Further to this Cash Retail, Traditional Retail, Financial Services and New Business Development have a focused application team headed by an IT executive providing specialised services and solutions to these divisions.

One of the main focuses during the year was on the investigation into a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution for the Group which will be finalised during late 2009 and decisions made regarding determining the future end state. In addition, there was significant effort on piloting a new loan management system which has laid the foundation for the further decoupling of the traditional furniture business from that of the Financial Services division during 2010.

The bedding down of the technology solutions in the national contact centres has provided Financial Services with the opportunity to significantly improve on the follow up and collections processes, adding further value to the Group.