Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

Lincolnshire University College chooses Symmetry to support expansion plans

- Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln employs new technology to support growth and devolve budgetary management

Bristol, UK, 25th September 2006 - Symmetry, a leading supplier of financial software has won a contract to supply Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln with its bluQube accounting system. The contract was awarded following the Lincoln-based university college’s decision to upgrade its 12 year old incumbent system to a solution that would not place any user limits on its expansion plans and enable it to embrace new electronic processes in the future. The new solution will also meet the university college’s drive towards improved reporting, greater integration and support for self-service accounting as part of its devolvement strategy.

Financial officer at Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln, Stephen Kirby explains their selection decision, “We needed to bring our accounting system into the 21st century, our existing system was very limited in its functionality and the number of users restricted. Symmetry’s bluQube was selected out of six companies based on its extended functionality, limitless expansion capabilities and the feedback we received from our users. Being web-based, the user-interface was very intuitive and our staff were very impressed with how easy bluQube is to use, other systems we looked at were far too complex.”
He continued, “To increase efficiencies across the College, we are keen to encourage as much involvement of non-finance staff as possible. It was therefore essential that the system could be used by everyone and not just our own finance team. The adoption of a devolved approach was critical to our selection. bluQube will allow budget holders to monitor and manage their own budgets”.

He continues, “The new system will also enable us to eliminate paperwork from our office environment. bluQube, working in conjunction with document management company Version One, will allow all our users to view scanned purchase invoices online. This will vastly reduce the number of man-hours we used to waste on paper based tasks”.

The new system has enabled the university college to expand its financial operation from its previous 4 users, to 7 financial professionals and 70 non-financial users as well as give it options for the future such as, e-procurement.

Kirby concludes, “So far the implementation has been a major success and I have been very impressed with the support I have received from Symmetry. We gave them a very tough installation schedule to coincide with our end of year and they have pulled out all the stops to meet our deadlines”.

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Editor’s notes:
About Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln:

Established in 1862, Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln has just been awarded full university college status and offers a diverse range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

About Symmetry:
Established in 1996, Symmetry is a software company that specialises in the development and supply of business-to-business financial solutions within the UK. The company’s core product, bluQube, is a fully integrated financial and management accounting solution aimed at organisations ranging in size from £3M turnover to £250M turnover and with user populations from 2 to 800+ users. www.bluqube.co.uk

Press Contact: Jane Moores/Sally Minchin, TTA Communications, 01225 713 137
E-mail: jmoores@ttauk.com

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