K3 to furnish Housing Units with new IT solution

19 December 2005 – London – Housing Units, a home furnishings chain in Manchester, has commissioned a new retail system from leading Microsoft Dynamics Partner K3, in order to grow the business. The order is worth approximately £450,000.

The new system is a complete financial and retail management solution which will manage all the in-store customer order processing – including orders, fulfilment, EPOS/EFT and stock management. Phase one covers Financials while Phase two covers EPOS, Merchandising, Warehousing, Business Intelligence and Jet reports, with a go live of Summer 2006.

Housing Units has grown rapidly; therefore it was imperative that it selected a solution that could meet the business needs both present and future. In order to establish requirements and expectations of the new system, a group of individuals from all areas of the company was selected. A detailed specification of these requirements was drawn up and offered out to key suppliers for response. With eight responses the team selected three for the shortlist. Housing Units selected K3 as it had strong customer references, knowledge of the market, experience and a good fit with all its system requirements.

Neil Anderson, Director of Systems from Housing Units commented, “It took us nine months to select a solution and supplier, we have busy times ahead but feel reassured that K3 can deliver. I am particularly looking forward to seeing the benefits to our business; customer service is the key to our success and we are always looking at ways to improve.”

Housing Units’ Merchandise and Marketing Director, Nick Fox, added “We feel we have made the right decision with selecting K3; they have shown professionalism throughout and have exceptional knowledge of the market. We were very impressed when we visited some of their existing clients and could see the flexibility of the solution in action.”

Paul Makin, Sales Director from K3 said, “Housing Units were very organised in their approach to selecting a system; they were very thorough and went through a lengthy process to ensure they have a solution that meets with their future plans. We are naturally pleased to be working with them and look forward to a healthy, lengthy working relationship with all of the team.”

About Housing Units

Housing Units is a Home Furnishings retailer with stores in Manchester. Privately owned the business started in 1947 and has evolved to what it is today, a 120,000 sq ft shopping experience on a 5 acre retail site, supported by a large distribution centre nearby. Comprising of two purpose built stores Housing Units offers, diverse departments, unique products and services with every visit. The company leads the market by offering superior customer service, exceptional choice and quality with value for money.
www.housingunits.co.uk

About K3

K3 is the major provider of the awards winning Microsoft Dynamics solution throughout the UK and Ireland. A Microsoft Certified Gold partner and member of Microsoft’s Inner Circle the company services over 100 clients worldwide. K3 is part of the K3 Business Technology Group plc.

K3 Business Technology Group is a global leader in providing next-generation enterprise software for businesses in the Retail, Manufacturing and Distribution sectors. Over the past 25 years, K3 has gained a wealth of experience from implementing Enterprise Resource Planning and business software solutions across over 3000 sites in over 30 countries. K3 is recognised as a safe, innovative and reliable provider of world-class solutions built around standard Microsoft technologies, backed by world-class service.

All K3’s implementations employ a personalised and sometimes customised approach depending on size, timescales and key business issues.