Parsley Box Turn To The TALL Group During COVID 19 Lock Down

Worried about her eating properly, they searched for delivered meal services but so concerned were they with the offerings available decided to create Parsley Box providing customers with cupboard stored tasty meals, ordered online and delivered fast to their door.

As the demand for home delivered meals using quality ingredients has grown so Parsley Box has seen its customer base expand since the company started back in 2017. TALL were first contacted by John Swan, Parsley Box CFO, following a recommendation by the Royal Bank of Scotland to provide a quotation for an entry level Banking Assistant solution.

Parsley Box at that time were receiving around 2,500 cheques per month. The number and use of cheques boosted by Parsley Box’s customer demographic. TALL’s Banking Assistant, a cheque imaging and tracking system that automatically captures the code line and amounts of cheques to be deposited, would provide a means of keeping a record of all items received in payment for the ready meals.

However, with the turn of the year and the advent of the COVID-19 epidemic, with the UK in lockdown, Parsley Box have seen a dramatic increase in the demand for its cupboard stored meals delivered straight to the customer’s door. This increase in demand has resulted in a near doubling of cheque receipts from 4,000 to 5,000 per month.

From the original enquiry, TALL provided further information to enable Parsley Box to cope with the up-turn in cheque receipts, and establish how the Banking Assistant application could be integrated into the Parsley Box operating systems. Having agreed the specifications for the system, the application went live in the middle of May 2020. However, due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in place, TALL were not able to visit the Parsley Box site. Therefore, TALL’s installation of the system was completed remotely, a major benefit to both organisations under the prevailing restrictions.

The TALL Group’s Banking Assistant provides a full audit trail of funds received into the business by cheques to speed up the banking process. Cheques are scanned onsite using a model TS240 state-of-the-art cheque scanner supplied as part of the Banking Assistant solution. The TS240 is a high-speed automatic feed cheque scanner. The integral automatic feed allows batches of cheques to be processed with all MICR code line and amount details captured. The scanner also reads both sides of the cheque to capture images of the front and rear, a feature which Parsley Box needed as they endorse the rear of each cheque which a series of codes that identify the processor.

This feature also allows for faster resolution of customer enquiries using the comprehensive database and image search facility built into the system. An XML file export facility provides the option of transferring this comprehensive database into corporate accounting systems for added analysis.

An optional feature used by Parsley Box to speed up cheque processing involves Banking Assistant auto-populating fields in the database for subsequent customer payments. Once the first received cheque details are captured then further cheque receipts from that customer are recognised and their details automatically infilled in the system saving processing time.

John Swan said, “We have been impressed with the way in which the TALL Group have gone about the installation and commissioning of their Banking Assistant solution particularly as we were faced with lockdown restrictions. As we have witnessed incredible growth in our offerings during the crisis, so the background administration and processing of payments has also increased. Banking Assistant is going to provide us with the facility to manage our payment receipts as we move forward providing us with complete flexibility for the future.”

Martin Ruda, TALL Group Managing Director, commenting on the installation said, “Throughout the lockdown, the TALL Group has been providing products and services to our beleaguered customers from our three secure accredited sites in the UK as ‘key suppliers’ to the industry. I am delighted that our dedicated solution sales team, working in conjunction with the Group IT function, have managed to get ‘close’ to Parsley Box to facilitate this solution and we look forward to supporting them through their journey as their business grows and develops.”

For more details of the TALL Group’s Banking Assistant, please visit the TALL Group website at https://tinyurl.com/yyewfu9j