Businesses can boost productivity by more than 10% with discounted digital software

Businesses could boost their productivity by more than 10% using new government-backed financial discounts worth up to ￡5,000 off the price of software.

Savings like these, available through the Help to Grow: Digital scheme , can supercharge UK small firms and make them more efficient, as almost one third of them are still using paper-based records for book-keeping.

Analysis by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows using a single business management technology, such as accountancy software or customer relationship management (CRM) systems, leads to productivity gains of at least 10% for small and medium-sized businesses.

This can increase to 25% if a business uses two or more digital technologies.

Antony Walker , Deputy CEO of techUK, said: “Our most recent research shows businesses across the economy want to adopt productivity-boosting technology.

“The valuable incentives and support provided through the Help to Grow: Digital scheme will empower small businesses to seize the opportunities of digital technology. This will enable them to reach new customers, boost revenues and create more jobs."

A recent survey by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy found almost a third (31%) of SMEs still used paper-based records for handling VAT, and a similar figure (30%) used paper-based records for company tax.

Businesses that adopted digital accounting software also saw an increase of 11.8% in employee sales over three years, according to a recent report by the Enterprise Research Centre.

Help to Grow: Digital gives eligible businesses the chance to apply for discounts worth up to ￡5,000 off the cost of approved CRM and digital accounting software from leading technology suppliers.

The three-year scheme, launched in January, also offers all UK businesses free, impartial support and guidance to help them:

* Identify the digital technology needs of their business

* Make informed decisions about which software products best meet those needs

* Successfully incorporate these products into their business

Financial discounts for Help to Grow: Digital are available to UK businesses that have between 5 and 249 employees, been trading for more than 12 months and are purchasing the approved software for the first time.

Find out more and make an application about Help to Grow: Digital

Case study: Proeon Systems

Specialist safety company Proeon Systems Ltd needed a more robust system for keeping track of its project negotiations in the oil and gas, renewable, nuclear and utility industries.

Commercial manager Dr Dorian Hindmarsh decided the solution was to upgrade the way the company managed customer relationships and data.

Dorian and his team are now seeing the benefits of rolling out new CRM software since adoption, including an increase in team productivity by 35 – 40%.

He said: “By being able to streamline our approach to communicating with our customers, we’ve seen a massive increase in productivity and, with that, a rise in profitability due to how we now interact with our customers – exactly what we set out to do.

“We’ve got a lot more freedom to do other things as well, including developing new client opportunities, because we now know where we are at a glance.”

Dorian added: “Before, I’d manually take the data from a spreadsheet and decipher and manipulate it, then collate it all into a digestible report. Now, I can just press a button and our CRM software does it all for us.”