Agenda item

Verbal report of the Chamberlain

The Sub-Committee received an interactive demonstration, from the Billingsgate Market Manager, of the Piranha mobile stock control app which was in-use at Billingsgate Market.

Members were advised that the app had been only recently been introduced in an effort to streamline administrative processes in respect of the requisition and allocation of stock which had previously involved a lot of paper work and manual data entry.  Whilst the impact of the app was yet to be properly known, it was expected to save approximately one hour per week due to a reduction in manual entry tasks and enhanced stock control.  In respect of costs, it was noted that in addition to the set-up cost of £2,627.06 and £120 per device, there was also an annual fee of £2,735 which was not cost prohibitive and allowed the app to be used across all of the City Corporation’s markets.

In response to a question, the Market Manager commented that the app was not integrated with any internal financial systems or corporate solutions such as CBIS but that this would be preferable in the future.  In noting that the app was not a bespoke product, albeit it had been developed to appropriately meet the Market’s needs, the Chairman commented that use of a ‘buy not build’ product on this occasion had been the best solution.

RESOLVED – That the update in respect of the Piranha app be noted.