• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

E-Business: Andy's Vision Brings in Pounds 100,000 Funding

Posted on: Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 12:00 CDT

A Midland businessman is set to launch a software system which he claims will revolutionise how opticians manage their practices and communicate with their customers.

The new software programme - Metspex II - is the brain-child of Dudley entrepreneur and IT professional Andy Chance-Hill. The ground- breaking software will enable opticians to offer all their core services via the internet, meaning there is no need to have any servers at the opticians' premises.

By simply having a PC on site or mobile device anywhere in the world with the ability to access the internet and log on through a secure procedure, opticians will track all core administration, get details of patients' previous eye tests, look at prescription and dispensing details, check stock and payment details.

Opticians will also have live access to the appointment booking systems diary and be able to view and allocate their staff resources to match. Patients will even be able to book their eye tests on line directly into a working diary 24 hours a day.

The software - which will slash administration time, save money and increase efficiency - has so impressed bosses at the West Midlands-based Advantage Creative Fund that they have invested pounds 100,000 into the company, called eXMet.

Mr Chance-Hill and his wife Jo head up the eXMet team from their offices in Pensnett House, Kingswinford.

He said the system had already attracted interest from a wide variety of opticians across the UK, Australia and the USA. West Midlands opticians Chapmans and leading Scottish opticians Duncan and Todd have not only purchased Metspex II but have invested in the company as well.

Mr Chance-Hill said: 'The advantages apply across the industry. We remove the need to for our customer manage complex IT systems in house.

'The server is looked after remotely so for the optician there are no overnight back-ups, no disaster recovery, all software upgrades are done for you and no engineering monitoring or manager is needed.

'All this is taken care of in a cost effective way using the benefit of economy of scale to benefit sometimes even the smallest opticians.'

He added: 'All this means greater visibility of the key information required to manage a practice and the ability to react quickly on the information.

'Streamlining the administration of a practice ultimately allows the optician more time to focus on their core activity of treating and advising their clients.'

Mr Chance-Hill said the cost of the programme worked out at less than pounds 1 per patient per year.

He said the money from the Advantage Creative Fund would be used to accelerate the development and ensure he can secure staff with the required skills levels.

The Advantage Creative Fund is a region-wide venture capital investment fund set up to help grow creative businesses across the West Midlands.

It was set up in 2003 with funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Advantage West Midlands and the Arts Council of England.

The Fund is mandated to reinvest all the profits from the sale of its equity investments in creative businesses back into the fund for future investment in creative businesses.

Equity funding can range from pounds 10,000 to pounds 250,000, but is normally between pounds 50,000 to pounds 150,000 for a first investment.

Advantage Creative Fund chief executive David Edmonds said: 'The eXMet system is typical of the spark of ingenuity and inventiveness that is endemic across this region.

'Our objective is to invest in more than 50 companies by 2008 across the creative industry, so as well as IT we are looking at music, design, film, broadcasting and fashion, advertising, architecture, the arts and antique markets, crafts, interactive leisure software, performing arts, publishing, television and radio.'

For more information on the Advantage Creative Fund call 01905 621670 or log on to www.advantagecreativefund.co.uk.

Source: Birmingham Post; Birmingham (UK)

More News in this Category