WH Stephens & Sons Case Study
8th May 1999
WH Stephens & Sons
Keeping pace with changing times :
Belfast – based WH Stephens & Sons is one of the UK’s oldest and most respected Quantity Surveying Practices, dating back to
1865. It’s easy to assume this means doing things the old-fashioned way, but not so. In fact WH Stephens & Sons is one of a growing number of users
harnessing the power of Q-Script to automate its Bills Of Quantities.
“We previously used an older system from another supplier” said Chairman Ken Patterson, “but
because it was DOS-based, it was slow, cumbersome, difficult to learn and even harder to modify”.
“Meeting market demands and turning round Bills of Quantities quickly meant we needed to equip
ourselves with a smarter, faster and more accurate solution. We decided to upgrade our system, and spent several weeks evaluating five or six packages and
looking at demonstrations”.
“We chose Q-Script for its ability to deliver automated information accurately and quickly and for its value for money. Many of the other systems had unecessary
add-ons that either made them too complex or too expensive. Q-Script does exactly what it promises, and is extremely user friendly”.
WH Stephens & Sons is now running Q-Script on about 30 desktops and has been able to reduce its administrative overheads by 50 percent.
“Under the Q-Script application, the system we have now is easily twice as fast as before.” added Patterson, “and we estimate we’ve gained anywhere between 25% and 30%
in terms of increased productivity. The more our surveyors use the system, the more they like it and the faster they get”.
“We had very little training and found it surprisingly easy to use. Q-Script comes with a self-teaching tutorial and we’ve
added to that by developing our own ‘do’s and don’ts’ list for internal use. Everyone that’s used the system has picked it up easily and quickly”.
WH Stephens & Sons have also taken the system one step further by creating their own abbreviated libraries of information for re-use within the company, providing further
customisation of shared data.
“The great thing about Q-Script” added Patterson, “is that we have an adaptable system we can customise as we see fit. It’s this kind of flexibility and rapid turnaround time in producing Bills of Quantities that makes it so
valuable. We’re able to develop and suit our own needs, rather than trying to work with something that keeps us locked in a straight jacket”.
WH Stephens & Sons have now migrated to Version 2.0 of Q-Script, which is even more friendly and straightforward to use. The practice has hundreds of disparate customers ranging
from hospitals to buildings for large retailers such as MFI and Toys-R-Us, all with different needs and specifications.
“We’re a long established, traditional professional practice” added Patterson “with a 130 year old track record of excellence. We simply don’t adopt new technologies or business models because
they’re popular, indeed we take our work very seriously and have done so since the 19th century”
“Q-Script has helped us to improve the way we carry out that work. We’ve already seen a payback on our investment in the system and we’re able to respond to our
customers’ needs very quickly and even more accurately than before – which makes sound commercial sense in any century”.