Dana Petroleum plc is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on growth through international exploration and production development in the North Sea and Egypt.

In 2007 the company achieved record average oil and gas production and made two significant acquisitions in Norway and Egypt.  With two major acquisitions in the year, Dana needed consolidation within an ambitious timescale to be ready in time for audit in 2008. Dana recognised the need for an effective, comprehensive solution that would integrate smoothly with their existing financial management system and meet all of their needs. After referencing a number of users, and on the recommendation of their existing system provider, Castle Computer Services, the company chose Infor PM (Performance Management).

Infor PM allows companies to automate data collection, loading, validation and adjustments for fast accurate close. It eliminates the potential for errors, reducing time spent on manual processes, centralises controls for information integrity and has built in support for GAAP, IFRS and local statutory requirements. Michael Cameron, Finance Manager at Dana Petroleum plc, had developed a clear set of objectives that the Infor PM solution had to meet.

Read More →

When Gordon Grant joined DEM Solutions as Finance Director, an early impression was that the existing accounting package did not meet the requirements that he felt were necessary for a business of their size.

It was not long before he instigated a review of the company’s systems and as a result opted to replace the existing Sage software with Infor’s FMS SunSystems version 5 and the Vision (Q&A 10) reporting suite.

“I was looking for much greater level of flexibility from the systems in terms of reporting. Having used SunSystems in the past, I was aware of the functionality on offer and felt that we needed a more effective solution than existed. By using SunSystems and Vision we are able to retrieve information quickly and drill down into data to whatever level is necessary.

Read More →

South Lakes Housing is the Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) set up by South Lakeland District Council in April 2004 after 88% of council tenants voted emphatically for the organisation to be their new landlord.

South Lakes Housing delivers a full range of management and maintenance services for over 3,500 tenants and leaseholders and employs around 130 staff.  A recent Audit Commission inspection of the organisation awarded a two star rating with excellent prospects for improvement.

The organisation identified a need to introduce a fit for purpose, modern financial management system that would deliver ease of use and high levels of functionality and allow easy integration with the company’s core housing management systems.

Read More →

F&C Asset Management plc is an investment management group, managing in excess of £100 billion of assets for a wide range of private investors, institutional and insurance clients. Thecompany has nine offices throughout Europe and is a major force in the world of investments. The success of the company is attributable to a philosophy of successful business partnerships with clients and those that deliver capital value.

Following the merger between F&C Group (Holdings) Ltd and ISIS Asset Management plc there was a need to provide a consistent platform for financial accounting and management information that would deliver uniformity across all locations.

Castle has worked with F&C Asset Management for some years and was asked to create a single, robust platform for financial management across all of the company’s operations, using the existing Infor FMS SunSystems solution.

Read More →

Inverness College is the largest of the Colleges in the Highlands and Islands, and the largest partner in the group of Colleges and research institutions working together to form a University for the Highlands and Islands. The College opened its first campus in Inverness in 1960 and has grown significantly over the years. With one of the widest ranging curricula in Scotland it has over 6,000 students taking qualifications to SVQ or degree level.

There are now three campuses in Inverness including a specialist School of Forestry; a Further Education Centre in Dingwall anda specialist aquaculture, fisheries management and research facility at Kishorn in Wester Ross. In Lochaber, the College works in partnership with Lochaber College to offer courses from their campus in Fort William.

The College identified a need for an effective debt management solution to deliver optimum cash flow and improve the efficiency of credit management and collection facilities. They wanted a system that would deliver an effective process for debt control and at the same time record communications with debtors. Castle Computer Services has supported the College’s existing Infor FMS SunSystems Financial Management System for many years and were appointed to implement the Infor FMS SunSystems Collect credit control application with the existing system

Read More →