FROM FRAGMENTED OPERATIONS TO SCALABLE SYSTEMS
Eccles is a growing manufacturing business supplying complex, asset-heavy products to utility and infrastructure clients. As the business scaled, operations became increasingly difficult to manage due to fragmented systems, manual processes, and rising overheads. Aquilon partnered with Eccles to rebuild the foundations of how the business operates, sells, and scales.
The Challenge
Eccles faced a set of compounding operational issues:
Sales, stock, accounting, and operations data lived in separate systems
Teams relied heavily on spreadsheets and manual reconciliation
UK sales staff spent significant time on administration instead of selling
Marketing was fragmented across multiple agencies with no accountability
Rising costs made inefficiency increasingly visible
Nothing was “broken”, but growth felt heavier and harder to manage every quarter.
The Solution
Technology
Built a custom ERP system to unify CRM, stock management, vendor data, and operations
Removed spreadsheet dependency and manual reconciliation
Delivered a geo-tagged asset management application for utility clients with Google Maps integration
Hiring
Deployed an embedded offshore operations team
Offshore staff handled admin, reporting, and operational support
UK sales team was freed to focus almost entirely on revenue generation
Media
Replaced multiple agencies with a single integrated offshore media team
Delivered SEO, content, social media, performance marketing, and video
Marketing decisions aligned with real operational and product data
The Impact
Operational
Real-time visibility across sales, stock, and operations
Significant reduction in manual admin work
Faster decision-making without adding headcount
Commercial
Sales team shifted from ~40% selling time to over 90%
Stronger positioning as a technology-enabled partner, not just a supplier
Financial
~40% reduction in software costs
Marketing output equivalent to a large in-house team at a fraction of the cost
Before vs After
Before | After |
Fragmented systems | Unified ERP |
Spreadsheet-led reporting | Real-time dashboards |
Sales tied up in admin | Sales focused on revenue |
Multiple agencies | Single accountable partner |
Why It Worked
This engagement succeeded because systems, teams, and growth were designed together. Aquilon didn’t fix symptoms. We rebuilt the operating model.