Ashby Services Limited is an independent consultancy company that provides integrated business solutions to a wide range of customers in New Zealand.
Ashby is committed to providing certainty to our customers. We will always deal in an open, honest and professional manner with our customers. We focus on the long term relationship, not the transaction.
The majority of our customers are in the Import, Wholesale, Manufacturing and Distribution industries, but our expertise extends to other industries such as Construction, Professional Services, Insurance, Service and more. We understand that while your business may be medium sized, you still deal with many of the same inherent complexities of a larger company, just on a smaller scale. So when your business looks for an IT solution, you need a comprehensive solution that is simple to operate and manage.
The IT industry in New Zealand is constantly changing as technology advances open up new opportunities for businesses. New Zealand companies are generally growing and expanding their own horizons, which often means that they require new technology to enable business growth, or they have outgrown a smaller software system and are ready to upgrade to achieve planned business growth. We anticipate that Software as a Service (SAAS) or “Cloud” software offerings will “cross the chasm” and become more prevalent over the next 3 – 5 years and we will invest accordingly in the skills required to service this market.
The principal behind Ashby Services is John Fothergill. John has worked in the NZ It industry for more than 30 years in a variety of roles, starting as an
Analyst Programmer at NZ Co-operative Dairy Company in Hamilton back in the 80’s working on the first installation of the Oracle database in New Zealand.
John moved to Auckland in 1994 and started working for Oracle New Zealand in the Applications division in 1995. He held a number of roles within Oracle including Senior Consultant, Project Manager, Applications Consulting Manager and Services Business Development Manager.
In 2001, John left Oracle and moved into a Sales role at Intentia New Zealand. Intentia had a highly successful product called Movex – a high end manufacturing and distribution package that competed head to head with the likes of SAP, Oracle, BPCS and Axapta. It was here that John developed an expertise in supply chain planning, FMCG industries and also a bit of a passion for Supply Chain Optimisation.
In 2006, somewhat disillusioned with the whole “global corporate” situation, John moved to a small local business – Verde - as a director / shareholder to grow a business selling Greentree. While at Verde, John started up a secondary line of business selling the MYOB EXO Business products. This business has now become Ashby Services.
John has a passion for helping small to medium sized businesses grow through the use of better business processes enabled by software.
Outside of work, John is a committed Rotarian – a member (and Past President) of the Parnell club for more 10 years and currently an Assistant Governor in District 9920. John is also a keen golfer and past board member at Whitford Park Golf Club. John also keeps fit by cycling.
If there is any time left in the week, John spends this “relaxing” on his half-hectare property on Red Hill, Papakura.
Roger Bray is the principal director of Speciffix Solutions Ltd. John and Roger work closely to ensure that our customers receive the best support from us. Roger has worked in the IT sector in New Zealand since 1973 and has a practical approach to applying technology based solutions to real world problems. Roger was instrumental in designing and managing the development team for Exonet, and subsequently MYOB EXO Business from 2001 to 2007 and, as such, has an intimate knowledge of the software design and function. Roger still contributes to the MYOB think tank.
In past lives Roger has been involved in full turnkey solutions and is also network savvy.
Outside of work Roger can often be found volunteering on Tiritiri Matangi Island. Roger also volunteers with the NZ Schools Waterwise program.
Rogers LinkedIn page can be found here.
The Speciffix website can be found here.