From scrap to scale: how Quickstop Metals processes 5x more supplier payments with Fred and Telleroo

Based in the North of England, Quickstop Metals is a rapidly expanding local recycling facility for ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal. With multiple sites, including a newly opened facility in Sheffield, they buy metal from customers and sell it in larger commercial quantities.

Jamie McCann, who oversees the payment operations, shares how the business faced a critical bottleneck with manual banking and how using Telleroo with their metal and waste recycling software, Fred, allowed them to scale effortlessly.

The bottleneck of manual bank transfers

For Quickstop Metals, fast payments are essential to maintaining good relationships with the suppliers selling them scrap metal. However, in the early days, the payout process was entirely manual and heavily dependent on Jamie.

Every payment had to be keyed into the bank. This created a significant single point of failure. Jamie was the only person with access to make these payments.

"Because it was only me in control of it, it was difficult. If I was driving or away from my desk, then obviously I couldn't make any payments," Jamie explains.

At the time, the business was processing roughly 20% of the volume it handles today. Even at those lower levels, the manual payment process was becoming unmanageable. The need to pay suppliers quickly, combined with the administrative burden of typing bank details in for every transaction, put pressure on the system.

Finding a scalable solution with Fred

As the business looked to expand and open new sites, they knew their existing processes wouldn't hold up. They implemented Fred, a specialist software for the metal and recycling industry, to manage their buying and selling operations.

Crucially, they needed a payment solution that could read the information in Fred to eliminate manual data entry. This brought them to Telleroo. Fred payment files are sent to Telleroo automatically thanks to an integration.

"We switched to Telleroo at the same time we took on the Fred system, which sort of came hand in hand," Jamie says. "It made our job a lot easier. Before Fred, it was a very manual process. This is far easier."

From manual data entry to remote setup

Using the two systems has completely transformed the workflow at Quickstop Metals. Instead of Jamie having to manually input data, the staff at the individual depots now handle the initial setup from within Fred.

When a supplier brings in metal, staff capture the details in Fred. Jamie’s role has shifted from data entry to high-level approval and processing.

"The guys in the workshops or the units will do the initial payment setup through Fred, which then gets imported into Telleroo," Jamie explains.

This separation of duties means payments can be prepared by staff on the ground but secured by Jamie’s final approval, allowing the business to run smoothly even when he’s travelling between sites.

Handling 5x the volume with 0x the stress

Since implementing Telleroo, Quickstop Metals has seen massive growth as a business. Their volume of payments has increased by approximately five times compared with when they were sending payments via the bank.

Jamie is certain that the old manual banking methods would have collapsed under this increased demand.

"When we took it on, we were doing 20% of what we're doing now. And even then, it was getting a bit much doing it manually," Jamie recalls. "So there's no way I'd keep up with it now. There's just no way. It's definitely made things a lot easier."

The key benefit for Jamie has been the sheer convenience. By removing the manual work and the need to type in numbers, Telleroo has freed him up to focus on managing the expanding business.

"Telleroo has given me convenience. I don't have to be there making payments manually. It's just taken a lot of work off me."

When asked what he would say to other companies considering the switch, Jamie is clear:

"It's helped us massively, especially as we're growing. If you're in the same position as us and you're making multiple payments per day, I'd definitely advise you to use it."

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