Proactis celebrates major US contract

The Wetherby-based group develops and licenses procurement software to help companies and organisations cut the cost of buying.

Proactis said it has signed up the unnamed Fortune 100 company to streamline its purchase-to-pay processes.

Proactis chief executive Rod Jones said: "We are delighted that one of the largest publicly owned manufacturers in the world has selected Proactis to improve its financial control and compliance with organisational buying policies and standards."

The initial contract, worth a minimum of 320,000 for three years, will help to achieve process efficiencies, deliver cashable economies of scale and reduce error and waste across the American company's purchase-to-pay cycle.

The software will be deployed remotely, or 'in the cloud', using high-security data centres.

"We are seeing an increased demand for cloud-based e-Procurement solutions and flexible licensing models," said Mr Jones. "We look forward to working with this Fortune 100 company, another major win in the US for Proactis."

Proactis has more than 350 customers across the private, public and not-for-profit spheres. These include global law firm Clifford Chance and commercial property giant CB Richard Ellis.

Proactis believes it can capitalise on belt-tightening among businesses and public sector organisations as the UK braces itself for a period of constrained spending.

The company hopes to benefit from the UK spending review as it forces public sector bodies to cut costs.

Mr Jones said: "There's been no common sense in the public sector for years. The public sector can make huge gains.

"If you take five per cent (of an organisation's budget) out they will carry on doing what they are doing. If you take 25 per cent out, they cannot. They have got to change."

The public sector now accounts for a quarter of Proactis's sales and it added eight new accounts in its last financial year to give it 113 public sector customers.

Mr Jones said the high cost of orders in the public sector means belt-tightening councils are still licensing its software, despite it costing upwards of 200,000.

"The cost of a public sector paper order, regardless of the goods that are on it, is about 75," he said. "You are placing that order in a very inefficient way. You are tying gold bars around an order.

"It's about 10 per cent of that if you trade electronically. You get payback in less than six months."

Proactis's software is used by all staff within an organisation, streamlining the number of orders and suppliers, negotiating the best prices, and allowing big companies to use their buying clout more effectively.

Proactis has sales offices in Wetherby, South Wales and the United States.