It's been a while...

I know it's been a while since our last post but didn't want to "give up the ghost" with this Blog or start to use Twitter instead, so hear goes...

Firstly, allow me to apologise for the length in time between the last post but it just shows what a Summer (not weather wise) we at Eventura have had.

Since our last post we have welcomed a new face to the Eventura flock, Andrew 'Andy' Valentine, to take some of the increased workload off our Dedicated Technical Support Team. We also roped in the help of Christopher Houghton Jr, fresh from his 1st Year at University of Liverpool, for his Summer Internship. Before the Summer Holidays began, we had the help of a young man named Luke, who was working with Eventura as part of his Work Experience program. He was treated with the full respect of a full time employee (he only made himself a brew!) and upon his departure stated that he took away some sound advice and hands on experience that will hopefully help him further his career in IT in the near future. Good Luck Luke!

Unfortunately, we have also said goodbye to two more faces.

Dannielle, who formed part of the Accounts & Admin team has left to pursue her long term dream of living and working in her Father's home country of Malta. We wish her the best of luck in her new role as Junior Accountant at a Global Fund Management Company.

Also Bill (one of the original 2 founders of Eventura) has decided to take early retirement from Full Time IT Consultancy to continue as Director of a partner Spreadsheet Automation and Business Systems Organisation. Again we wish him the very best of luck in his new venture and express our gratitude for his contribution to Eventura's success over his years of service.

With regards to Customers, TV & Video Direct, based in Bolton, 'finally' went Live on Sage 200 and most recently Medicina, again based in Bolton, have just signed off two projects for Sage BI and Sage CRM!!! Also in the mix was EDES and Heathcotes who went live with Sage 50, Cruise 118, All About Food and Four Financial all taking out Eventura's Total Care Maintenance Support Contract.

So as you can see it's been a busy couple of months!!!

Finally before I sign off for another prolonged period, we would like to take this opportunity to express our congratulations to an existing customer of our's Gaist for there recent success in the Regional Final of Britain's Largest Business Pitching Competition "The Pitch 2010", sponsored by Sage. We wish them the best of luck for the UK Final that takes place in November.

-Aaron

Congratulations....

A HUGE congratulations has to go to our very own Ian Saunders and his lovely NEW wife Rachel Saunders (formally Brady) for finally tieing the knot.

The auspicious occasion was held at The Orangery, Heaton Park on Saturday 10th April 2010 and was celebrated with Family, Friends and Work Colleagues alike. They then jetted off to (hopefully) Sunny Portugal for the Honeymoon.

Here's to many more year's of happiness, joy and breakfast in bed....or is the breakfast in bed just a myth? ;-)

-Aaron

Working together...

As the region's number one Sage Business Partner and IT solutions provider, we're delighted to have been personally recommended to and chosen by George Moss and Sons Ltd (www.georgemoss.co.uk) to support and look after their computer systems!

George Moss and Sons Ltd own and operate the prestigious Moss Industrial Estate in Leigh, Wigan with a central location and excellent transport links making it the ideal choice for commercial warehousing, industrial units, workshops, storage units, offices and retail outlets in the North West of England.

Offering the very best in terms of building quality, estate security, service, environment and flexible leasing options, Moss Industrial Estate is more akin to a modern business park than an industrial estate.

We look forward to a long and successful working relationship.

-Bill

Eventura in Sage’s premier League

Eventura was delighted to be notified by Sage today that we are number two out of 150 SBD Sage business partners who sell, install and support Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is Eventura’s very best ever position and is a tribute to the efforts of the entire Eventura team who’s efforts result in satisfied clients who consistently refer us to their own peers and it demonstrates that massive enthusiasm, effort and professionalism coupled with a Down to Earth Approach to Business Computing can overcome difficult trading conditions.

Whilst Eventura pride ourselves as being the very best Sage Partner in Bolton and surrounding areas, it is a boost to us all to receive National recognition.

To all Eventura clients and prospective clients, please be advised as you approach the Financial Year End that there are huge advantages in upgrading older versions of Sage software which can provide fiscal and legislative requirements as well as key business features and ongoing support availability. If you want to hear more, at no cost or obligation, please give us a call…

-Bill

More Exam Success

Danielle has ...

PASSED AAT LEVEL 3 !!!!! Wahoo...

-Chris

Aaron’s & Danielle’s 21st Birthday

The biggest significance of the 21st birthday is that it is the moment where someone turns into an “adult”. The age of 21 is widely considered to be the age where you are no longer dependant on your parents. You are completely out of the ‘teen bracket’ with no turning back: you're an adult. You've had a few years to get over the "let’s go get drunk!” stage, probably moved out of your parents home and have been in the work force for a number of years, getting your adult life on track.

Considering all of the above, Aaron & Danielle decided to do something different for their 21^st birthdays. Something unique. Not the usual unruly pub crawls through town. Something they would remember. Something special…

They decided to go…PAINTBALLING!!!

We met at 9.15am sharp outside Delta Force’s Zuluwood Paintballing Centre with an army of friends, family and co-workers - most of us with game plans in mind, others just to go out and let off some steam! The group of 16 were divided for the day into two teams of 8 - Purples versus Yellows. After the first couple of games both teams were tied on points and it went to down to the very last game to decide the overall winners. Purple team won in style as Aaron, in the last game, retrieved the Yellow’s flag to clinch all 10 points.

The day ended on a high and although tired, aching and bruised, a select few braved the Bolton nightlife to put an end to highly successful, and thoroughly enjoyable day.

And they all lived happily ever after…

The End.

-Danielle

Bolton’s city bid

Bolton is entering the race to be granted city status in 2012.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson announced on January 5 that a national competition for city status would be held to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

And civic leaders have now confirmed that they are bidding to become a city.

Read the full article here.

New Year

A belated Happy New Year to all.

January's been a little busy, tying up loose ends from the festive period, so we've not had chance to blog.

Normal service should be returned soon.

- Ian

Eventura Leads the Way

As of Tuesday 15th December, Eventura became the 1st Sage Business Partner in the country to become accredited for the latest release of Sage 50 Payroll, an achievement that is something to be proud of! This now means that for yet another year Eventura can sell, implement and support the Sage Payroll software that integrates seamlessly with it's other accounts packages Sage 50 Accounts (formerly Line 50) and Sage 200 (MMS). Visit our website to request more information http://www.eventura.com/

In other news, the next release of Sage 200 (2010), set to launch in Spring 2010, now includes the highly useful Business Intelligence reporting tool as part of the base package. To be able to sell and implement this product, two Eventura employees travelled from Bolton to Sage HQ in Newcastle for an intense three day training course that included an accreditation exam to become certified re-sellers. One of the employees passed the exam in a fifth of the allocated time, much to the dismay of the collection of rival Sage Business Partners and Sage Employees! Once again this further accreditation enables Eventura to sell the next release of Sage 200 and successfully implement the powerful reporting tool that is Business Intelligence. For more information about Eventura please visit the above website or for more information on Sage 200 and Business Intelligence then please visit the Sage website http://www.sage.co.uk/software_and_services/business-wide_solutions/sage_200_suite.aspx

-Aaron

HMRC NEWS from Eventura

VAT Rate

Firstly, on Jan 1 2010, the VAT rate is going to change back to 17.5% and this is set to affect almost every business.

EC Sales List Submissions

Secondly, from the same date, it won't only be sales of goods to the EC that need to go on all EC Sales List submissions - sales of services must be recorded too. This will affect your business if you're registered for VAT in the UK and supply services to traders registered for VAT in other EC Member states.

VAT Filing

Thirdly, under Government proposals many businesses will need to start submitting their VAT returns online after Apr 1 2010. This will apply to all businesses who are VAT registered and have a turnover of more than £100,000, as well as those businesses who register for VAT after Apr 1 2010. All other businesses can continue to file on paper, at least for the time being.

-Lesley

Yet more exam success...:-)

On Tuesday the 10th November two more Eventura employee's, Aaron and Chris (MD), passed four Sage exams between them! With a session that started at 14:00 and ended at 19:00 the two employees (one impaired with a viral infection!), managed to breeze through the Sage Business Partner Certification for Sage 50 Accounts 2010 and Sage Business Intelligence. This now means that Eventura are again OFFICIALLY certified to sell, implement, train, configure and support the Sage 50 Accounts software (aka Line 50). To complete the Sage Business Intelligence certification, the two employees will be attending a three day course in Sage's home city, Newcastle, followed by yet another exam! Here's hoping we catch up to Will and his numerous Microsoft Specialist Qualifications.

-Aaron

Eventura International Press Release

Eventura Announces Strategic Alliance with Visual 2000 International.

Bolton, England. - November 1st, 2009

Eventura, the UK Fashion ERP Supplier has signed a strategic alliance with Visual 2000 of Montreal, Canada for the provision of Visual 2000.Net across EMEA region.

Eventura now has an end to end offering for small and medium sized organizations in the Apparel, Footwear and Accessories (AFA) industry. In conjunction with their Sage 200 Fashion offering, the new Product Life Management (PLM) offering provides clients with capabilities to manage the design, sourcing and collaboration of their suppliers and customers. This is achieved through the powerful browser based Product Lifecycle Management tool “Visual PLM.net™.”

News Facts

The agreement allows Eventura to sell Visual PLM.net™ throughout Europe and both companies have agreed on a process to allow Visual PLM.net™ clients to operate support through Eventura’s European operations backed by the author, Visual 2000, based in Montreal, Canada.

Speaking on behalf of Eventura, Chris Houghton, Managing Director says ‘We are delighted to be announcing our partnership with Visual 2000. This relationship started some time ago following an excellent score from WhichPLM?™ which had benchmarked the system against the PLM competition. Since then, we have successfully proved the integration with our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) offerings to the market. The enhanced functionality compared to its competition, combined with the thin client architecture gives our clients an easy and powerful method to deploy across the supply chain.’

Charles Benoualid, Visual 2000’s VP of Research and Development, added ‘This alliance only strengthens our global coverage and helps us provide a consolidated approach to the product life management process of the industries we serve. There are strong resources available to both companies and a lot of knowledge is to be shared between us. We see this as a positive step forwards for the industry and believe it will bring great benefit to each of us. Eventura has developed as a strong association in the Apparel, Footwear and Accessories industry and we see the synergy of the two organizations only increasing.’

About Eventura

Eventura is a business systems supplier to the Apparel, Footwear and Accessories (AFA) industry within the UK and mainland Europe. It is a fully accredited Microsoft™ and Sage™ business partner and offers a wide range of computer services to its clients in the small and mid market sectors. It is headquartered in the northwest of England and it can boast previous clients spread throughout Europe including such names as Ashworth, Jimmy Choo, Diadora, Jockey, Pringle of Scotland, Rectella and Umbro to name a few. For more information please visit our website at http://www.eventura.com.

About Visual PLM.net™

Visual PLM.net™ is a best of breed, full featured Product Lifecycle Management software solution. A multi Platform browser based client, Visual PLM.net™, includes PDM, Merchandise Planning, Multi level Project Management, User and Role based Calendars, Automated internal and external Notification System, Field Based Workflow management, Formulas (Validations, Costing), PDM Interface Designer, Search Designer, Data Integration Manager, Dynamic Reporting Tool

About Visual 2000 International

Visual 2000 International Inc is a leading provider of Software Solutions to the AFA, Apparel, Footwear and Accessories industry. For more information about Visual 2000 International, please visit our Web site at http://www.visual-2000.com

Trademarks

Visual PLM.net™ is a registered trademark of Visual 2000 International.

Contact Information
Farhat Awan Visual 2000 USA +1.888.386.4006 farhat@visual-2000.com	William Isherwood Eventura +44.1204.392900 isherb@eventura.com	Alain Perez Visual 2000 International +1.888.386.4006 alain@visual-2000.com

More Qualifications

Just a quick blog note to report of exam success in the field of Microsoft Certification. Today I achieved (deep breath) Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Server Administrator. This involved lots of late night studying, and was completed over 3 exams, scoring 95%, 100% and 90%. Here's laying down a challenge to the rest of the team to get some more certification - it's really very achievable!

Next up on the agenda is going to be the Windows 7 one I think, now it is released Microsoft have issued exams for it. We're all using it in the office (apart from the straggling sticks-in-the-mud amongst us) and we are really happy with it, so time to get some certifications I feel. Here's a challenge to the rest of the team, "Let's have a race!" :)

-Will

Congratulations, Danielle!

Danielle has passed her level 3 ECR (Recording and Evaluating Costs and Revenues) AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) exam. You may remember that she passed her level 2 only 2 months ago.

Well done from all the team!

-Ian

Jerry Glover MBE

In one of the more appropriate / corporate photographs to come out of the Bolton Beer Festival, Jerry Glover MBE, Chief Executive at Bolton Lads & Girls Club, raises a glass with Eventura MD Chris Houghton.

-Ian

Jeb's Jobs

Speaking of technical support, you might enjoy this short- we did!

linked from Google Video.

-Bill

The Art of Technical Support

Although it's over 10 years old now,
“Seven Rules for being a Great Help Desk Analyst” by Pat Vickers' is an insightful and considered approach to Technical Support:

A good help desk analyst is hard to find. Ask any help desk manager and you will be told that staffing is by far the biggest headache of the job. The worst part is that just when the weeks of searching and months of on-the-job training are beginning to pay off, the good ones move on to greener pastures. It seems like a vicious cycle.

While finding and keeping good people will always be an issue, there are seven rules that make it possible for anyone who is intelligent and computer literate to be a great help desk analyst. Not only will they be great help desk pros, but they may actually like their jobs.

Hopefully, our Eventura technicians have a good grasp of these rules already...

-Ian

For mere mortals

For those of you who are not invited to the hospitality suites at the Reebok Stadium, please see the Eventura sponsored perimeter board which faces away from the ground and the majority of supporters and TV cameras.

However we are sure it is increasing our profile to the Movers and Shakers of Bolton who are looking for business computing partners or Sage specialists.

-Bill

It's the biggest piece of design work I've done so far!

-Ian

A long time coming...

You may recall that nearly 3 months ago, Will passed his Microsoft Small Business Specialist exams.

He has now recieved his certificate from Microsoft- As a PDF file! Looks like everyone's saving paper these days...

-Ian

Nearly Open

As part of a national roll-out, the next Home Curtains & Bedding shop opens in Bolton's Crompton Place Shopping Centre on the 19th September 2009. We visited on the prior Thursday during the fit out, staff training and general kerfuffle.


The person stooped in the photo is Sean, the Northern Sales Manager; he is not always like this - I don’t think he is related to Max Wall (for our older readers)...


More than twenty of these stores initially will be running Sage Point of Sale Software, linked back to headquarters where the main business systems reside. There will be more stores – still to be announced - as well as concessions in many well-known larger stores. All of the tills, computers, systems and communications are provided and supported by Eventura in Bolton – Greater Manchester’s premier Sage Business partner.


Currently there are over 20 stores selling a great range of curtains and bedding at super prices. To mark the opening of this store (only a short walk from Eventura’s own offices in the centre of Bolton) we are giving a free handy microfibre cleaning cloth to the first few hundred customers (while stocks last), and to anyone else on request via Eventura’s website. These cloths are ideal for cleaning your screen (car, TV or terminal), spectacles or polishing your valuables - jewellery or knickknacks.


The HC&B colleague responsible for rolling out the stores nationally is Alison Burney. Somehow she keeps smiling despite the inevitable snags and tribulations – WELL DONE ALI!


So, feel free to call into one of the Home Curtains & Bedding outlets for a wonderful range of home textiles, or call Eventura for a super range of Business Systems with a “Down To Earth Approach”

-Bill

Beer Festivals in the Bolton News

The Bolton News has recently written about the Bolton Beer Festival. Eventura gets a great mention as a Super Patron of Bolton Lads and Girls Club, and about designing the Beer Festival Website.

Eventura owner Chris Houghton said: “It’s a great cause to support and as far as I know it is an annual event that raises the most money for the lads club.

“We have designed the website and we are the main glass sponsor this year so our name will be on every glass.

“The beer festival is a great event which is celebrated by companies and individuals and all those volunteers who give their time free to help raise cash for the lads club.”

Read the full article at the Bolton News Site. Cheers!

-Ian

Beer Festival

Eventura are proud to to sponsor the next business breakfast at Bolton Lads & Girls Club to announce the new Bolton Beer Festival website.

The Festival has run for a number of years now, but 2009 is the first year that the festival organisers have been able to offer glass and barrel sponsorships, and festival entry tickets through an ecommerce enabled website.

So get across to the site and buy your tickets or arrange your sponsorship today, and help support a great cause.

-Ian

Success AAT Eventura!

Congratulations to two Eventura employees, who have passed more exams as part of their continuous professional development as Accounting Technicians.

Aaron Blake Business Consultant passed his AAT Level 4 Diploma as an Accounting Technician.

“I feel relieved that the exams are now over! I have been studying for over a year now. I am very grateful and thank Eventura for providing me with this opportunity to develop my accountancy skills. In the future I would love to become a chartered account and possibly open up a chartered accountancy firm of my own in the UK or overseas”

Danielle Houghton has also passed her AAT Level 2 after only 4 months of studying!

“I am amazed and totally overwhelmed that I have passed the first level of the AAT in such a short time. I thank both my employer and my training provider for their constant support and encouragement. I only received my results on Monday and by Tuesday I was given the new Tutorials for my Level 3 work!”

Eventura recognise the benefits of apprenticeship schemes and allow their apprentices time out of work to go into their colleges to study and take exams. As a company we gain a highly motivated and loyal workforce that helps boost productivity and makes a positive difference to our business from day one, and individuals concerned can continue to improve their skills and career prospects whilst furthering their learning and earning a wage.

For more information about the AAT Course and Qualifications please visit www.aat.org.uk

With special thanks to tutors at Bolton Community College and Angela Brown of Damar Training.

-Danielle

Tills R Us

What’s the collective for a group of Tills? How about a spaghetti? or a bird snest(sic)?

We recently had the sheer joy of assembling, installing and testing twenty customer tills at the same time. These will initially feed back into our client’s existing Movex system and Sage200. Our board room was turned into a mixture of Mission Control and the aftermath of an explosion in a computer jumble sale. Hopefully they will be boxed and shipped out this week and we can have our posh room back.

Twenty new stores, tills, broadband, new sets of remote users – I think our help desk is in for interesting times :)

The spooky thing was I had to go with one of my girls (the dragonnettes) on Sunday to a large (well known) hardware store. She really needed a garden pond pump, but had discovered they were selling off bankrupt stocks of bedroom furniture. We appeared there before 10am – itself unusual on a Sunday – with two cars, and were advised that the “right” men only arrive at around 10:30, although there seemed to be a large number of un-right ones. We milled around with a few other customers hoping the store still had enough of the correct items.

Eventually one of the right men did turn-in, and luckily all the bits my dragonette wanted were in stock, so we were given a list to go and pay before he could ask other men (who still hadn’t arrived) to pick the goods.

We went to the store tills where even more people were shuffling and muttering – ALL the tills were down. I suggested they reboot the router and am sure I would have got a more positive response if I had asked to boot or fondle one of their Sunday staff whilst I was waiting.

The “shift manager” was at Customer Service explaining that she was “away” on the day they had their training on the new system and hadn’t a clue. Eventually the tills came up well after 11:00 and we were able to get served and off. It is surprising how many people were prepared to stand and wait rather than stomp off elsewhere.

I now have 7 days to build a lot of flat-pack furniture and list any missing / damaged items – which is a bit of a worry. I'm really hoping our twenty-store rollout goes much smoother.

-Bill

Swots or What?

As you may (or may not) know, to be able to sell and support Sage products, it is necessary to attend training and pass annual recertification. This includes formal classroom training for most business areas and some self-study. The accreditation is by no means a formality with a significant dropout and failure rate, and is a considerable investment in time and money – and stress.

On Friday, 11 July, one of Sage’s Senior Managers attended our Bolton offices to invigilate / stand guard whilst Eventura specialists took the following Sage200 examinations – Technical, Finance, Commercials, Manufacturing, Warehouse and Retail.

We are delighted to say, our team successfully passed all elements with flying colours (to be honest we are advised Pass / Fail only, but we chose to think we did especially well :) ).

We are now in the process of planning another section to be added to our “wall of honour” where we display all our professional certifications.

To celebrate the above – and an unprecedented TWO commendations in the Bolton and Bury Business Awards in July - the entire Eventura team celebrated with a great “All You Can Eat” Tapas meal at “La Salsa” in Bolton, then enjoyed the hospitality, charm and ambience of a number of hostelries in Bolton Town Centre into the early hours.

-Bill

Small Business Specialists

Congratulations to Will, who last week successfully passed Exam 70-236: TS:Exchange Server 2007, Configuring.

This makes him a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist in Microsoft Exchange 2007 Configuration, and makes Eventura Microsoft Small Business Specialists.



He's now gearing up towards 70-640: TS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring, so we wish him luck.

-Ian

Microsoft Certified Partners!

Like a child of the 80s collecting pop bottle tops and Panini stickers, Eventura have now collected enough Microsoft points to qualify to upgrade to Microsoft Certified Partners.

Unlike a child of the 80s, there's a £1000 fee. Still reason enough for a celebration.

Well done to the team!

-Ian

Business Awards

Last night was the The Bolton News and Bury Times Business Awards held in the Premier Suite at the Reebok Stadium.

Over 500 of your local ‘Business Elite’ met at the ceremony which kicked off with a Champagne Reception at 6.45pm.

At around 7.30pm we were all seated by the Master of Ceremonies, Mr. Norman Prince. After a short welcome speech from Ian Savage (Editor in Chief of The Bolton News and The Bury Times) and Councillor John Byrne we were served with a fabulous four course meal.

A rather amusing after dinner speech was then presented by the guest speaker Geoff Miller — a former cricketer, who sits on the ECB board of selectors.

Then came the awards.

Eventura was up for two awards: SME Business of the Year and the Managing Director Chris Houghton was running for Business Person of The Year.

Unfortunately we didn’t come away with either of the awards; however we were the only company to be nominated twice! That itself is a great achievement!

So thanks to all our customers and suppliers, we aim on trying even harder to provide you with the best computing solutions and hope to bring a piece of silverware home next year!

-Danielle

"How can social media benefit your business?"

I attended a seminar this morning by pr guru Nathan Smith of Smith & Smith PR. Although quite short for an 'interactive workshop', there was a lot of information crammed in.

The talk was admittedly rather generic, catering for all kinds of industries, and while it answered the big questions about the 'whys' of Social Media marketing, I found myself a little unsure of the 'hows'; that's not to say it wasn't very informative, well put together and expertly delivered, but I hope the subsequent resources that Mr. Smith promised to send on will help me actually get started.

I can certainly see how digital marketing can benefit both Eventura and our clients, but at the moment it seems like something of a minefield.

The seminar inspired me to blog about it, so watch this space for Eventura on Twitter, perhaps?

-Ian

Eventura in the News

Eventura has been featured in the Bolton News, as part of their Business Awards 2009 coverage. The articles are here: IT firm that goes the extra mile for clients, Boss Chris is happy to keep flying the flag

Eventura is one of the finalists in the awards in the SME Business of the Year category, and Director Chris Houghton is a finalist in the Business Person of the Year category.

Fingers crossed!

-Ian

Eventura top the tables despite the recession!

The following is an extract from an email from Eventura's Sage 200 Account Manager;

"Just thought you’d like you know your progression and campaign of rising up the Sage league table continues to do very well.On a year on year comparison you’ve come from almost nowhere last year to now holding a solid mid table position overall. This is a great first year performance and is exceptional in challenging market conditions.The highlights of your performance to date are that you are now the 7th largest partner in the whole of North England and 1st for Retail in this region and 3rd for retail overall in the UK.I would like to wish you and your team continued successes and results as we move towards our year end in September."

As you can see Eventura's success in selling and implementing Sage 200 business systems software over the past year has been recognised and compared on a National basis!

Well done to all the team. Keep up the excellent work!

-Aaron

First Post

Welcome to our new blog.

We are Eventura, a technical and business consultancy firm, based in Bolton, in the North West.

This blog will be updated from time to time with new information about our business: technical consulting, hardware and software support. Our Microsoft Certified technicians can provide Dell hardware, support your business network infrastructure, and software.

We're also a Sage Business Partner; As well as providing and installing the latest versions of Sage software packages, we have access to dedicated Sage specialists who can build bespoke Sage enhancements.

We also build and support tailor-made brochure and ecommerce-enabled websites for our clients.

In fact, our clients appreciate our can do attitude, so if there's something you want that we've not described above, ask us.

Give us a ring on 0845 677 2208 if you want to know more or email sales@eventura.com