PROFILE: SOLUS
of this network, by also investing heavily in our own infrastructure. In addition to our Birmingham headquarters, three years ago we opened up a flagship showroom in the heart of Clerkenwell, London. The two-floor building gives architects and designers the opportunity to look for tile inspiration and develop design schemes and has really helped
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to raise the profile of the Solus brand.”
Business values The negative effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic on businesses are well documented, and Solus – like every other entity – has not been immune. During the UK’s lockdown this year, trading was down by around 50 per cent in
terms of sales, but there have been signs of improvement during June and July 2020. By keeping its cost base low, the company has been able to successfully keep its wheels turning and trade comfortably within its range. As Marcus is keen to point out, part of the reason for this was the company’s adoption – in late 2019 – of a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, called SAP Business One, which aims to automate key business functions in financials, operations and human resources. “SAP Business One is an all-encompassing system that covers everything from finance and accounts, to order processing, customer relationship management and warehouse management, and replaces our previous Sage 200 software,” Marcus details. “Being a cloud-based system, all that our employees need to access our entire system is a laptop or computer and an internet connection. “As you can imagine this proved absolutely vital during