Build It Better - Page 9 - Enable

Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Unnecessarily complex software drives directors nuts and slows down business. Enable sets out to re-write the DNA of business software—and succeeds.

With IT solutions getting ever more complicated and sophisticated, Enable believes the way forward is "treeware"—a single sheet of A4 instructions for its software.

Andrew Butt, Managing Director of Enable, believes an average UK company would turn round decisions and deals many times faster if it installed software that the directors actually understood. And the answer could be written on that single sheet of A4.

Hope or belief? Well, fact, actually. Enable is used by Sainsbury’s, Goldman Sachs, HarperCollins and Delphi Automotive amongst others, and one of the world’s greatest IT companies, Sage Software.

3 min read

DCS Europe plc the toiletries and household distributor based in Atherstone-on-Stour have purchased the site formerly known as Stratford-upon-Avon Foods. The site covers 10.5 acres in the heart of Stratford-upon-Avon’s Industrial District providing warehousing space of over 270,000 sq ft—a massive five times larger than DCS’s current site.

DCS currently employ 50 people and are expecting sales this year of over £60 million. New jobs are being created as they continue to expand their ’DCS Central’ distribution business supplying Cash and Carry’s nationwide with major UK toiletry brands.

"Stratford upon Avon Foods has a long association with the town and we are delighted that we are able to offer a number of jobs to the existing workforce." says Denys Shortt, Chairman of DCS Europe plc.

3 min read

Former international hockey player and keen helicopter pilot Denys Shortt, who in just six years has built his Stratford-based distribution business to an annual turnover of 34.6 million pounds has scooped a major award in a competition for entrepreneurs.

Mr. Shortt has been presented with the Business to Business Entrepreneur Award in the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards Program.

He set up the company in 1994 and at the end of the first year had already achieved sales of £5 million. DCS Europe plc is now exporting to 63 countries worldwide and as well as the impressive export side to the business, the company also distributes to 57 cash & carrys across the UK.

2 min read

The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100, a 32 page report was published Dec 6th with the newspaper, ranks the fastest-growing unquoted companies according to their compound annual sales growth between 1994 and 1997. DCS Europe plc (formerly called DCS Commodities) are ranked No. 36 in the top 100. Furthermore DCS ranks as high as 10th in the "total sales rankings" and is 5th in the list of distributors! This is amongst very strong competition from other large UK companies such as Carphone warehouse and Software warehouse.

After spending 22 years in India and Kenya managing tea plantations, Peter Shortt returned to Warwickshire in 1975 and founded a groceries wholesaler. Formerly known as Shakespeare Products, his DCS Commodities has evolved into a toiletries distributor.

2 min read