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## Q&A:PETER &NICK 

Peter Birtles, Chief Financial Officer, andNickBinns,BusinessSystemsManager, talk about Financial Management and Information Technology systems. 

## Can you describe the company’s investment management process? 

Peter: All expenditure in the business is considered against the annual budget expenditure plans approved by the Board, and is authorised through a formal approval process. Items of major expenditure are assessed using the Company’s financial model which calculates the Return on Investment, the Pay-back period and the Net Present Value of the proposed investment. For expenditure to move forward to approval it has to exceed certain criteria, which have been approved by the Directors. 

## How do you ensure your systems can support the company’s growth plans? 

Nick: We took the decision about three years ago, to implement ‘Tier 1’ software which is capable of adopting and growing to support the changing needs of the company. For example, when we acquired the Marlows business, we were able to integrate all 20 stores and two distribution centres with 26,000 products into our system within 20 days. The technology that we have put in place allows us to provide new functionality to the business by building on the existing software rather than changing it. 

Peter: Effective technology is critical to the ongoing success of the business so this is an area in which we have and will continue to invest. Going forward we have made plans for investment in technology to enhance our merchandising and marketing systems. 

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