo features like real-time Key Performance Management reports which are helping it confidently adjust for prevailing conditions while staying on its long-term course. Further, the seamless integration between MMS Evo and First Choice’s cloud-based Sage Standard accounting software makes it easier to share the latest data whilst reducing the administrative effort.
Steve said,
‘These things are never plain sailing, but thanks to STL’s expertise and can-do approach we are now heading into 2023 full steam ahead.’