10 week deployment builds scale, cuts costs and drives sustainability for boutique hotel group.

Percipient, a specialist provider of cloud-based financial management & accounting software, today announced that luxury boutique hotel group, Dakota Hotels, has gone live with Sage Intacct. Following a rapid deployment which took just 10 weeks, the hotel group is already benefitting from more time to focus on innovation, as well as reduced costs, increased sustainability, and better resource allocation across the group’s five hotels in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester.

Having acquired two new hotels in 2020, Dakota’s existing Sage 50 solution could no longer keep pace with the needs of the business. With a business model that sees individual hotels running their own P&L, the new platform needed to be cloud-based, and support a multi-entity model, providing autonomy while delivering consolidation, reporting and intelligence at a group level.

Dakota Hotels selected Sage Intacct based on its ease of use, dashboards and reporting, value and scale, while Percipient was chosen on the basis of its impressive credentials in hospitality, and as Sage’s Intacct’s UK partner of the year.

“Percipient really did bring so much value to this project,” Sam Hartley, finance director, Dakota Hotels, comments. “The team’s knowledge of the hospitality industry and experience of similar Sage Intacct deployments meant that we were incredibly focused on our project goals, and went live within just a few months. The setup of the system was fairly straightforward, helped hugely by the cloud deployment model. And Percipient’s Cloud Connect API-led integration technology, which allowed Sage Intacct to easily integrate with Dakota’s other core systems, including PMS and procurement platforms, was also key.”

“Using Sage Intacct, we can manipulate data by an inordinate number of categories, by hotel, department, floor, room or time period,” Sam explains. “At any given point we have access to one version of the truth, and can spot anomalies, patterns or opportunities. The value of this real-time insight is that problems can be headed off before they become business risks, and opportunities can be leveraged to drive increased service or profitability while the window is most open. We also have a live group position which was difficult to achieve before, as the process relied upon input from each of the hotels. “

A good example of this value in practice is around Dakota Hotels’ labour planning KPIs. Labour challenges as a result of both Brexit and the pandemic have resulted in the group having to be creative in the way resources are deployed. Live visibility of rotas mean that the management team can prioritise, redeploy and bridge gaps in order to uphold services and maintain standards which is vital for a brand built upon service and sincerity.

Sustainability is another key area we’ve been able to address using the system, as Sam explains: “Using sensors and meters, we collect data from a range of areas, and Sage Intacct contextualises and presents this insight to key roles around the business, from maintenance team personnel to hotel managers. The granularity of this information means that we can compare trends, review both our electricity costs and consumption, and make adjustments, which benefit both the bottom line and our sustainability credentials.”

“As well as being able to demonstrate our initiative to an increasingly environmentally-conscious consumer, we have been able to reduce our energy bills by tens of thousands of pounds each year. At a time where costs are under close scrutiny this has been incredibly welcome as both a short term saving as well as a long term one. As we move increasingly towards renewable energy usage, the system will be crucial in evaluating its value against other sources.”

• National real estate practice, Naismiths set to expand workforce and UK footprint in 2022 following record-breaking year
• Shawbrook Bank backs the consultancy with term loan and revolving credit facility

Real estate consultancy Naismiths is set to invest in growth over the next 12 months with support from Shawbrook Bank.

The business, which is headquartered in Birmingham and employs 60 employees across the UK, is planning to expand its workforce by 15% across its national office network following a record year for the firm in 2021.

The company is targeting further growth in the regional residential, student accommodation and big box industrial property sectors, and will complement its recruitment plans by expanding its footprint of eight offices, following the opening of new sites in Exeter and Norwich last October.

The firm turned to Shawbrook for a £2m term loan and £500k revolving credit facility to enable the consultancy’s continued expansion across the UK, and to allow the company’s old shareholders bought-out in 2018 to fully exit the business.

The business provides project monitoring and asset recovery services to help protect funders’ investments in new developments. Furthermore, it’s real estate consultancy practice also provides Project Management and building surveying services to investors, developers, asset managers and corporate occupiers.  

Finance director Ben Harwood said: “We saw record demand from the residential sector last year, driven by people’s changing priorities and residential developers are focusing on meeting the growing demand for housing with more green space.

“Lifestyle changes have also had a significant impact on the industrial sector. A boom in ecommerce has propelled demand for logistics and warehousing accommodation.

“Our business is focused on having a national reach with regional understanding and working with Shawbrook, who have proven themselves to be a flexible and committed funding partner, is enabling us to extend our reach across the UK.

“As we rapidly grow and put our plans into action it is important that we have a trusted funding partner who can support our long-term strategy. With flexible funding that matches our needs and a strong appetite to really get behind our ambitions, we are pleased that Shawbrook is that funding partner.”

Amy Beasley, Director in the Corporate Lending team at Shawbrook Bank, said: “Naismiths have a strong track record and an impressive base of high quality customers. We’ve built a solid relationship with them over a number of years and know they are experts in what they do.”

For more information visit: https://www.shawbrook.co.uk/

The company is the fastest-growing privately held payment processor in America with 8,000% growth 

VizyPay, an industry-leading payment processing company for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today announces it has surpassed the $2 billion milestone in payments processed since its founding in 2017. Impressively, over half, approximately $1.2 billion, of payments were processed in 2021 alone. The company is projected to double that number in 2022 to process over $2 billion by year’s end, achieving a collective $4 billion in processing since 2017.

Since its inception, VizyPay has achieved outstanding success, placing #45 on the 2021 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America, installing more than 12,000 merchants across the nation and achieving 8,000% revenue growth. The company itself has rapidly expanded, moving its headquarters to a new 15,000 square-foot office custom-designed for VizyPay’s needs. Since 2020, VizyPay has nearly doubled its workforce, now employing 69 talented, full-time employees. In addition, the bootstrapped company partners with over 700 independent sales contractors across the U.S.

VizyPay is renowned for its powerful and transparent payment solutions, tailored to fit the needs of SMBs, especially those located in communities outside of major metro areas that are often overlooked or mistreated by major payments industry players. Most notable of all is VizyPay’s award-winning Cash Discount Program (CDP) which empowers business owners to ditch unpredictable fees and take control of their credit card processing. For a low month-to-month subscription, the flexible, transparent program allows for unlimited credit card transactions and offsets up to 100% of processing fees. To date, CDP has saved businesses more than $25 million.

Committed to truly helping SMBs across the country, VizyPay started focusing on expanding access to its money-saving CDP in 2021. VizyPay launched VizyPOS, an all-in-one payment processing app for low-cost PAX Technology payment terminals. Designed for easy implementation of service offerings such as CDP, VizyPOS also provides advanced analytics and convenient data-driven insights that enable SMBs to streamline their business processes. The Merchant Portal provides access to the same information, in greater detail, via web browser. VizyPOS is offered with no monthly fee for CDP customers, and now, those who sign up with VizyPay will receive a free PAX POS smart terminal with VizyPOS pre-loaded. Also in 2021, and due to popular demand, VizyPay ungated its Cash Discount app for Clover POS systems, making CDP easily accessible to any merchant using a Clover POS system. Free for all VizyPay CDP customers and available to non-customers for only $14.99/month, the app seamlessly incorporates processing fees into menu pricing with a tap of a button.

“As VizyPay approaches its five-year anniversary in April, I’m extremely proud of how far we’ve come. Beginning as a completely bootstrapped company without any outside investment and only one employee, we have only continued to excel, attracting outstanding in-house team and sales partners, boosting our loyal merchant base, enhancing our processing capabilities and growing our revenue,” said CEO and founder Austin Mac Nab. “Dedicated to being the voice of small businesses and elevated by our core tenants of transparency and culture, VizyPay will continue to be a force to be reckoned with within our industry.”

“2021 was a year of great success for VizyPay. Not only have we reached our $2 billion milestone, we were also crowned as the fastest-growing privately held payment processing company in America,” said Frank Pagano, managing partner of VizyPay. “We’re honored by our achievements and owe our success to the dedication of #TeamVizy. As we look forward to 2022 and beyond, we will focus on expanding our team and our reach with the goal of shattering the next milestone of $4 billion in payments processed.”

For more information, visit www.vizypay.com.

Leading dispute technology specialists, Chargebacks911, today announces the appointment of financial services powerhouse and sales expert Robert Hoover, as VP of Business Development. In his new role, Robert will be responsible for executing businesses strategy, identifying opportunities in the marketplace, and growing the company’s client base.

Robert is no stranger to landing significant accounts, having won two of the largest airlines in previous roles, along with hotels, online travel agencies, amusement parks and ticketing companies. He will bring his expertise in these areas, in particular, to concentrate on strategic merchant accounts to bolster Chargebacks911’s business.

Robert brings with him more than 25 years of experience in financial services, along with 15 years working in sales at Forter, where he served as Strategic Account Executive, and Director of Sales at Accertify. He has a long history with American Express, with roles ranging from Senior Manager of Sales, Director of Strategy & Analysis and Director of Reengineering. At American Express, Robert won the President’s Club Award, with successes including signing Cardinal Pharma, one of the ‘big three’ US pharmaceutical distributors.

During his tenure with Accertify, Robert solidified his position as a business development workhorse, having been recognized as the company’s number one salesperson. He refined his experience in the finance arena, selling an SaaS-based solution for fraud prevention, chargeback management, and a payment gateway in a Card Not Present environment for payment and non-payment related transactions to C-level executives at Fortune 500 companies. He signed deals with global brands, including American Airlines, General Motors, Walt Disney, Federal Reserve Bank, and Barnes & Noble.

Robert’s proven know-how and successes will be invaluable to Chargebacks911. He aims to target small to mid-sized companies as he beds into his new role, while laying the foundations for strategic wins later down the line to support the company’s long term growth plans.

Robert Hoover, VP of Business Development at Chargebacks911, comments: “While I have worked broadly in the sector and more recently specialized in fraud prevention, it’s an honor to be working with such an established and well thought of company as Chargebacks 911. I look forward to getting stuck in and working with a robust platform that far surpasses others in the market, and introducing it to verticals that are yet to benefit from its comprehensive offering.”

He adds: “Not only do I think the product is an exciting one to work with, I feel the same about the company itself. It hits the sweet spot of being a well-established player in the field with exciting technology that refuses to rest on its laurels as it is consistently innovating and driving change within the industry.”

David Jimenez, Chief Revenue Officer at Chargebacks911, said: “Digital payments now touch every industry; with covid forcing a significant shift to online and Card Not Present transactions. With the benefits of E-commerce, every company must also accept that in turn they will be faced with disputes and chargebacks. This is where Robert will step in, flexing his vast expertise in sales, payments and strategy, to support them with an industry-leading platform and second to none expertise that can transform their operations."

To learn more about Chargebacks911, visit: https://chargebacks911.com/

ConnectPay, one of the fastest-growing Electronic Money Institutions (EMI) in Lithuania, joined hands with Salt Edge, a leader in providing open banking solutions, to offer the best payments experience to its customers in Germany and the Netherlands.

Living in the continuously shifting world of fintech, modern customers are always seeking instant, secure, simple, and most importantly, fully-fledged solutions. The disruptive future of digital banking and the whole fintech industry bolster the transformation of niche EMIs into an all-in-one fintech engine with a broad range of services. ConnectPay, an ambitious member of the EU fintech scene, offers a one-stop shop solution for all payment facilities under one roof for internet-based companies while collaboration with Salt Edge complements the company’s strategic goal to implement open banking payments.

ConnectPay strives for the best user experience and has been looking for a partner that could help with integrating multiple APIs of banks across Germany and the Netherlands as the technical documentation differs depending on each bank and more resources are needed for analysis and development if all done in-house. Salt Edge Payment Initiation solution will allow ConnectPay to integrate with a list of all required financial institutions and offer merchant services based on open banking in Germany and the Netherlands, aiming to constantly widen the list of supported countries.

Collaborations and partnerships drive the fintech industry forward. Salt Edge lived up to our expectations and offered a one-size-fits-all solution to reach the most popular financial institutions in Germany and the Netherlands, rather than integrating them one by one. Combining the strengths of Salt Edge and ConnectPay will enable us to offer high-quality merchant services to our e-commerce customers.

Marius Galdikas, CEO at ConnectPay

We are excited to join hands with ConnectPay, a company dedicated to providing the most innovative solutions and seamless user experience to merchants through open banking technologies. Our solution provides ConnectPay access to major banks in Germany and the Netherlands with a single connection and enables them to offer high-quality merchant service to their customers.

Vasile Valcov, VP at Salt Edge

Technology provider Edgewater Markets has partnered with OpenFin, the operating system (OS) for enterprise productivity, to provide extended native desktop capabilities for FX traders. As a result, the full suite of products by Edgewater Markets is now available on OpenFin and is being distributed to clients globally. 

The decision to migrate to OpenFin was due to customer demand based on browser workflow limitations. By using OpenFin, Edgewater Markets can now deliver a more flexible UX that allows users, such as Tier 1 and 2 banks, emerging market and regional banks, macro funds, high frequency funds, pension funds, and corporates, to customize their workspace. 

Edgewater Markets on OpenFin has full product parity with the existing browser version, in addition to added benefits delivered by OpenFin. By leveraging OpenFin's flagship OS, customers of Edgewater Markets can now take advantage of an enhanced UX/UI experience across the desktop, such as window management for efficient workflows and desktop real estate management, while maintaining enterprise grade security, zero install, memory retention and native desktop capabilities. 

“Our clients needed more robust windowing performance from our platform. Since partnering with OpenFin, users have been very happy with the enhanced user experience due to window management capabilities, and have seen an upgrade in performance of data delivery as a result. Our development team was able to deliver the solution within four weeks utilizing the OpenFin framework, and we were off and running,” said Brian Andreyko, CFA, Chief Product Officer at Edgewater Markets.

“Edgewater Markets plays a valuable role in helping FX traders access liquidity in emerging markets areas. Connectivity to OpenFin has helped Edgewater clients to have better control over their desktop real estate and perform more efficiently overall,” said Adam Toms, CEO - Europe, OpenFin.

Since its initial launch in Q3 of 2021, Edgewater Markets on OpenFin has been deployed into production accessible from its data centers in New York, London, Tokyo and Singapore.