Outsource Management Services

Partner:BFS & MSIF

Region:North West

Location:Wigan

Programme:Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund

Software provider Outsource Management Services (OMS) has secured investment of £55,000 from NPIF – BFS & MSIF Microfinance,– a fund managed by GC Business Finance in partnership with MSIF and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).

OMS has developed Vitesse, a cloud-based productivity management tool that delivers real time analytics to help businesses managing supply chains or warehouses to reduce operating costs and improve efficiency by providing full visibility of the performance of every activity, process or procedure.

Having already established itself as a successful challenger brand and with turnover doubling year on year, Vitesse is now being adopted by a growing number of household name retailers, warehouses and supply chain organisations. The subscription-based software solution is able to match resources with demand, to cost orders accurately as well as analysing staff activity ensuring that companies are able to reduce downtime, optimize productivity and to create a fair and transparent working environment. Unlike conventional systems which only track output units per hour, Vitesse builds a range of other key factors into its analysis from warehouse size to parcel weight which creates a fairer and far more accountable logistics and staff performance data map.

OMS will use the new funding injection from NPIF to create five full time customer service roles based in Wigan and servicing the company’s countrywide client base, to further develop the Vitesse software and subscription service, and to bring to market a number of other products that are already in the pipeline.

OMS is run by Managing Director, Martin O’ Grady and Chief Technology Officer, Gareth Dodd both former directors of the Caudwell Group and having held senior logistics and IT roles at the Hut Group, Iceland and Brightstar.

Gareth Dodd, Chief Technology Officer of OMS said: “Warehousing and logistics businesses will usually have full visibility of where and how well utilised all their vehicles are. They will also know exactly where all their inventory is, it’s value and stock-turn. However, when it comes to one of their biggest operating expenditure; people, they have little to no information. How well utilised are they? How well balanced across teams and departments are they? What processes are stopping them from achieving their potential? Who needs additional training? In times of constrained labour supply, likely to become more acute with Brexit, retaining, training, incentivising and measuring staff fairly are not luxuries – they are essential. Vitesse is a cloud-based, easy to deploy solution that helps businesses grapple with these issues, improve profitability and treat people fairly.

“We are delighted to be able to invest the NPIF funding into really building our sales team to ensure that we are able to reach and meet with the customers who are hearing about and wanting to trial our product.”

Mark Gibbons of GC Business Finance said: “Martin and Gareth have developed a highly innovative and competitive product that offers many more relevant functions than anything else o the market. Not only will it help save companies money from wasted man hours, it also improves management skills by allowing the business to build a true picture of the work needed to produce its orders and to reward and incentivize the teams delivering them.

“Having already exceeded their growth targets for last year, this funding injection will enable OMS to put in place their ambitious expansion plans and to really shake up the market with this and a range of other products.” 

Sue Barnard, Senior Manager at British Business Bank, said: “OMS provides significant benefits to its clients, helping businesses to manage supply chains and reduce their operating costs. The company has established itself as a well-known business, and it is good to that  NPIF has supported  its further growth as it looks to create jobs and develop new products.”

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

The MSIF group of funds are managed by Alliance Fund Managers Limited which is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the course of investment business. Financial Conduct Authority Registration Number is 180891.

BFS Funding Managers Limited is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a Small Authorised UK AIFM under firm reference number 608682.

Editors Notes