Sometimes the hardest thing to do on a software project is to name it. In the case of The General Maintenance Company the need gave us the inspiration for the name. Read on to learn more.

Overview

The General Maintenance Company (GMC) provides a nationwide property maintenance service across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Every client is allocated one dedicated account manager, regardless of portfolio size or location.

GMC’s range of property services includes everything from appliance repair and gas certificates, to regular property services such as garden maintenance, cleaning services and housekeeping for relocation companies. GMC works on both commercial and residential properties. Over recent years their property refurbishment portfolio has increased as asset managers see the retail potential of properties.

GMC’s years of experience means they know the property maintenance industry inside out, and are always willing to pass this knowledge on, always advising on the best way to handle maintenance issues, and prioritise work to maintain property value.

Simon Pringle, Director of Red River, said:

“When we presented the software, which was up to that point unnamed, to Denise at GMC she reacted so positively to it, telling us that it was a ‘dream come true’ for her to finally have the software she’d been looking for, for over 20 years’. It made sense to call it Dream from then on.”

The challenge

GMC’s former system, described as “an electronic filing cabinet” by Red River director Simon Pringle, stored data effectively but made retrieval slow and inefficient. Manual processes were embedded throughout daily operations, including:

• Manual quoting and job costing
• Daily hand-entered invoice imports into Sage
• Paper-heavy workflows
• Complex on boarding due to unintuitive interfaces
• Time-consuming contractor searches and repeated quote approvals

GMC required a modern system that would automate key processes, reduce manual workload and support a smoother, more reliable workflow.

Denise Pike, Director of GMC, said: “With our old software, which I’d inherited with the company, we were finding that where bits were bolted on over the years, it was a slow system which we were asking more and more of, and I was worry that if something went wrong we wouldn’t be able to fix it as it was unsupported. Originally I worked with two one-man bands to fix it, under the impression that I was getting value for money. The first was excellent but became ill, and the second just didn’t do what we were looking for.

“I had been at school with Lisa Legg, who worked at Red River but I had thought that using a company like them would mean 1) they would be really expensive, 2) it would be a big company and it would feel impersonal, and 3) I prefer to pay as I go, and I was a bit concerned about having to pay monthly. But when we went to see them I was blown away. They got us straight away. They were very human, very personable and were entirely on our wavelength. I decided we had to just bite the bullet.”

Process

System design and development

Red River began developing Dream in mid-2024, focusing on automation, intuitive design and seamless integration with GMC’s financial processes.

The system was built to:

• Automate quoting, job costs and contractor allocation
• Handle daily financial imports to Sage automatically
• Reduce manual data entry and minimise errors
• Improve overall visibility and data management

After approximately six months of development, Dream went live following a short dual-running period to ensure a smooth transition.

Denise said, “For a small business like ours, it was a lot of money to pay out to begin with but we have so much varied work, lots of contractors across the country, lots of sub clients and anomalies and weird things we need for our business that we needed a system just to work. When they showed Dream to us, I was astonished, it was exactly what we needed.”

Automation and intelligent workflows

With Dream, Red River introduced major automation features tailored to GMC’s needs:

• Automated invoicing: Daily imports to Sage now run automatically, replacing time-consuming manual work.
• Smart contractor search: The system filters contractors by past work, skills and distance, allowing GMC to allocate jobs more efficiently.
• Automated repeat-job quoting: Pre-approved contractor prices remove the need for repeated quote submissions and approvals.
• Integrated job costing: Quotes and costs are generated within the system, reducing admin time and improving accuracy.

Usability and staff experience

Dream was designed with intuitive workflows that make it easy for users at all levels. New starters have reported that Dream is the most intuitive system they’ve used, reducing on boarding time and improving daily productivity.

Denise is thrilled, she said: “It is incredibly labour saving. Take for example, most recently a colleague of mine was managing our gardening clients. They need to receive invoices and photos of their gardens, it’s a very specific sector which has lots of anomalies as part of the system and whereas in the past this work would have taken her between four and five days to complete, with Dream it took one.”

Ongoing support and continuous improvement

Following launch, Red River continues to provide monthly support and enhancements to ensure Dream evolves with GMC’s business needs. The ongoing partnership allows for quick adjustments, refinements and the introduction of new features as required.

Outcome

In early 2025, GMC moved from a manual Access database to Dream, a fully automated, intuitive system designed and delivered by Red River. The system went live at the end of January 2025 and has since transformed the way GMC handles quoting, job allocation, invoicing and data management. Dream has become central to GMC’s operations, offering speed, accuracy and long-term scalability.

Automation and efficiency

Dream has significantly reduced manual effort and improved operational efficiency. Key results include:

• Automated client and contractor invoicing
• Faster, more accurate quoting
• Reduced paper use and streamlined workflow
• Fewer errors due to integrated, reliable processes

Improved accuracy and speed

Automation has removed many of the manual steps that previously slowed GMC down. Job allocation, task completion and financial processing now happen faster and with greater accuracy.

Enhanced staff experience

An intuitive interface has improved on boarding and reduced the learning curve for new staff.

Account Manager, Line Paulsen, joined GMC a few months ago and has been very impressed with the system. She said: “I worked for a Fortune 100 company in USA, and we struggled with the software there, it was so long winded you had to go through a huge amount of different processes. Here, not only has the system been a dream to train on it has been by far the easiest, most intuitive system that I’ve ever worked with. It has so many lovely functions that flow beautifully to the next. It has been a revelation.”

Data visibility and impact measurement

Red River is supporting GMC with visual data tools, such as graphs showing admin time saved since Dream’s launch, to clearly demonstrate operational impact and support internal decision-making.

Strengthened operational capability

With Dream in place, GMC operates with greater consistency, speed and reliability. The project also demonstrates Red River’s ability to deliver robust, automated systems tailored to complex operational environments.

The future

Red River will be continuing to support GMC, with the next software system to be streamlined being the bookkeeping, something that will ensure yet more saved workforce hours for Denise and her team.