One of Hull’s fish processing companies is evolving and growing with the help of new technology and the University of Hull’s SparkFund programme.
Copernus, a family-owned business established in the 1980s, secured funding from SparkFund to overhaul its buying process and fish tracking system using new computer software.
The previous paper-based system no longer met the requirements of the fast-growing business, and Copernus needed an integrated system to help keep up with the market, legal requirements and competitors.
The new system, along with other significant investments by Copernus has facilitated them to compete for and win a number of very high value supply contracts with major blue chip retailers, where margins and tight and control of operations and costs is critical to maintain profitability and sustainability of those contracts.
Jeff Milner, Finance Director at Copernus, said: “The funding has allowed us to build an integrated system that allows us to track and trace all of our fish from where it was caught through to the end consumer.
“Making our data electronic and creating a system to manage it has made a drastic change to the business and helped us make key strategic decisions.