Charterhouse Holdings plc is a UK-based company well known for its expertise in garment manufacturing and personalisation solutions. To increase efficiency and simplify financial management, the company partnered with Columbus to implement Medius AP Automation and Expense Management. Today, Charterhouse has improved accounts payable (AP) performance and digitised expense management, freeing employees to focus on higher-value work.
Meeting complex supplier orders and reducing manual work
Charterhouse and Columbus have a long-standing partnership. As part of a previous Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP implementation with Columbus, Charterhouse adopted an accounts payable (AP) solution.
However over time, the company was running into issues keeping the AP solution aligned with its upgrade cycle, updating its D365 Finance and Operations environment twice a year. This made the AP process feel increasingly fragile, with tasks the solution should complete in minutes taking employees several hours to process manually.
Due to the nature of Charterhouse’s operations in the garment industry, the company places significantly large and complex orders, often consisting of hundreds of lines that can be split across multiple deliveries. In addition, its international supply relationships means the company deals with multiple contractual terms and currencies. Charterhouse needed an AP solution that could reliably handle this level of complexity as a minimum requirement and integrate with its ERP environment.
Mark Bartlett, Chief Finance & I.T. Officer at Charterhouse Holdings, explains how these orders can look in reality: “For example, ordering black polo shirts means one style and colour, but with sizes from extra small to 6XL that already equates to around ten lines. Our main polo is available in 30 colours, so a single order can easily run into hundreds of lines — and that’s just one product.”
The second major challenge facing Charterhouse was in expense management. The company had been operating without a dedicated expense management solution, relying on an in-house process built around Microsoft Office tools. This process required physical receipts, resulting in significant time spent across the company collating, approving, processing and storing paperwork.
“We’ve got an array of staff — from directors and senior managers to field salespeople and engineers — who were all spending up to a couple of hours a month hunting down receipts, putting them in envelopes, filling in spreadsheets, and sending them in. As a company, we were spending a disproportionate amount of time on expenses that didn’t justify the effort,” says Mark.
Recognising the need for change, Charterhouse returned to the Medius solution, which it had previously reviewed and been impressed by. After attending a webinar hosted by Columbus and Medius, the team remained confident in its capabilities. Following further discussions, Charterhouse agreed on a package that met its requirements — selecting Medius as the solution and Columbus as the implementation partner.
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Summary
Charterhouse partnered with Columbus to implement Medius AP Automation and Expense Management, replacing its previous accounts payable solution with a modern platform designed to handle the complexity of its supplier orders. The company has also digitised expense management, significantly reducing time spent on non–value-added tasks and improving employee satisfaction.
About Charterhouse Holdings
- Founded in 1970, Charterhouse Holdings plc is well known in garment manufacture and personalisation solutions.
- Based in Derby, UK, the company has evolved significantly over the last 54 years and empowers its customers to personalise by providing an innovative and unique product mix through four successful brands: Kustom Kit, Xpres, Vanilla and Adkins.
- Kustom Kit is one of Europe’s leading suppliers of high quality corporate, work and team clothing. Xpres is the UK market leader in technology , media and printables for the personalisation market.
- Vanilla is a collection of premium fashion basics optimised for print personalisation, whilst Adkins has been the dominant force in heat press technology for over 45 years.
We’ve moved to a digital platform that’s paperless and it gives us better quality information. What used to be a complex and time consuming end-of-month process can now be done in 10–15 minutes.
Open dialogue and genuine collaboration drive implementation success
Charterhouse is no stranger to change, having gone through several transformation projects in recent years. “By the time we started the Medius projects, the company already had a culture of moving forward and embracing change,” says Mark.
With this culture of change embedded in Charterhouse, Mark says the company’s success with transformation projects is less about change management and more about the quality of collaboration between client and consultants.
“For any implementation to succeed, there has to be harmony. The client needs to know what’s required and be open to change, while consultants must listen and show what’s possible — not just follow a fixed approach. Our project worked because both sides did exactly that, with open dialogue, honest feedback, and genuine collaboration.”
Having already worked together on several projects, Charterhouse and Columbus have developed a strong, trusted partnership. Mark highlights how this relationship, along with Medius, helped deliver a successful implementation.
“The collaboration between all parties meant the projects ran quickly and comfortably — which is rare for IT implementations. When you’ve got a company like ours that has culture of change within the business, it’s much easier to succeed.”
Major efficiency gains and improved employee experience
The AP solution has recently gone live to a test group, with Charterhouse successfully completing its first ERP upgrade cycle. This has built confidence in the AP process and positioned the company well for the upcoming company-wide rollout.
“We now have an AP solution that’s faster and more reliable,” says Mark. “While current demands on the solution are low, we expect significant long-term benefits because of its enhanced functionality — it’s faster, includes anti-fraud measures, and uses increasing levels of AI-based intelligence for processing.”
Mark also highlights the business improvements that go beyond reliability and speed. “We now have the capacity to handle more workflows without increasing headcount. Processes are quicker, and we’re achieving more for the same level of overhead spend. That’s a real win for us.”
On the expenses side, digitising expense management is expected to deliver major efficiency gains, eliminating paper-based processes, speeding up claims and approvals, and significantly reducing time spent on non–value-added work. Reporting deadlines are also expected to shorten as month-end workloads decrease.
“We’ve moved to a digital platform that’s paperless and it gives us better quality information,” explains Mark. “What used to be a complex and time consuming end-of-month process can now be done in 10–15 minutes.”
Beyond the efficiency gains, Mark emphasises the improvement in employee experience. “You can’t underestimate the motivational benefit. Employees don’t dread doing their expenses at the end of the month anymore. They can get it done quickly and get back to more productive activities. It’s an emotional win as well as an efficiency one.”
Mark adds that he would recommend the Medius solution to other organisations facing similar challenges. “If I was talking to another finance director of a mid-size company with limited AP resources and lots of employees doing expenses, I’d definitely recommend Medius AP and Expense Management. It’s a technically advanced and cost effective solution, making it a great fit for businesses like ours.”
A long-term partnership built on trust and innovation
Charterhouse and Columbus have developed a long-term partnership over several years, completing multiple projects together, including:
- An eCommerce platform to improve and grow online sales channels
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement to improve sales and marketing
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations to manage all back office requirements
This relationship, as Mark says, has continued to develop and strengthen over the years. “Charterhouse and Columbus have been working together since 2018, which speaks volumes about how well the partnership works. While people have changed over time, the core continuity across both teams has provided stability and consistency, helping to drive ongoing innovation and keep our business moving forward.”
Mark highlights that the longevity of the partnership and the ability to build on previous work have been key factors in the success of recent projects. “Like any long-term relationship, trust and communication deepen over time, and that makes every new project even more effective. These latest projects are a great example of that.”
Looking ahead, Charterhouse and Columbus continue to work closely on new initiatives. “We’re now on our second iteration of the website with Columbus’ support, and we’re running two business intelligence and AI projects that will benefit both marketing and financial reporting. It doesn’t stop — it keeps evolving. There’s a lot of trust that’s been built over the years and it continues to grow,” says Mark.
