The Golden Quarter - Bransom celebrate 25 years of NAG support

From 'NAG computer package' to 'Bransom Stock Management system' and, more recently, 'bsmart' (see page 5) the quarter-century relationship between the National Association of Goldsmiths and ourselves has always been innovation-rich. Now, some 700 installations later, we (and NAG members) still benefit from the close relationship that enables us to understand this fast-changing and ever-challenging trade, and develop our award-winning system accordingly.

First developed for Winegarten Jewellers of London with eight shops in 1979, before being further expanded for Zales with over 100 shops in 1980, a year later, the first jewellery-specific EPOS tills were installed at Time Jewellers in Jersey, who went on to own 30 shops. In the early 1980s the NAG were looking for a system to recommend to their members and, after investigating several, they selected Bransom. A party of leading jewellers worked closely with us to create a system suitable to the membership as a whole by simplifying processes and producing a range of reports and analyses to help jewellers run their businesses better. The philosophy and approach taken then still applies today: designing systems around best practice with the highest attention to detail; simple to operate, with minimal work for maximum return. Delivering these benefits has created a company that strives to help and support jewellers with every aspect of their business to this day.

Bransom moves to Hemel Hempstead - site marks improved facilities and easy accessibility

After a two-year search for new offices close to the M1/M25 (in addition to easy access to Luton airport and with good train connections with London), we are pleased to announce our relocation to Hemel Hempstead. Providing the additional space we need, we have installed a state of the art phone system and the latest Cat6 cabling for faster networking, VoIP (voiceover IP) and video conferencing to create a first rate support centre. Our relocation marks the start of many exciting new developments for us. The new servers will improve our internal reliability and security while ensuring we survive a terrorist attack (techies, they always want something new to play with!); it will also enhance our connectivity and ability to respond and update our clients’ systems easily. The larger build area will enable us to prepare more systems and help us better cope with rescheduling issues and repairs. During the forthcoming year we will be organising workshops around the country as well as utilising our dedicated training studio to hold even more of our ever-popular workshops in-house.

A word from Chris Garland - Bransom Managing Director Chris Garland reflects on the most successful year ever, and looks ahead to a glittering 2008

Christopher Garland, from ex-England rugby player to MD of the trade's largest and most successful IT company – Bransom Retail Systems Ltd. Chris has spent the last 27 years developing specialist stock management solutions for the jewellery trade. He helped design the first commercial computer imaging system for the jewellery trade as far back as 1984.

2007 has been our most successful and challenging year ever, with the launch of bsmart, new technologies and getting to grips with all the exciting new developments from our programming team. In addition, the development of a new suite of conversion programmes has seen a record number of new customers transferring from other systems with minimal effort. This has helped us achieve yet another year of increased sales and on top of all the upgrades to bsmart, we have converted clients from 12 different competitor systems this year (causing a few grey hairs along the way). I'm very proud of how the Bransom team has coped with massive changes, a huge workload and continual rescheduling (due mainly to delays in clients' computer suppliers and shop fitters), all of which have put enormous pressure on everyone. We have also been working closely with Fields, the fastest growing retail jeweller in the country, converting their data from Microsoft Great Plains System and developing a new multi-currency pricing module as well as redeveloping the system to cope with multiple distribution points and assay consignments. We were also delighted to take on MacIntyres of Edinburgh, a very wellestablished wholesale jeweller with a large corporate business alongside a traditional retail shop in Livingston. MacIntyres needed a lot of development to cater to their corporate and wholesale business, which is ex-VAT, and the retail arm, which works to different pricing calculations. The year hasn't passed without a few challenges, the most difficult being trying to link clients' old equipment to the latest technologies and helping our UNIX clients to embrace Windows. One client was on the phone for 15 minutes being talked through how to do something using a mouse for the first time, before the helpdesk person realised the client had the mouse upside down! While upgrading to bsmart is straightforward for clients with computers that are only a few years old, users with older equipment are taking the opportunity to embrace new technologies and upgrade their internal computer systems. This year also saw a record number of clients redeveloping or opening new shops, which meant a lot of hard work and overtime in order to cope with demand. To say that 2007 has been challenging is an understatement and to have achieved so much in one year is a testament to the professionalism of every member of the Bransom team. Well done! I would also like to thank our clients for their loyalty and, at times, patience and understanding. We have a fantastic product and a great team. And we've enjoyed working with you. 2008 already looks to be another busy year with a full order book for the first quarter and many exciting new projects scheduled including: ew customer module, roll-out of TH March insurance at point of sale, closer integration with suppliers and buying groups, automatic image importing, new ordering module and new workshops… The list goes on! I look forward to seeing you all in 2008!
Chris Garland

Beauty and the Best - Bransom are first to launch new EPOS equipment.

Bransom has been chosen by its French partner Aures Technologies to be the first to launch the new range of Odysee tills in the UK. The unveiling of the new equipment will take place at the Spring Fair on Sunday 3rd February.
We are very excited to be chosen to launch this new range of EPOS equipment which brings together the beauty of French design with the best of technology and power needed at the point of sale in the 21st century. Chris Garland says: “This is just what we've been waiting for. As soon as I saw the new range I knew it would be a winner – the French are renowned for their design flair, and they have now matched it with power and price.
“When it comes to beauty and power, the Odysee range is in a class of its own and, in an industry where design, luxury and elegance are so important, the Odysee is a winner. We are consistently seeing high demand from jewellers wanting their EPOS tills to blend in with their designer stores,” says Garland. “However, with clients having 50,000 to 100,000 plus customers on their databases, and an ever-increasing number of images, there is also the need for powerful retail-grade computers.” The trailblazing product is being kept top secret until the launch, so you will have to come to the show (for more details on the Spring Fair, see below) to see the new range of equipment.

More Customer Workshops - Training schedule for 2008 unveiled

Workshops provide the opportunity for customers to meet each other and share experience and knowledge. In our training programme we teach best practice and help jewellers analyse their business to improve stockturn and profitability. Reduced stock holding, less old stock, increased sales, higher ticket prices and greater profits – our attention to detail and ability to help make a difference is still the primary reason we remain the company of choice for jewellers. Please contact Tracy Burnett for further information and/or to reserve a place on any of the above workshops. Email: tracy@bransom.co.uk

Stand B585 2nd - 5th September 2008. For over 20 years Bransom have been attending the jewellery industry's most prestigious events and one of the most important is the IJL show in London.

2008 will see many new and exciting developments including insurance at PoS with T.H. March. Come and see what's new - We look forward to seeing you at the show

It’s Not Just The Money - Says NAG Chief Executive Michael Hoare

According to the British Retail Consortium's 2007 Retail Crime Survey (published last October), the value of goods stolen from shops is at a tenyear high and violent acts against retail staff have risen 50 per cent in a year. The survey, which concentrated on detected theft where the thief was actually caught and prosecuted, showed that losses rose 8.5 per cent from £189 million to £205 million in a year. It also
revealed the alarming rise in violence aimed at shop workers. Regrettably, many jewellers can attest to the human cost of crime in terms of injury, stress and anxiety that makes the financial loss pale into insignificance. There is little doubt that smaller businesses bear the brunt of this onslaught as opportunist criminals, deterred by the sophisticated measures now employed by cash handlers, banks and other traditional targets, and displaced by town centre CCTV, look for softer targets. With this in mind, the National Association of Goldsmiths has joined forces with "Training For Success" to bring jewellers a series of nationwide events aimed at mitigating and managing the effects of violent crime. Please contact the NAG Education & Training Department on 020 7613 4445 (option 1) to receive details of a venue near you.

VISTA – Is It For You?

bsmart is already supported on Windows Vista, the latest version of Windows to appear on PCs. There are a myriad of versions of Vista available: We support Vista Business, as the home versions are lacking various networking components. We also support Vista Ultimate. As ever with new versions of Windows, Bransom recommends waiting until the first Service Pack before putting your faith in this operating system. We have several sites running bsmart on Vista with no problems (other than the usual glitches that a new operating system always comes with). For clients currently using Windows XP Professional there is certainly no need to rush to update, as we have found XP to be the most stable system to come out of Microsoft.