{"id":14509,"date":"2025-09-05T00:03:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T00:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enable.local\/?post_type=customer&p=14509"},"modified":"2025-12-18T14:32:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T14:32:25","slug":"food-buying-consortium-caterforce-gets-real-time-visibility-with-enable","status":"publish","type":"customer","link":"https:\/\/www.enable.com\/customers\/food-buying-consortium-caterforce-gets-real-time-visibility-with-enable\/","title":{"rendered":"Caterforce"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Company<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Established in 1991, Caterforce is one of the largest foodservice buying & marketing consortiums in the UK. They source products from a huge range of leading suppliers and manufacturers to support nine leading independent foodservice wholesalers. From their head office in Macclesfield, Cheshire they provide a central hub for their members supporting both their group buying needs and marketing resource, allowing suppliers to push out a consistent and coherent marketing plan nationwide, with just one point of contact. Buying groups enable members to benefit from economies of scale. A buying groups cumulative buying power means independent regional wholesalers can compete with much larger national wholesalers to deliver the best products for their customers with better terms, pricing and promotions, than they would be able to secure on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Clare Greensmith joined Caterforce as their Financial Controller in 2020, she knew old processes had to be changed. Little did she realise that the information Enable places at her fingertips would help them make informed decisions so quickly. Today Caterforce has accurate forecasting and information that flows through systems to help buyers and suppliers. This true collaboration is invaluable to the group and helps with cash flow visibility.  Clare Greensmith, Financial Controller, explains why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Challenge<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Laborious Rebate System<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Prior to Enable, rebate management at Caterforce was a manual and time consuming task. All documentation was in spreadsheets and pdfs and there was no real-time information or automated workflows.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Greensmith, “In my role as the Financial Controller at Caterforce, I oversee the management of financial resources, including monitoring and auditing. When I joined in January 2020, one of my initial tasks was to review all rebate agreements and terms. Given that Caterforce was established in the early 90s, it operated on a rather outdated and cumbersome system, necessitating a thorough examination.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making Sure Every Penny is Accounted For<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Greensmith tells us, \u201cIn April 2020 when the country shut down, the food service industry, everything went on hold, restaurants closed, one thing that was paramount in all our businesses was cashflow. So, it was making sure that every penny was accounted for. Therefore, it was important to go through the process of making sure suppliers had given the rebates back to us at the right time. This is when I reached out to Enable to see whether there was a slicker way of actually processing all this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consolidation Of Rebate Figures<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Consolidating figures in a timely manner posed a significant challenge for Caterforce. Greensmith says, \u201cThe entire process relied on spreadsheets and verbal communication, and crucial terms and agreements were often confirmed through emails or retained solely in the trader’s memory. This lack of streamlined and organized information flow created inefficiencies in tracking and managing our rebate agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Software<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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