News

On Saturday 21st November 2009, employees from Allies cycled for 12 hours to raise money for Children In Need. After a last minute bike substitution, the seven male employees cycled on a pink ladies bicycle in shifts to complete the challenge organised by Lee Bennett from the sales team.

Chris Hamlin, Sales Manager, who completed the last shift of the day, said "We can cope with a few aching limbs to support all the worthwhile projects for young people and disadvantaged children across the UK. The team showed great spirit and stamina to support a great national fundraising event.

Tom Williams who took part, decided to cycle to and from the office for his shift on his new bike (funded through the Cyclescheme) but hadn’t ridden for 3 years. Nathan Lisgo’s one year old son Elijah was watching his dad’s stint and was so intrigued by the spokes, a wall had to be made to stop him going anywhere near the bike. Adrian, the supplier of his daughter’s bike, was pleased to see the pedals lasted the distance. After the event he said he didn’t expect them to. It was lucky they did! We even caused a bit of a stir when the guests to the busy restaurant next door could see us though the windows cycling in our Lycra. There were a few excuses about the equipment but all in all it was a great day.

Our donations page on the Just Giving website is open until 28th November 2009 so any last minute donations will be gratefully received http://www.justgiving.com/CycleMarathon.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

Lee Bennett

Peter Allies

Chris Hamlin

With millions of orders being placed online throughout the festive season, can you really afford to have customers dropping off at your checkout this Christmas?

PostCoder Web SOAP from Allies Computing is a web service which allows you to add address lookup from just a Postcode seamlessly into your online order process, saving you and your customers’ time, whilst reducing undelivered goods. Research shows as much as 27% of online sales are lost from lengthy online order processes. What would 27% more sales mean to you?

Why not try the service free for 21 days? Register now to get it set up in time for the Christmas spending rush - PostCoder Web SOAP

With the popularity of home improvements on the rise in the current market and the festive season approaching, sales of DIY gifts will be on the increase. According to Financialadvice.co.uk, more and more home owners want to invest in their property by making alterations or upgrades. Godfreys DIY are already reaping the rewards of using address lookup within their online ordering system. For a period the website was without an address lookup feature. But they quickly realised they were seeing failed deliveries due to incorrect addresses. This was costing them time and money, as well as inconveniencing their customers unnecessarily.

Now, by using PostCoder Web SOAP, it’s easier for their customers - they either simply enter the Postcode and the delivery address is completed automatically, or they enter the address details they know, and the full address and Postcode is looked up for them!

"We found Allies Computing's PostCoder Web SOAP service using a Google search. Allies' response was so prompt and positive that we felt we didn't need or want to talk to anyone else! Using SOAP, the Web service uses a protocol that is very easy for our developers to integrate into our PHP application. We also received some very helpful technical advice from Allies®." Barry Godfrey, Managing Director.

Register for the free trial now to realise the benefits for your business! - PostCoder Web SOAP

Royal Mail has just released its new PAF® Licence and we are working furiously to implement the changes for you. Recently announced and taking effect from the 1st April 2010, the new PAF® licence features many new terms and conditions and different ways to licence use of the Royal Mail’s data.

We are now analysing the new terms of the licence and carrying out extensive training with our sales and support teams to ensure that we give you the same great level of service and expertise you’ve come to expect from us.

We’ll then be in contact with all our customers to advise of any new terms or conditions that may affect you. If you’d like more information on PAF® licencing or our powerful PostCoder® products, please contact our sales team.

Your address database is one of the most crucial elements in Direct Marketing and CRM which is why it is so vital to keep it up to date.

Allies Computing has just released the best version of its PostCoder Batch address cleaning software yet! They have spent a lot of time improving the address matching engine and are thrilled to report an increase in the matching speed from 250,000 to 875,000 records per hour (based on the same PC specification)! That’s a 350% improvement to help save their customers time. The thorough testing regimes have shown the matching accuracy has also improved.

PostCoder Batch automatically cleans, standardises and corrects addresses in your database so you can:

• Address mail correctly to improve professional image
• Reduce returned mail
• Eliminate address duplication to prevent multiple mailings
• Get goods and services delivered to your customers the first time

Keep address databases up to date by using PostCoder Pro address lookup software, included free. PostCoder Pro has also been improved and the changes are better matching on abbreviations, organisation names and incorrect address data, additional UDPRN data returned and selectable Sendkey shortcuts.

Allies Computing has always used customer feedback to improve their products and these changes are no exception. Emma Gooderham, Managing Director of Allies® says "The changes our Development Team has made to the address matching engine are nothing short of amazing. They all deserve a massive thank you and I hope our customers will be as pleased with the final result as I am."

Try PostCoder Batch or PostCoder Pro for free to see the benefits for yourself, or contact us for more information on +44 (0)1508 494488

Allies Computing has been involved with the United Nations agency, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) based in Switzerland, for several years now, helping to support their work on two worldwide Addressing Standards.

Standard 42 (S42) – "International postal address components and templates", has been in development since it was first approved in 2002. It aims to provide a standardised address template for each of the 191 UPU member countries, making it possible to construct a postally correct address for each country. The standard will allow organisations to improve international mail delivery rates and therefore save money, and promote economic growth.

Standard 53 (S53) – "Exchange of name and address data", is a much newer standard working to facilitate the transfer of address data globally between postal authorities and mailers. This allows international postal services to work more efficiently and improve the quality of their deliveries.

Allies Computing is working together with the UPU S42 and S53 Working Groups to progress these standards and encourage their implementation for the benefit of world wide post.

If you have any International Addressing Software requirements or comments, feel free to let us know about them.

Allies' Managing Director Emma Gooderham meets
the coaches of Caister Football Club

The Coltishall Jags

Norwich-based address management company Allies Computing Ltd, creators of PostCoder® address lookup software, are sponsoring two local football clubs this season.

The Norfolk football clubs benefiting from this support are Caister Football Club and Coltishall Jags of which Allies staff members Lee Bennett and Sarah Nice are members.

The Colt Jags' Football Club held a funday on Sunday 28th June at Coltishall Social Club. It was here the new sponsorship was launched. The funday also saw team coaches being sponsored to dress up in something silly to play against the Ladies team. It was a great day for everyone.

On Sunday 26th July at Allendale Road, Caister Football Club will be hosting their 4th annual FA Affiliated 7-A-Side tournament which is fast becoming the number 1 adult football tournament in East Anglia. Allies is sponsoring the tournament and will be hoping Lee scores for the team.

Emma Gooderham, Managing Director of Allies says "I am really pleased that Allies have been able to support these two local football teams, and as a football fan myself I will be watching their progress closely!"

For details of how the football teams get on in the new season see http://www.colt-jags.co.uk and http://www.caisterfc.com.

To find out more information about Allies Computing and their PostCoder® products, please visit http://www.postcoder.com/fc.

Left: Tom Williams Right: Nick Lawler

Despite the recession, Norwich-based IT company Allies Computing Ltd are continuing to expand. The company, which develops and sells PostCoder® addressing software, is pleased to announce the addition of two new members to their Sales Team, Nick Lawler and Tom Williams.

Tom, who is relocating to the Norwich area, has a strong software sales background and has previously worked as an Arabic Linguist in the Army. Chelmsford born Nick has extensive experience in Financial Service sales. Both will make welcome additions to the already diverse Allies Team.

Managing Director Emma Gooderham comments, "We are pleased and excited to welcome Nick and Tom to Allies. Our Sales team has continued to be very busy and they will allow us to make sure our high levels of customer service are maintained".

For businesses that have identified their potential customers, targeted their marketing, have a brilliantly designed website and have managed to get potential customers onto their website, the next crucial part of the process is to make sure the customers then buy the product or service!

Problems with website checkout processes constitute the principal loss of income for the majority of e-commerce sites, with lengthy processes and pressures on customer’s time being the main issues. Research from Web Conversion specialists Lost Ferret has found that on many occasions checkout abandonment rates have exceeded 80%, meaning only 2 out of 10 people who visit the checkout will actually buy anything.

There are some simple tips that you can employ on your website to ensure that potential customers don't abandon you at the checkout:

1. Remove registration from the checkout process – Research from Econsultancy indicates that registration pages at the beginning of the checkout process contribute to checkout abandonment as this can be time-consuming, off-putting and often tedious for those who have forgotten their username or password.
2. Don't ask customers to duplicate information – if a customer has keyed in their name and email address, make sure this data is populated automatically as the default value if the information is needed in another part of the order process, for example for billing and delivery.
3. Use additional services to make it easier for the customer, such as automated address lookup. This can reduce keystrokes and save time by up to 80%.
4. Don't collect data you don't need – have a valid business reason to collect the data
5. Make sure the layout is simple and clear, with any steps to purchasing labeled and progress clearly visible. If you have more than 5 steps, you probably have too many.
6. List all the relevant information such as delivery costs and times, on the main part of the website to ensure there is no interruption to the buying process and no nasty surprises when payment is finally required. Hidden charges are another reason customers may abandon the checkout.

Is your website already in good order? A quick review and testing will identify any holes in your processes to make certain you are not loosing out on valuable sales.

East Anglia's leading independent DIY home improvement company, Godfrey DIY, has seen significant improvements to their website conversions as a result of using an online address validation tool. Barry Godfrey, Managing Director of Godfrey DIY says "Now we have address lookup functionality added to our site I am very confident that we have minimised the possibility of customer drop-off at the checkout. I regard it as a very effective tool in protecting us against failed deliveries due to addressing errors."

By taking simple steps to improve the usability of your website's order pages, the impact on sales could be quite significant so it's definitely worth some consideration when next reviewing your website.

See http://www.postcoder.com/online/postcoder_web_soap for more information.

Lee Bennett, a member of our successful sales team, introduced us to the new addition to his family this week. Unfortunately for us he isn't able to answer the phones just yet!

Congratulations to Lee and Danielle from everyone at Allies.

Here is a copy of the recent letter from Allies to Database Marketing, published in the Letters section:

Further to a recent article ('Addressing the issue', Database Marketing, February 2009), we were delighted to recently receive details from Royal Mail allowing Per Click PAF licences for Internal Business Use, ahead of the new licence in September 2009. This licence type was removed in September 2007.

From 1st March 2009, businesses will be to purchase up to 5,000 address lookups for their CRM or Accounting packages (previously 500), and share them among multiple users within the company. We have been explaining the importance of this type of licence to Royal Mail and are delighted they listened.

Emma Gooderham, MD, Allies Computing.

Please see our PostCoder Web SOAP service for more details.

PostCoder Web is the PostCoder® product of the moment even though it's celebrating its fourth birthday this week.

PostCoder Web is a service mainly used for adding address lookup to web forms from the input of just a Postcode. Allies Computing's PostCoder Web service has processed almost 30 million transactions for hundreds of companies since its release in April 2005. The product continues to grow, and with an increase in the company's turnover of 18% announced earlier this year, it is clear that automated address lookup for e-commerce and internet businesses is still a growing industry despite the recent economic slow down.

Emma Gooderham, Managing Director of Allies Computing, comments "we are very pleased that demand for PostCoder Web is still strong and growing year on year. It is important for businesses to use these sorts of tools as a way of saving money and improving efficiency, to cut costs that they might otherwise incur in dealing with undelivered mail or as a result of inefficient processes".

For more details and to register for a trial of the PostCoder Web service to add address lookup to web forms, visit http://www.postcoder.com/online/postcoder_web_soap

Allies Computing, one of the UK's leading suppliers in address management software, will be exhibiting at this year's Internet World Exhibition at Earls Court, London. Internet World is Europe's longest running, best attended and biggest event for digital marketing and online business. We will be showcasing our PostCoder® addressing products and demonstrating ways in which businesses can save time and money and set themselves apart from their competitors.

From Tuesday 28th through to Thursday 30th April 2009, we will occupy stand E3032 at the exhibition and will be giving live demonstrations of our address management software as well as challenging visitors to see how much time and money they can save their business using our Time and Money Saving Calculator. With over 20 years of addressing experience, We have perfected the PostCoder® range of products, which can check any of the 28 million postal addresses in the UK using Royal Mail's Postcode Address File (PAF®).

The benefits of using PostCoder® in your online marketing strategies and digital marketing campaigns are clear:

1. Reduced typing time by up to 80 per cent,
2. Improved processes,
3. Professional image presented and
4. Increased online orders (research shows by up to 27 per cent).

PostCoder Web requires the input of the Postcode to return an address and can auto complete in a web form - saving time and reducing the risk of abandonment at the checkout.

We are offering a 10% discount on all PostCoder® products* for all Internet World visitors. Free software trials are also available allowing businesses to see the benefits for themselves.

Members of our friendly team will be on hand during the show to answer questions, demo the PostCoder® software and show visitors how much they can save with the "Time & Money Saving Calculator". There will also be the chance for one lucky visitor to win a luxury wooden chess board!

(*For PostCoder Web this discount applies to the first credit pack purchase or for the first year annual cost only)

Allies® has always prided themselves at supporting UK Businesses by providing cost effective quality software, but now we want to go one step further. The news is rarely good at the moment, so we thought we'd try to brighten your day. We know from experience with our customers that PostCoder® software can save a businesses time and money. See how Chocolate Now! saves money on a monthly basis by using our software.

If you would like a competitive quote for PAF® data supply or PostCoder® software, please contact us. We would like to support you through these rough times, and although addressing software might seem like a small part of your business, it could generate a large saving and give you a competitive edge.

Chris Hamlin, sales manager at Allies Computing says "We understand that Businesses need to manage their costs, especially at times like this. If you are currently being supplied with addressing software and would like to compare the marketplace, we'd like you to test us out. We've been supplying cost effective address lookup software to our customers for over 20 years. You can try the software for 21 days with no obligation, so why not give us a go?".

Please contact the Sales Team for a competitive quote on +44 (0)1508 494488 or

Allies® are pleased to announce they can now provide Multiple Residence data with or without raw PAF® (Royal Mail's Postcode Address File) data extracts.

Multiple Residence data adds approximately 400,000 addresses to the 28 million already on PAF®. The additional address data recognises where a single property shares the same letter box for multiple residencies. For example, a house converted into 2 or more flats with only one letterbox.

The main benefits are that additional addresses can be identified for marketing purposes, for example mailshots, door drops, targeting and profiling. Also residents of these Multiple Residence addresses will be recognised by Service Providers and Utility Companies in their own right to allow them to apply for services and receive goods.

The data can be amalgamated with our PAF® data extracts or provided on its own. Various licence types are available and we can provide the data in a format that will meet your needs.

Chris Hamlin, sales manager of Allies Computing says "A customer recently asked us to provide Multiple Residence (MR) data with their PAF® data supply to make it easier for them to carry out a direct mail campaign. We always try to give our customers what they want and are keen to exceed expectations, so we didn't hesitate in adding the MR data to our data range. We are looking to add MR data to our other PostCoder® products in the near future and we hope this will add value for many customers."

for more information contact the sales team on +44 (0)1508 494488 or .

Norfolk-based address management company, Allies Computing, has added new features to its PostCoder Web service which allows people to look up addresses online within order forms. The new added features are part of the customer management system.

The PostCoder Web service has always allowed customers secure online access to their web accounts to monitor usage, purchase credits, request email alerts, see graphs and much more. However, additional new features now give customers more control over their accounts than ever before.

The improvements include:

• Exporting of statistics
• New email alerts
• IP address management

Emma Gooderham, Managing Director of Allies Computing says "The new administrative features allow customers to monitor their account more effectively by allowing export of statistics for marketing and analysis purposes. Not only that, but additional alerts can be set up to allow customers to act on any issue as quickly as possible, and customers can manage their IP addresses themselves in a secure manner at any time of day or night. Two of these features have been requested by customers and we love giving our customers what they want".

More new features will be added to this service in the near future as we are continually updating it to suit our changing customer needs.

Most of us take it for granted, but many do not know that the humble Postcode was actually born in Norwich half a century ago! During 2009 Allies Computing, the only Address Management company based in the area, will be commemorating the 50th birthday of this widely used data element.

Emma Gooderham, Managing Director of Allies Computing says "We are based at the heart of where it all began in 1959. Addressing has moved a long way since then, but the Postcode still remains an important aspect of everyday life for residents and businesses alike. It's surprising that such a significant event began here, yet not many people know about it".

Originally chosen by Postmaster General Ernest Marples due to its eight automatic mail sorting machines, Norwich was the testing ground for the world's first experiment with postal address codes. By 3rd October 1959, 150,000 private and business addresses in the city were given a six-digit postal code starting with NOR. Although the trial was subject to some initial teething problems further testing was carried out and, by 1974, 15 years later, the Postcode system successfully covered the whole of Britain.

Today Royal Mail's Postcode Address File (also known as PAF®) covers all 28 million addresses in the UK so has increased in size somewhat since its introduction! It's great to know that there are addressing experts at the place where it all started. All of Allies' PostCoder® software uses PAF® as their source data.

The web team of one of the UK's leading address management companies, Allies Computing Ltd, has expanded with the appointment of a new member of staff. The company, who produce the PostCoder® range of address lookup software have recently announced an eighteen percent turnover increase and have now grown to 19 strong with the addition of their new team member.

Nathan Lisgo, who has relocated to Norfolk from Bradford to join Allies Computing as a web developer, will be responsible for the development of the new PostCoder® website, which is due to launch in early 2009. Further to a complete re-brand, the new website will provide information, free trials and downloads of addressing solutions for companies looking to improve their processes and efficiency through accurate data with a friendly, modern and professional feel.

Emma Gooderham, Managing Director of Allies Computing, comments: "We are delighted to welcome Nathan to the Allies® team. He comes from a web media agency in Bradford where he worked with a broad range of well-known companies. His talents at developing websites for these clients will reflect in the work he will be doing in developing the new PostCoder® website, which we are very excited about".

For their development and production of Royal Mail's UK Addresses software, Allies Computing Ltd have been awarded First Class Supplier status three times.

We have added a new product to our software range called PostCoder Manager. Earlier this year we stopped producing the UK Addresses software range (Address Finder, Address Manager and Utilities) for Royal Mail after ten years of successful supply and support. The Copyright in the UK Addresses User Interface, Database and PAF® Utilities is owned by Allies Computing. The new PostCoder Manager has had new Help Files and branding added, is compatible with the old UK Addresses software and is now available for purchase from us. It has the same functionality to enable a seamless transfer. For more information, please contact us.

We have enjoyed a friendly and trouble-free relationship with Royal Mail’s Address Management Unit over the years and we hope that the transition for their customers to the new UK Addresses product is smooth.

We will continue to work closely with Royal Mail in the future on promoting PAF® and addressing issues, and remain at the forefront of UK address management expertise.

Our own range of PostCoder® software is very strong and in 2009 we will be releasing some exciting new products, including a powerful new International address lookup service, a new Batch address cleaning product and new features in our existing software.

Allies Computing is proud to announce it has been certified under Investors In People, confirming their dedication to development and management of employees.

The IIP certification provides a framework that helps organisations improve performance and realise objectives through investing in employee's training and well-being.

Emma Gooderham, Managing Director of Allies Computing says, "We are delighted to receive the Investors in People certification as we believe that our employees are one of our biggest assets. We are committed to providing job satisfaction and career advancement in a great working environment whilst working towards the company's goals."

Sales Manager, Chris Hamlin who co-ordinated the application process says "With a structured training plan, non-contributory pension scheme, life insurance, healthcare and many more benefits, the staff at Allies are well looked after. This certification is important to us as it's nice to be recognised for the fact that we genuinely care about the welfare of our staff".

The Investors In People Assessor reported that Allies® demonstrated "good examples of business linked training" and commented that the low staff turnover, and the internal development and appointment of their Managing Director were among the great achievements which helped towards gaining them the accreditation.

The company's application for the standard was so successful that they are now discussing the scheme's "Industry Champion" to show their outstanding achievements in promoting the values and principles of Investors in People.