PKF SCS Hosts Sage Symposium at Pride Park Stadium

PKF Smith Cooper Systems (PKF SCS) has successfully hosted their biggest Sage event – Sage Symposium.

The Symposium was well attended by both customers and prospective customers, drawn in by the jam packed agenda covering Sage 200, Sage Intacct and various add ons for Sage business software.

What better place to host a Sage event than at Pride Park Stadium, across the road from the PKF SCS head office and easily accessible from all over the UK.

Entering the Toyota Suite was like stepping into a hub of networking, with businesses from all different industries connecting with product experts. Not to mention the panoramic views of the pitch, which was an impressive backdrop for the day.

Chris Smith, Managing Director at PKF SCS, opened the event with a welcome talk. Chris gave an overview of the day and shared the amazing growth story of how the company has grown from 8 employees to 66 in just 10 years.

Next up was a special guest, Paul O’Riordan, VP & Head of Medium Segment at Sage. Paul flew in from Dublin especially for the event and shared Sage’s plans for the future, findings from their survey and showed an exciting preview video of Sage Copilot.

The rest of the agenda was split across smaller rooms. Those attending were able to select which talks interested them the most and the smaller space encouraged more audience participation.

Meanwhile, the main room remained an open space for networking. Representatives from Sicon, Yooz, Draycir and PKF SCS’ technical team had stands where attendees could get free 1 to 1 consultancy for their specific business requirements.

Morning Highlights

Representatives from Sage, Jo Kirkup (Sage 200 Product Manager) and Mathias Karady (VP Portfolio Growth, Financials & ERP Division) gave updates on Sage 200 and Sage Intacct, also sharing a sneak peek of what enhancements are in the roadmap.

Steve Jemmott, Sales and Marketing Director at Sicon, presented Sicon Distribution for Sage 200 and showed key features in depth. Ophelie Fauveau, Sales Consultant at Yooz, gave an overview of their AP automation tool and showed demonstrations.

At lunch, there wasn’t a single sad sandwich in sight. The jacket potato bar filled everyone up ready for even more talks and networking into the afternoon.

Afternoon Highlights

To kick start the afternoon, PKF SCS organised a spin the wheel prize draw. 4 lucky winners bagged exciting prizes – including Apple AirPods, £50 Amazon gift card and 2 bundles of Sage merchandise.

Chris and Richard Brewster, Technical Director at PKF SCS, presented a session on the future of Sage Manufacturing and shared some alternative options. Richard and Ryan Evans, Technical Consultant at PKF SCS, presented a session on Power BI reporting which was hugely popular.

Paul Ince, Marketing Consultant & CEO at LikeMind Media, gave an inspiring talk on the marketing of today and how everyone in the team can get involved in content creation. Thomas Bedford, Sales and Marketing Manager at Draycir, gave a talk on getting paid faster using Credit Hound to make your credit control more proactive, less reactive.

Nobody went home empty handed. Everyone received a goodie bag containing stationery, a water bottle, brochures and a personalised Cadbury chocolate bar complete with accounting jokes.

Event Feedback

Feedback from the Symposium was overwhelmingly positive. Those there on the day praised the attention to detail and amount of knowledge all under one roof. Take a look at what some of the speakers and attendees had to say about the experience.

Chris Smith, Managing Director of PKF Smith Cooper Systems said:

“This was without doubt the biggest and best face to face customer event we have ever done. The atmosphere and general feel around the day was amazing and the hard work and attention to detail applied by our team paid massive dividends to all concerned. The content was great and the customer feedback has been phenomenal. It was a very proud day for our business.

National Forest Company said:

“I found the event very insightful. Definitely useful for anyone who wants to upgrade their system and do more when it comes to their accounting processes. This is the place to come for networking and talking to the experts.”

Mathias Karady, VP of Portfolio Growth, Financials & ERP Division at Sage said:

“It was certainly a very well organised event in a fun venue.“

Paul O’Riordan, VP & Head of Medium Business at Sage said:

“Really excellent event all around.”

If you missed this Sage event, don’t worry! Keep and eye out for future events here.

About PKF Smith Cooper Systems

PKF Smith Cooper Systems is a multi-award-winning Sage business partner supplying solutions to SMEs nationwide. They are driven by their Good Sage Guys to Deal With ethos and offer development, support and project management services alongside their core Sage solutions, Sage 200 and Sage Intacct.