SERVISIONAL has signed a major contract with a sportswear manufacturer to handle its business and customer management systems worldwide.

The rapidly-growing IT solutions company, which has offices in Edgworth and Salford, has entered into an agreement to design and install a customer relationship and business process management system for Kukri Sports, which is based in Bamber Bridge near Preston.

The new contract, the value of which was undisclosed, follows the launch last year of the new Kukri Sports website and online "create your own design" facility using Servisional's vision web manager software.

The new software, called Vision Business Process Manager, will be introduced at all of Kukri Sports' worldwide operations including Britain, Ireland and Spain, New Zealand, Australia, China, Japan and Hong Kong.

All of Kukri's key processes including sales order processing, purchase order placement, order management and despatch, inventory management and invoicing will be handled through the software system.

It will allow integration with the Kukri factory in China and allow a seamless buyer-to-supplier process from the initial customer order, through manufacture, to dispatch.

In addition, Kukri will be using another piece of technology, the Vision Customer Relationship Manager, to handle customer services and create marketing campaigns to drive increased sales.

Andy Taylor, Servisional's Bolton-based sales director, said: "Kukri and Servisional have a relationship that is a true partnership. Our solutions will be running Kukri's full end-to-end business critical operations, and adding significant value along the way.

"Kukri Sports are an exciting, fast-growing and globally expanding business and we are extremely pleased to be a part of that."

Phil Morris, Kukri Sports' commercial director, said: "The exciting part of it all is that we will be working with one system for all our operations across the world."

Mr Taylor added that Servisional is taking advantage of a two year "window of opportunity" for its product to accelerate the company's growth, and increase its staff from 11 to 25 in the next few months. It also announced plans to move into bigger office space in Bolton, to accommodate the growth.