Paperchase installs the dream accounting system

High street stationary chain Paperchase is swapping out its existing accounts system as it prepares to expand in the UK and overseas.

The retailer has purchased the Dream accounting system from Coda, together with DreamView, a reporting extension to the core system.

The company will be ditching its existing accounting system Opera II from Pegasus, which, according to Paperchase head of UK finance Kevin Heath, was not well equipped enough to support a company of the retailer's current size.

silicon.com Retail & Leisure

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He told silicon.com: "Key for us was that Dream was a more integrated system that allows different parts of the department to use different applications in the same way. This gives me the visibility I need to react to issues quickly and efficiently as the business grows."

Paperchase has 112 standalone stores, plus a number of concessions in some department store chains. Since US book giant Borders took a stake in the company in 2004, the company has also opened 300 concessions in US bookstores. This financial year, it will open 10 new points of presence in the UK, a growth rate that has not slowed in the last two years.

The switch to Dream will cost up to £100,000 and is expected to go live in May.

Heath said: "If we hadn't made this investment, we would have almost certainly had to recruit new people into the department. Upgrading our accounts system will allow me to stabilise the department and concentrate on adding value, rather than managing the data-entry task."