Unit4 has announced that Devon County Council has selected its Unit4 ERP system, encompassing finance, procurement, and financial planning and analysis (FP&A), to digitize its organization, data and services. The Council has additionally selected Embridge Consulting as its implementation partner.
It follows Unit4 and Embridge Consulting’s ongoing experience in council-wide transformation programs, having worked together on several public sector implementations previously, including Surrey County Council, Cherwell District Council and North Lincolnshire Council.
This new digital platform will replace an almost 30-year-old legacy system, which increasingly relied on add-on technology and lacked an integrated user experience. It hopes to enable Devon County Council, the largest local authority in Southwest England, to adapt quickly to change and optimize the use of its financial information, improving its budget management, monitoring of the financial health of the Council and forecasting, as well as supporting its transformation in the short, medium and long term.
The new platform will also include integrated solutions from strategic partners, Proactis, to deliver invoice process automation, and HeyCentric, an income management solution.
Speaking on this project, Angie Sinclair, director of finance and public value, Devon County Council said: “The Council wanted to work with a market leader with a proven track record in – and a commitment to – the UK Local Government sector. The collaborative approach from Unit4 and Embridge Consulting, which focuses on best practice utilizing high-quality integrated ERP solutions, combined with their experience in the Public Sector, was integral to our decision making.”
“Together with Embridge Consulting, we are pleased to support this part of Devon County Council’s transformation journey,” said James Arvin, director, public sector UKI, Unit4. “Our wealth of experience gained in working with local government means that we understand its nuances. As a result, we have built tailored solutions which provide the functionality, agility and efficiency needed to combat the complexity of that environment. This recent decision from Devon County Council further cements our market leading position in the sector.”
“The team here at Embridge Consulting is very much looking forward to working with Devon County Council on this business-critical finance transformation program. The Devon project team has shown its desire to make meaningful change in the early stages of our engagement and the collaboration between all parties has already been an extremely positive experience,” said Emma O’Brien, CEO of Embridge Consulting. “Our track record of supporting significant and successful finance transformation programs across UK Local Government means that we can bring industry expertise and insight to Devon with equal focus on the people, process and technology change that is essential to success.”
