The ORIS Group, retail loss consultants, have formed a strategic partnership with bright link consulting to roll out products in a range of Continental languages.
Bright link, a Swiss-based loss prevention specialist with more than 30 years retail and telecoms expertise will promote ORIS’s Case and Incident Manager software, with its professional services package, including ORIS ShrinkTank and the ORIS portfolio of leadership and people development products.
The joint venture, which commences in April 2011, will offer the software and service delivery in French and German which opens up the ORIS offering to much more of the northern European market. ORIS already provides solutions for brands trading across Europe, including The Carphone Warehouse and ADIDAS. Now ORIS ShrinkTank can be offered to European loss prevention teams under the stewardship of Alex Habath and Michel Goies – the respective former head of loss prevention and CEO of The Phone House (TPH), Switzerland.
Director of Operations for bright link, German-born Habath, who has also held the role of head of loss prevention for the chain Claire’s Accessories, is also fluent in English and French.
Goies says: “Loss Prevention still has a lot of development to do in continental Europe. With ORIS we feel that we work with the most competent partner and have access to the most sophisticated and professional tools in the industry. This partnership will enable us to offer our European customers high-end solutions, developed by the industry leaders.”
Andrew Wood, Business Intelligence Director for The ORIS Group, said: “Having previously worked with ORIS as clients in Europe, Alex and Michel’s new venture presents a natural fit for us as they have a deep understanding and appreciation of our suite of products and will be a fantastic advocates and ambassadors of our brand in Europe.”
The ORIS Group has recently launched a new version of ORIS Case Manager in Germany where the company updated the model for The Carphone Warehouse to ensure the collated evidence was presented in a format robust enough to withstand the rigours of the Works Councils. Habath added: “This is a great opportunity for bright link because we recognise the true value of reselling ORIS products in Europe. The software already speaks volumes in more than 10 languages and the aim of the joint venture will bring the consultancy products to market in a translated package that can be both ready to use or bespoke to an individual European organisation.”
“The UK loss prevention market is very sophisticated and we want to take the best practice of that model into Europe.”
Kerinda Ibbotson, Managing Director of The ORIS Group, said: “Our products already travel well, but we recognise that they can go even further if they are delivered in their ‘mother tongue’ to ensure they effectively capture and translate the nuances and context. As part of the growth plans for ORIS this is a strategic move that will enlarge our European footprint further and enable retailers that are expanding outside of the UK to offer a consistent loss prevention strategy that helps to manage and control shrink in line with the board’s expectations.”
