Evil Elf releases our Jerri #missmurtagh

Fantastic news just arrived from the evil grotto, Jerri is free and on her way back to us (well she is going to the pub actually, it has been a very traumatic week for her after all!). The evil elf left us with this note:

You have all foiled my evil plan by being so "nice". I have just released your girl and she has got her hair straighteners, designer goods and yes her pizza back in time for the weekend!

She has actually talked my little elf ears off and I will be glad to see the back of her! I will return and will not be so kind next time.

Video released by the Evil Elf #missmurtagh

This video has just been released by the Evil Elf, make sure you turn the sound up. It seems the naughty elf is allowing our Jerri to indulge her love of dancing - in fact she was throwing some similar shapes at the Bond Christmas bash only on Saturday night.

The Elf also sent the following update with the video.

As you have still not paid my ransom demand, I will continue to keep your Jerri in my evil grotto. However I am quite surprised at how many people are looking for your girl now and I may consider releasing her if that continues. So if you can encourage a Twitter wave of Christmas good wishes, it may just win me over! I stress "MAY", as I am a cold hearted evil elf!

If you have any news of sightings please let us know by adding #missmurtagh to any tweets you send. We would like to start the wave of good wishes by wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2010. Please help us to get Jerri back by continuing the wave! We may just melt his cold heart!!

Evil Elf Update #missmurtagh

The following picture has been released to all the News Agencies of Jerri. If anyone sees her please let us know. Remember the Evil Elf has taken away her pizza and her designer handbag so please help us find her before Christmas so the Evil Elf does not steal all the toys!

Evil Elf Kidnaps our Jerri #missmurtagh

Our popular Marketing Executive, Jerri Murtagh has been kidnapped by one of Santa's evil elves and we need your help to get her back. We have received the following ransom note from the rogue.

I have your girl and I am going to hold on to her until Christmas unless you give in to my demands. I am going to use her to steal all the childrens toys from under the Christmas trees. She will do this by disguising herself as the Christmas fairy and climbing down the tree in the middle of the night.

Whilst I have her in my secret grotto she will not be allowed to use her hair straighteners, her lip gloss will be removed, no designer handbags are permitted in my grotto and she will be forced to wear cheap shoes. Oh and no pizza!

The only way you can get her back is:

1. If you find her - although that is unlikely as I have her well hidden! or


2. You pay my ransom demand of 1,000,000 Curly Wurly's.

So, fellow Social Networkers, we need your help to look for her, we will be posting photographs and videos of Jerri soon and we would like you to retweet them so that as many people as possible will recognise her if they see her on their Christmas Tree. Also we are sure we will be able to find her on Twitter, Linked In or Facebook if we look hard enough so we want to offer a reward for her safe return. The first person to find her via one of the Social Networking sites will receive a very special gift! If there are any sightings of Jerri at all or if you can give us any information please use the hashtag #missmurtagh.



We would like to have her back safe and sound in time for Christmas, please help!

SAGE ACCOUNTS OFFERS FOR NOVEMBER

Following the news that Microsoft will no longer be distributing Office Accounting in the UK from today, we are offering several discounts on Sage Accounts software throughout the month of November.

If you are currently using Microsoft Office Accounting you will qualify for a trade-in discount of 30% off Sage Accounts. Those who are not using any accounts packages will receive 10% off for this month only.

Sage Accounts is suitable for SMEs of any size and can streamline your business processes and provide you with up-to-date customer information. It incorporates a range of essential processes and we have picked out our top features and how they can benefit your business.

Billing, Payments and Finance
· Invoice production allowing you to manage supplier and customer payments and streamline the full process.
· The creation and management of sales orders, quotations, invoices and purchase orders which can be posted or sent electronically to the customer.
· Credit control facilities, including debt management, which make you aware of exactly when you should be paid and where debts lie within your business. This enables you to ensure you are paid on time and manage your payments correctly.

Project Management
· Project management control which allows you to see the costs and resources associated with a project through accurate analysis and the production of reports.
· A fully integrated stock management system with a stocktake function that links to your sales and purchase orders to ensure you have an accurate view of where your business is at each moment.
· There is also a fixed asset module which will allows you to clearly record, value and manage the depreciation of assets within your business.

Reports
· There are a series of reports that can display information such as aged debtors and creditors, profit and loss and balance sheets and reporting on stock and project profitability. You are also able to customise these reports at any time to display the information that is key to your business and its performance.

Integration
Sage Accounts links with a range of add-on applications as well as other Sage products such as ACT! and Payroll.

It also integrates with Excel so you can create reports within the programme as well as exporting data directly to Excel.

There are a series of packages available depending on the size and function of your business. These packages begin with Sage 50 Accounts – aimed at companies with less than 2 users, and span up to Sage 50 Accounts Professional – aimed at companies who require up to 10 users’ access the accounts system.

In addition to the accounts product, we also offer training, installation and support to ensure that you get the most out of your accounts programme.

As mentioned, this is only a brief overview of what Sage Accounts can do for your business so please contact our sales team if you would like any further information. The discount is applicable until the end of November and please quote ‘bondblog’ when ordering to ensure you receive this.

E: info@bond-solutions.com T: 0870 043 4303

Well Done Jules!

Congratulations to Julie for completing her skydive on Saturday in aid of Action for Children.

As promised the pictures have arrived!

The weather was fantastic and the team celebrated her safe descent with a BBQ – the pilot even flew the plane over the garden as promised.

Thank you to all of those who sponsored Julie making us 37% closer to reaching our target. This is fantastic and very much appreciated.

We are now looking ahead to Byte Night on October 2, where all of the team will be sleeping rough for one night to experience what it is like to be homeless.

We are hoping this will allow us to reach our £3,000 fundraising target and make a big difference to young people across the region.

Action for Children has helped over 19,000 children in the North East over the past year and it relies on support from the business community to continue its work.

If you would like to get involved in Byte Night please click here and please also visit our JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/bond-solutions if you are able to sponsor us and help change the lives of children across the country.

Click here for more pictures of Julie’s jump.

Pete Clark completes the C2C bike ride

Well done to Pete Clark for completing the 138 mile Coast to Coast bike ride yesterday. Pete and 3 friends were doing the gruelling journey in aid of Action for Children and it was part of fund raising activities at Bond over the next 3 months.

The search for the next Bond Girl is over

Derek Curtis MD Bond pictured with Katie Dodds

The search for the next Bond Girl is over. 

Katie Dodds, 23, has beaten off stiff competition from other finalists in the Miss Sunderland beauty contest to be crowned Bond Solutions’ Bond Girl.

The Wearside business software solutions specialist picked Katie, from Cleadon Village, Sunderland, to represent its business after hearing Miss Sunderland had returned to the region after several years’ absence.  Seeing the call-out for local business support, Bond decided to back one of the girls through to the final, and hopefully all of the way to Miss England.

Katie, a teacher at Horndale Infant and Nursery School in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has modelled in the past and thought it would be a great experience to get involved in the competition.  Katie said: “I am honoured to be picked as the ‘Bond Girl’ and I hope I can make the company proud at the final. My friend was recently diagnosed with Leukaemia and I am trying to arrange a fundraiser to raise awareness of the disease. The team at Bond has said they will help me with this, which is fantastic.

“I haven’t told the children in my class that I am through to the final yet, but when I do I know they will all be very excited.  “I’m sure that they will have lots of questions about the contest and I can’t wait to see their reaction when I tell them.”

The grand final takes place on May 22 at the Stadium of Light and the Bond team will be at the event cheering Katie on.

Bond Solutions’ managing director Derek Curtis said: “We were very keen to support a local girl and cheer her through the final stages of the competition.

“I thought Katie was a great choice and I’m sure all of her students and fellow teachers will be very proud of her.”

Tickets for the final are available now and company sponsorship is still available for some of the final 24 girls – find more information at www.misssunderland.co.uk.

 

Sage Accounts and Payroll v11 Lifecycle Policy

As of 1 May 2009 Sage are implementing the 'Accounts and Payroll v11 Lifecycle Policy.'

What does this mean? 

Sage will be withdrawing support, updates and upgrades of v11 software in a phased approach. From April 2010 customers will not be able to directly upgrade v11 to the latest version of software and from April 2011 all support will be withdrawn.

Software included:

Sage Instant Accounts v11
Sage Line 50 Accounts v11
Sage Payroll v11

Offers & Campaigns to support the Lifecycle Policy, the following offers are available until 31 July 2009:

• Instant Accounts - 20% off Upgrade OR SageCover Extra - 12 months for the price of 10· PLUS 12 Weeks free E-learning AND 3 months of Legislation Manager
  
• Line 50 · 20% off Upgrade OR SageCover Extra - 12 months for the price of 10· PLUS 12 Weeks free E-learning OR 3 months of Legislation Manager.
• Payroll · 10% off upgrade OR SageCover Extra - 12 months for the price of 10· PLUS free Payroll Workbook OR 3 months of Legislation Manager.

Important Dates:
01/05/09 · V11 Lifecycle Policy Applies· New SageCover not available
31/07/09 · Offers End
05/04/11 · Payroll v11 Support Ends
30/04/11 · Accounts and Instant Accounts v11Support Ends

In the meantime, if you would like further information, call our office on 08700 434303 or email sales@bond-solutions.com.

Sage CRM and Internet Explorer 8

On Tuesday April 21 2009 Microsoft deployed Internet Explorer 8 via the Microsoft Windows Update service.

Sage CRM only supports the following browsers:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x & 7.x.

We would advise customers to use versions 6.x or 7.x only of Internet Explorer however if customers are forced to use Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 it is highly advisable that they run Internet Explorer in 'Compatibility Mode' to prevent any issues with CRM occurring.

The following Microsoft Knowledge Base article details how to enable compatibility mode within Internet Explorer 8.0:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956197/en-us 

Sage CRM will support Internet Explorer 8 from version 6.2c onwards.If you have any questions, please contact our support team on 08700 434 303.

Search for the next Bond Girl

A SUNDERLAND software specialist is on the look-out for the next Bond Girl. 

Bond Solutions is appealing to ladies across the region to enter the Miss Sunderland contest, which has returned to the region after several years’ absence. 

Bond will be sponsoring one of the finalists - who will also be given the title of Bond Girl - and backing her throughout the final stages of the competition where she will battle it out to win the title of ‘Miss Sunderland 2009’. 

Bond Solutions managing director Derek Curtis said: “It is great that the Miss Sunderland competition has returned to the region and we thought it would be a great idea to start the search for our very own Bond Girl." 

“As a Sunderland-based company, it’s important that we support local initiatives and all of the money raised on the night will be given to the Sunderland Foundation which is a wonderful cause. Miss Sunderland is open to girls across the country however the girl that we back will be from the region." 

“We will aim to drum up as much support for her as possible, as it would be great if she won the competition and went on to win the Miss England title.” 

Miss Sunderland is currently taking entries. Open auditions will be held on April 19 and the final will take place on May 22 at The Stadium of Light. 

The judges for the event include Emma Beard of Paris Hilton’s British Best Friend, Serenity in the City spa owner Jocelyn Maxfied and an SAFC footballer. 

Miss Sunderland’s event organiser Simon Robertson said: “It is great that we have Bond Solutions on board as a sponsor for the event. 

“Bringing Miss Sunderland back to the region has been a great experience and it is something that we have wanted to do for a long time. It is fantastic that local businesses are rallying round to support the event. 

“In total there will be 24 finalists, so we are urging other companies to follow Bond’s lead and back a girl to win the competition.” 

As well as automatically going through to the final of the Miss England competition, the winner will also win a modelling contract and portfolio with AM Models and car dealer Wearside Audi will give the winner an Audi A3 cabriolet for a week. 

All details for the competition, including how to enter, sponsorship packages and purchasing tickets can be found at www.misssunderland.co.uk.

Withdrawal of Support for ACT v7 and v8

Sage have recently issued a “Withdrawal of Sale/Support Policy for ACT! v7 and v8”.  This withdrawal statement basically outlines their declaration that Sage will no longer provide technical support or additional licences to any ACT! v7 and v8 users as of 31^st August 2009.

Sage are adopting this policy as ACT! v7 and v8 are now 3 and 4 years old respectively and are not maintained or tested on the latest operating systems.

Bond will continue to support our existing ACT! customers with our “In House” support contracts. This may however be limited without second line support from Sage, and as such, we strongly recommend a review of your present system to establish if an upgrade to a new version of ACT! would be beneficial to your company.

Please note that without an upgrade, you will be unable to purchase any additional licences for ACT! v7 and v8 as this facility is also to be withdrawn from Sage, with effect from 31^st August 2009. As a result, Sage are currently offering an extra 20% off the already discounted upgrade price to the latest version of ACT!  Please note that this offer from Sage is only available until 30^th April 2009.

Please contact us on 08700 434303 or sales@bond-solutions.com for further information.

My Working Week

Derek Curtis, pictured, is the managing director of Sunderland-based management software company Bond, which specialises in technology-based Customer Relationship Management. He lives in Co Durham with wife Julie and Dalmatian Cubby.

Monday
I return home after a weekend in Monaco with Sage. Bond recently won a Circle of Excellence Award and Sage took us away to congratulate us and catch up on work, of course. I head straight to the office to begin working through my emails and then head out for a new business meeting with an engineering firm.

Tuesday
After picking up a nice strong coffee, I check my emails before heading into our weekly internal product meeting. Most of the rest of the day is filled with meetings. The first is a Scottish-based printing company who are interested in one of our new products. I then head off to my final meeting of the day which is with an existing client. I like to keep in regular contact with clients and the meeting today is regarding customer service, which the client advises has been excellent. I then drop my staff an email before heading home to walk my Dalmatian Cubby.

Wednesday
I head straight to a new business meeting with an offshore oil supporting company and then head to the office. After checking my emails I embark on finding the next Bond Girl. Miss Sunderland 2009 has returned to the region after several years’ absence and I am going to be sponsoring a finalist this year so I fill in the sponsorship form and send it across to the event organisers. I then have a meeting with Sage, our key partner, where we discuss our sales pipeline and any customer issues which have recently arisen.

Thursday
Early morning I am in an internal meeting where we are discussing the development of new products, something which I am always keen to push. The meeting proves very helpful and I leave with lots of exciting ideas. I then head across to Newcastle for a meeting with my PR company to discuss marketing my new products and creative ways of finding my Bond Girl. I then head back to the office for a training session on leadership management with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). Our key members of staff are all involved and they all seem to have enjoyed the session.

Friday
I host a meeting with the support team about any outstanding or recurring issues and we develop a way forward by discussing all possible resolutions. I then walk Cubby - we have a pact in the office about losing weight so I take him out on my lunch to give him - and I – some exercise. I then head back to the office and catch up on my accounts and other various tasks before heading home to relax.

Bond bucks the recruitment trend

Business solutions specialist Bond has bucked the recruitment trend by adding a new member to its growing workforce.

Contrary to recent reports of staff cuts and increasing unemployment in the region, the firm, which helps other organisations grow through implementing business management software, has just welcomed a new software consultant to its Sunderland-based office.

Nick Bevan, who joins the Sage-accredited software solutions company with a strong background in software consultancy and sales in the technology sector, has been working in the industry for over eight years.

Nick, who commutes from his home in Great Lumley, County Durham, said: “I wanted to work somewhere exciting and interesting, with a wide range of large clients and this led me to Bond.

“Even though my background is mainly in consultancy, over the past three years I’ve developed skills in software sales. Also, as I’ve got a wide knowledge of third-party products that work best alongside Sage, hopefully this combined experience will benefit our customers and Bond alike.

“It’s been great so far, and the team here are fantastic. I’ve even managed to work with some major clients already and hope this will continue to grow. When I looked into business solutions companies in the area, Bond always came out on top for not only client care, but staff wellbeing too."

Bond managing director Derek Curtis said: “Nick is an excellent addition to our growing team. With his extensive knowledge of our products, as well as an understanding of how to communicate with our customers, he adds huge value to our existing customers.”