Start Software, based in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, was established 10 years ago by Robin Bennett and currently has a team of five people. The company offers a variety of packaged management software systems, including Tracker for environmental consultancies, Asbestos Tracker and  Toy Tracker, and is an accredited partner for Pocket PC mobile devices. It also offers bespoke software development services and consultancy. 

The company works with a broad range of customers from small businesses through to multi-nationals, charitable organisations and government departments. 

“Our products are designed to help simplify and speed up processes, regardless of the industry,” states Robin Bennett, Director of Start Software. “We aim to save a company time and money, and give their employees the facility to do their job to the best of their ability.”

In the 2009 ICT Excellence Awards, Start Software was recognised as winner of the Chair’s Award for Excellence for Social, Environmental and Economic Impact and Highly Commended in the Best Added Value Product Category for its Total Diet Management v3 (TDMv3) product.  TDMv3 enables dairy farmers to maximise their profit margin by analysing the cost and formulation of their feed against the value of the milk produced.  Robin comments: “The award recognised that TDMv3 was innovative, has a potential global market, and was beneficial in terms of farm profitability as well as improving the welfare of the cows.”

Start has recently launched Start Services a new set of IT auditing and due diligence services.  The IT auditing service is designed to give the directors of a business a comprehensive and easy-to-understand report on the IT systems, infrastructure and staff within a business. The due diligence reports are used by businesses considering the acquisition of another company; to ensure that they understand fully what it is that they are proposing to buy.  Business transfer agents, solicitors and accountants also use the new services when completing the due diligence process during company purchases.

Robin Bennett helps to explain his company’s success: “The IT market changes at phenomenal speed, but we make a point of keeping abreast of the latest developments, in particular through close contact with Microsoft through the Microsoft Partner Program. In return our customers value our responsiveness and our flexibility.”

Robin adds: “I also believe in hard work, listening to the clients’ requirements and am lucky to work alongside a dedicated team of staff.”

Start Software is proud of its West Midlands heritage.  “We are local people and therefore wanted to base our business in the region,” clarifies Robin.  It also makes sense as our customers are located all over the UK and the West Midlands acts as a perfect central base from which to deliver our systems.” As well as its involvement in the ICT Cluster award scheme, Start Software has used Business Link as a source of funding and advice.
 
The company’s plans for the future include expanding its workforce with junior developers to work on a number of new projects which the company has lined up; including the development of a new system for a local company to improve their factory processes and efficiency.  “It’s important that we maintain the good relationship we have with our existing clients and ensure that their systems run as smoothly as possible whilst continuing to make enhancements,” concludes Robin.

For more information on Start Software, please contact:
Name: Robin Bennett
Phone: + 44 (0)845 612 2402      
Fax: 44 (0)845 612 2401
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.start-software.co.uk