Before getting into software I did my apprenticeship in Engineering Production and I have a degree in Ergonomics. Other companies that I worked for include Rolls Royce, British Aerospace, Atomic Energy Authority, Kodak, Hepworth Ceramics and British Olivetti.

Vantage IT Consultancy Ltd was incorporated in 1999. Prior to that I had been working on software development, installation, writing, sales, backup, support (and every other task known to man) for a company based in Sheffield and I was long overdue for a change.

A large proportion of my software development background has been for the Printing Industry (since around 1980). I contacted the British Printing Industries Federation (www.britishprint.com) in 1999 and I have been an Associate Consultant with them since then undertaking some interesting & varied projects. Mainly these have been with Management Information Systems (MIS) procurement but there have been some software assignments along the way.

Vantage is currently developing software systems for on-line proofing and ordering of print. (I suppose that this should really go in the News section but that would be spoiling the chase for you).

Along the way I have written systems for:

l Accounts / ledgers of all varieties.
l Loads of bespoke invoicing suites with lots of complicated bits.
l Payroll.
l Costing systems (though mainly within the printing industry the systems are widely transportable across many engineering applications).
l Estimating systems (in print for sheet fed, continuous, flexographic, envelope, packaging & carton).
l Stock Control; both raw materials & finished goods stock systems.
l Haulage Systems.
l Bonded Warehousing with web link uploads to HMCE.
l Freight Forwarding.
l Picking List & Delivery Note documentation.
l Interfaces to import / export data with other ledgers e.g. Sage & Pegasus.
l Web Applications.
l Human Resource Databases.
l Patient Records systems.
l Database designs.
l A Theatre Booking system (for a Pantomime!)
l A Marquee Rental System.
l Accounting and Stock systems for a manufacturer of Concrete Pipes.

and loads of other stuff, too much to mention.

I had known Nigel for many years and so we teamed up in 2001.

It was a natural synergy (as they say nowadays) as we don’t see one another that often. Nigel gets up late but then works through most of the night. I rise early but start to flag by around 5pm. However we reckon that between us we can offer nearly 24 hour cover!

Nigel’s bit …

After leaving University in 1983 I started designing software for a wholesale flower merchant in Derby. Their requirements were for a stock control and sales invoicing system to be integrated to their TABS accounting package. After completing the project I stayed on to run the whole IT setup but although I enjoyed this I decided it was time to look for a full-time programming job with a software house.

I found a systems house based in Derby and started by installing software packages after tailoring them to fit their many and varied customer requirements. The operating system used was Oasis, which was the forerunner to THEOS the latest version of which we still use today. THEOS can be found at www.theos-software.com. THEOS is a very robust and stable product and software that I developed back in the early & mid-eighties still has routines that are regularly used today.

After almost three years I moved to work directly for THEOS in Cheshire as a senior analyst developing software specifications and producing development and installation schedules. I also carried on programming and developing software for those clients who required bespoke work. During this time I helped develop a 4th generation programming language (4GL) used extensively to directly create software systems and this proved to be highly successful in reducing the backlog of software orders.

A couple of years later I was asked to go and work for an Importer / Wholesaler in Lancashire. I developed all of their IT systems for computerized accounting and stock control. I introduced barcode systems for their warehouse stock control together with dependant printing of barcodes for sales to certain retail outlets that were just starting to install barcode scanners on their tills (such as B&Q, Texas DIY, Focus etc). The systems called for multi-currency stock control to enable importing of goods from around the world.

I developed some early CRM software to assist the sales personnel with records of conversations, letters, faxes and eventually e-mails with building companies. I helped produce the software that was required for the company to become a plc and developed the hardware and cabling required to sustain the large number of new users required when they moved into their new warehouse.

By this time other customers became interested in the software and I set up in business on my own. I started to work as outsourced support for some previous clients and I developed a number of new systems during this time including some complex POS facilities.

I also developed a fully logged Job Tracking system that provides the client with an End-to-End Quotation-to-Invoice system. It links with photo-software for pictures of the job and scanned images of documents. It links both standard letters and quotations with held data and produces Microsoft Word documents. It also integrates with Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to create details for customers and job instigators.

I worked with a conveyor belt/chain manufacturer in a project to deal with their complicated stock control and its links with CAD/CAM systems.

In 2001 I joined forces with Eric and since then developed more software including a specialized stock control system for a company that recycles waste products from manufacturing processes and Brownfield brick sites.

The stock that enters the site invariably belongs to the customer and the weight that passes through the weighbridge has to be entered and then reduced when dried, processed and then waste weight removed at each process before sending the final weight back to the customer. This is automatically invoiced once the job is completed.

Recently I have been developing a stock control system that allows the user to view the original purchase orders and invoices (scanned into system) and see all the issues from stock and view the sales orders and sales invoices created by the system, eventually being replaced by scanned copies of those order/invoices. The stock is based at multiple locations in the country and has to be sourced appropriately for the sales. The stock is designed to take this into account. Every transaction through the stock is date / time / user stamped for full traceability. The system also allows for quarantine of stock and bad/reject stock. It has been designed for linking into the current sales ordering system. The sales picking list has also been altered to print details of what is to be picked from each location, printing multiple copies at the appropriate printer.

Finally if you have this sort of background, grey hair and enjoy red wine, then you might like to join us in Vantage. Drop us a line on the Contact Us page.