Pub chain looks to grow with new ERP system

JD Wetherspoon opts for SAP's ERP solution

JD Wetherspoon is using SAP's ERP solution in an effort to improve business processes and provide a platform for future growth.

The pub chain, which owns over 800 pubs across the UK, said that it has ambitious plans to continue growing, aiming to double its number of pubs to 1,600 in the coming years.

The management team realised it would have to look at the underlying technology and business processes that existed in order to achieve this growth, and change them to ensure that the technology supported the growth of the business.

"We currently have disparate systems in place to operate our business, which means that departments such as finance, HR and procurement have all been working in silos," said Kirk Davis, finance director and company secretary at JD Wetherspoon.

"Although this approach has supported us so far, the management team is fully aware that we cannot continue in this way if we are to continue growing and, therefore, we need a new business platform which is fully integrated and will enable us to improve operational efficiency and profitability."

He said the firm purchased SAP's core ERP solution for finance and procurement, in order to ensure that it has more efficient processes in place for its back-office activities and for working with suppliers.

"We selected SAP over the other vendors' offerings for several reasons: functionally was important, the product fits perfectly with our business needs, and another key reason was that the team at SAP was a great fit," added Davis.

The project implementation starts this month and will go live in July 2012.