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COMPANY PROFILE NEIL MCQUILLAN, MD Citrus-Lime What shows will you be attending in the next 12 months? We are sponsoring the BikeBiz Awards at the Cycle Show and will be exhibiting again at Core Bike in January. Can you tell us about the workshop module in Citrus-Lime’s software? The workshop module calendars each job, tracking it from start to finish. It records each part used and labour, automatically emailing or texting customers on job completion. It’s fully integrated into the Microsoft EPOS system and allows bike shops to manage their workshops in a more efficient, profitable and less stressful way. How’s business? Business is going well. Like everyone we were concerned about the economy and its effect on retail, yet so far we have continued to grow. We are fully committed to the cycle trade and it’s one of only two that we serve – the other being the outdoor trade. In both sectors most of the retailers we work with are reporting growth, although at a lower rate than before the recent economic woes in most cases.
TEL: 0845 6039254 WEB: www.citruslime.com Why should dealers get in touch and what demonstrations are available? Citrus-Lime offers a fully integrated business solution for cycle retailers including stock control, EPOS, workshop management and e-commerce. We offer a full software demo, either face-to-face or online. There is no commitment at this stage and we are happy to talk to any dealers in the cycle sector. How many dealers are you currently servicing in this country? We work with 15 UK dealers, with just over half having EPOS and e-commerce. We also have a number of dealers in the pipeline with roll-outs scheduled for the coming months and we are happy to organise conversations between dealers about to purchase one of our systems and our existing dealers. We are working with Avon Valley Cyclery, Alan’s, the Giant stores and Surosa Cycles. Tell us about your work with Giant: We have been working with Giant Store Cambridge to integrate the franchise’s EPOS system with those at Giant UK. It allows them to check stock availability in Giant’s warehouses in real time from
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the POS and purchase order modules. The system also reports sales to Giant’s stock control systems in real time, fully automating replenishment. This kind of integrated supply chain is the future of retail and we want to help the sector embrace this technology to make life simpler and improve customer service. What kind of backup service is available for customers? I know that one of the reasons IBDs often give us for replacing existing system with ours is not because of the increased functionality, but due to a lack of support from their existing suppliers. We’re not a one-man-band outfit; we have a dedicated support team and a ticket-based support system. We aim to resolve problems quickly and have a real commitment to our customers. What can Citrus-Lime offer that competitor services can’t? We offer Microsoft’s EPOS system which provides a dependable core for business, and provides fully integrated e-commerce solutions. We’ve detailed knowledge of the cycle trade and are committed to helping customers improve their businesses.
“One of the reasons IBDs often give us for replacing their existing system with ours is because of our increased support.” Neil McQuillan, Citrus-Lime
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