Plymouth Marine Laboratory opts for better, integrated data control and ease of access with Greentree and Prerogative

CHALLENGE – Plymouth Marine Laboratory wanted to move away from out-dated, nonintegrated business systems from which it was difficult and time-consuming to extract data.

SOLUTION – Greentree brings all the financial and reporting functions together, and provides web-based access for remote-working staff.

WHY GREENTREE? – A convincing, cost-effective package was demonstrated by Prerogative, and PML’s staff were impressed.

“Because a lot of our work is increasingly international, our staff are often away from the office,” says Chris Taysom, Director of Finance and Operations at Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML). “They need to have access to project financial data, as well as upload their time and expense bookings. This was not possible with our legacy systems, causing delays in uploading project data and difficulties in providing current data on a timely basis.

PML is a world-leading marine science establishment, involved in environmental projects across the globe. It has over 100 research projects underway at any one time and employs some of the best scientists in the world. Its work includes studies on air-sea gas exchange, aquaculture, biodiversity and ecosystem function, and geo-engineering.

Research at the forefront

PML, a registered charity, partners with various universities, research institutes and other NGOs worldwide.

“Our research covers many areas from social economics and human impact on the environment, to observation from space, ecosystems modelling, ocean biogeochemical processes and climate change,” Chris explains. “We also have a commercial subsidiary, which has a completely different business model working with large corporates translating our research into commercial products and services.”

The growing complexity of project and financial management put a strain on PML’s business systems. It was using separate Sage systems for its financial management and payroll. “The software had reached the end of its useful life and support was due to end,” says Chris. “The functionality and connectivity to other systems were very poor and users had only limited access. We were doing too much manual processing offline on spreadsheets.”

Visibility for all

Apart from improving its financial management, PML wanted a project management and accounting package that would allow access by multiple stakeholders, with live visibility of data, a proper customer relationship package, and remote access for its staff.

An independent consultant was hired to assess the ERP products available that would fit PML’s needs and budget.

“Greentree met those key requirements and came recommended by other respected businesses,” Chris says. “We were also impressed by the people at Prerogative when they demonstrated its capabilities.”

A system for now and tomorrow

Greentree and Prerogative aim to give PML the ability to slice and dice information about often complex proposals and contracts, keeping customers readily informed and recording their feedback. It also integrates three separate payrolls. “Greentree was seen as the solution that would bring all the different parts of the organisation together in one system, from project initiation to entering costs and time, through to billing and post project analysis and reporting back to funders on how the money was spent,” says Prerogative’s Managing Director, Ian Garvey.

“One of the encouraging parts of the evaluation process was that PML spent considerable time visiting Prerogative’s customers and evaluating our service levels. Ultimately this is what sets suppliers apart once the project is delivered.” “We’re confident that Greentree will bring a radical improvement in our business model,” Chris concludes. “With greatly improved accessibility and reporting, we’ll be able to provide more valuable information on a more timely basis.”

PML’s objective is to develop and apply world-leading, integrated marine science towards the sustainable future of the ocean through excellent research, people, international and national partners. . Its commercial trading subsidiary, PML Applications Ltd, delivers services, products and solutions related to the marine environment in key sectors such as ballast water management, biofouling and satellite applications.

www.pml.ac.uk