McIntyre Compliance Services

McIntyre Compliance Services provides fire safety and electrical testing and maintenance to clients across the UK . With around 120 staff operating from London, Peterborough and Widnes, a significant portion of the workforce is out on the road every day, completing jobs at customer sites. 

For a business built around mobile engineers, the ability to purchase materials quickly and without friction is critical. But for a long time, that ability was not there. Engineers either had to forego materials or dip into their own pockets and navigate a slow, manual reimbursement process.  

Joshua Kable, who joined as Finance Director, knew from experience that there was a better way. 

The challenge 

When Joshua joined McIntyre, the system for managing field spend was almost entirely manual. If an engineer needed to purchase materials during a job, they had to use their own credit card, collect the receipt and submit an Excel spreadsheet to their line manager. That manager then forwarded it to finance, where it would sit until the next payroll run, often a month or more away. 

For engineers, this was a huge deterrent. Few people want to be out of pocket for weeks while waiting to be reimbursed for something they bought to do their job. As a result, engineers sometimes had to return to sites to complete work once the necessary materials were available, creating additional travel and delays.  

“We had a huge administrative delay in reimbursing staff for doing their jobs. Additionally, staff often lacked the means to purchase unanticipated materials, resulting in work frequently being completed during follow-up visits.” 

The fuel card situation added further complexity.  

McIntyre’s existing fuel provider bundled fees into transaction costs, making it almost impossible to distinguish the actual fuel spend from the charges on top. Without genuine transparency, budgeting and oversight were harder than they needed to be. 

Finance was seen as a bottleneck for operational procurement. Purchase requests had to route through the finance team before anything could be bought, creating delays and unnecessary admin for teams. 

The solution 

Joshua had implemented Soldo at a previous business and had seen firsthand what the platform could do for companies with a distributed workforce. When the same challenges emerged at McIntyre, the decision was straightforward. 

Rather than rolling it out gradually, Joshua decided to deploy Soldo across the whole company at once. With the implementation led by his finance team and supported closely by Soldo throughout, the process was smooth from the start. 

“Every question had an immediate follow-up. The response time was great. Your team were brilliant throughout the implementation, giving them the support they needed and resolving any issues very quickly.”  

Engineers were issued Soldo cards, allowing them to buy materials directly when needed within pre-set controls. If an engineer is near the end of a job and needs a part, they can pick it up from a local supplier and finish the job that day, without any of the previous friction. The operations team was given their own cards too, freeing them to manage day-to-day procurement without routing everything through finance. 

This didn’t disrupt McIntyre’s existing supplier relationships. Larger, strategic purchases through preferred suppliers continued as before, governed by purchase orders and supplier agreements – ensuring the company still benefits from monthly rebates and early payment discounts that would otherwise be lost on ad hoc transactions. Soldo handles the smaller, unplanned purchases that fall outside those agreements, giving the business two clearly defined procurement streams that work alongside each other. 

For finance, Soldo’s integration with the company’s ERP system eliminated the need to re-enter transaction data manually. Receipts are captured in the platform, and spend controls are set centrally. Everything is visible in real time. 

The impact 

The change was felt almost immediately. Engineers now have the means to buy materials when they need them and complete jobs on the day. Each first-time fix that would previously have required a return visit can save our business, and our customers, hundreds of pounds. More importantly, achieving a first-time fix ensures that our customers’ properties are rendered safe without delay. This happens regularly across the engineering team. 

The fuel card fees that were previously hidden in transaction costs – around £600 a month – are no longer a concern. With Soldo, costs are transparent and predictable. 

“Every time we complete a job on the day, can potentially save us hundreds of pounds. That might happen once a month, or ten times a day. It gives us the ability to have almost unlimited savings, especially in terms of first-time fixes.”  

The real-time visibility that comes with Soldo has also strengthened day-to-day control. Joshua can see transactions within minutes of them happening – a level of oversight that wasn’t possible before.  

On one occasion, he spotted a purchase minutes after it was made and immediately identified that, while the spend itself was legitimate, it should have gone through the company’s supplier agreement. That kind of instant feedback loop makes it far easier to reinforce purchasing processes without waiting for month-end to uncover issues. 

The administrative burden on the finance team has reduced significantly. What was once a chain of emails, Excel spreadsheets and manual reconciliation is now happening automatically. Joshua estimates the team saves at least a full day of admin work each month just from eliminating manual follow-ups and paperwork. 

Decentralising procurement has also meant that the right people are reviewing the right transactions. Operations managers now approve their own team’s purchases – people who understand precisely what materials are needed and why.  

Finance retains complete oversight and can scan hundreds of transactions at once, quickly identifying anything that needs attention. 

At audit time, a report covering all spend can be pulled in seconds. The pivot from chasing spreadsheets to instant, accurate reporting has transformed how the finance team works. Most importantly, the change has had a visible effect on how engineers feel about their work. Having access to the money they need – when they need it – has given the workforce greater trust and autonomy. 

“It gives people the feeling of empowerment — that there’s a bit of trust in them. They’ve now got the control to go out there and manage their day and purchase the materials when they need to.”  

Looking ahead, Joshua’s next priority is to build out business intelligence reporting directly from Soldo’s data. With clean, structured spend data already flowing through the platform, the groundwork is in place to move from reporting on what has been spent to informing decisions and driving further efficiency across the business. 

Conclusion 

McIntyre Compliance Services has transformed the way field spend is managed across its business. By giving engineers and operational teams direct access to money through Soldo, the company has removed a significant bottleneck, improved job completion rates and cut unnecessary admin. 

Finance now has real-time visibility across all transactions and accurate data feeding directly into the ERP with confidence that controls are being followed in the field. The business is running more efficiently, and its people feel better equipped to do their jobs. 

“I’ve implemented Soldo twice now. I wouldn’t go back for seconds if I didn’t like it.” 
Joshua Kable, Finance Director, McIntyre Compliance Services