After four long awaited years, the Kerridge Commercial Systems Konnect Customer Conference finally made its return to the UK! The event took place across two days on the 2nd and 3rd of March in Stratford-upon-Avon with 300+ delegates in attendance from the rental, distribution and automotive industries. From guest-speaker, Penny Mallory, talking about the importance of Mental Toughness, to specific breakout sessions focussing on inspHire, Kerridge Commercial Systems and MAM Software's solutions, it was a fantastic two-day event.
Because it had been so long since the last Konnect UK, it was instrumental to make it an event to remember and by being a global ERP provider who promotes digitisation, it was essential to echo our sustainability policy and make the conference paperless! Attendees were able to navigate around the conference with an intuitive mobile app where they could easily view agendas and brochures, watch videos and arrange meetings from their smart devices. To continue the theme of digital, James Mitchel, Managing Director of KCS in the UK and Ireland, opened the conference and set the scene for the two days, focussing on the company's new and exciting digital solutions.
"We believe that digitisation, sustainability and profitability do go hand in hand, and over the course of the next two days, we would like to share initiatives with you that can significantly help your business reduce its carbon footprint, while delivering greater efficiencies and cost savings and helping you grow your profits – a win/win/win scenario!"
Konnect was a great opportunity to showcase partner solutions, such as Phocas, an integrated BI platform that delivers real intelligence from the rich data held within inspHire solutions. The KCS group also announced their partnership with the EFT solutions from Dojo and WorldPay for electronic payments, which is exciting as inspHire announced a new integration with World Pay that'll be available in the coming months, as well as the robotic process automation tools from Apollo that enable everyday tasks to be automated.
As for the rental team, it was a jam-packed agenda talking about all things rental, with dedicated breakout sessions for inspHire's Office and Corporate customers in attendance. From inspHire product roadmaps to covering forgotten features of success, the team even covered how to implement a digital strategy through the use of their core solution.
inspHire were also delighted to be accompanied by the Hire Association Europe (HAE) CEO, Paul Gaze, and Marketing & Communications Manager, Ann Harrison, who presented the benefits and security the association provide to the industry and key benefits delivered to its members. In addition, our partners and Konnect sponsors, Phocas and Cloud Geeni, took to the floor to discuss the benefits of financial planning and analytics, as well as how customers can thrive by hosting in the cloud.
Customers also had the opportunity to meet with inspHire's support team, Account Managers and Rental Experts. All managed through the Konnect app, these sessions were on a 1-2-1 basis to allow customers to discuss any queries, ongoing business requirements or simply assist with any how-to's within their inspHire system.
The KCS group also delivered updates to customers on the latest web strategies available. There’s no doubting that trading online has helped many businesses to create new revenue opportunities and grow successfully over recent years. Like any other business strategy, there are many plus points and the benefits of eCommerce can help your rental business excel. That’s why we are delighted to offer B2B or B2C web trading products that quickly implement into your business to support eCommerce strategies, together with a range of sophisticated tools that enable users to forge strong integrations with their customers and suppliers.
At Konnect UK 2023, the KCS group also hosted a wonderful evening event to conclude the first day. It was a fun-filled evening, with special guest, Ben Hanlin, who took to the stage to wow the audience with his magician skills. As well, it was a fantastic opportunity to catch-up with inspHire's customers, and give them the opportunity to meet with other businesses in the rental industry.
It's safe to say that Konnect UK 2023 was a great success and really benefitted our customers. It was fantastic opportunity for the KCS team to showcase the latest developments in cloud and security, product roadmaps, customer success, as well as much more! As always, it was fantastic to meet with customers and demonstrate how they can make the most of their inspHire solution, as well as exciting other projects happening.
If you were unable to attend Konnect UK 2023, not to worry, it'll be making a return in 2025! 🎉