BRAL's strong international focus and close relationship with its parent entity, Blick Rothenberg Chartered Accountants, were the main factors that encouraged Dunkin' Brands to engage BRAL.
Until early 2006, Dunkin' Brands was a part of the Allied Domecq group, a FTSE 100 listed company. Upon the takeover of Allied Domecq by Pernod Ricard, Dunkin' Brands was one of the divisions that were divested. At this point, the company required an outsourced accounting provider that could offer the same level of reporting as their FTSE 100 listed parent, for an appropriate level of cost.
“BRAL was able to provide us with access to eBRAL, an online facility that allows my teams here in the UK and US to control financial procedures in line with our group policy. Supplier invoices are approved and selected for payment via eBRAL by our UK manager. I then approve payments via BACS or other agreed method. I can review management reports and financial information on a line-by-line basis on eBRAL should I wish. These systems give us the confidence to allow the UK company to have autonomy on a great deal of day to day issues”, said Suzana Naik, Director of Finance (Baskin Robbins Worldwide), Dunkin’ Brands Inc.
The presence of BRAL also allows UK management to spend time developing customer relationships rather than dealing with suppliers or chasing payment from customers. “BRAL has been able to deliver on tasks such as credit control, meaning that I can concentrate on making sure we are able to add value to our franchisees’ businesses”, said Chris Gray, the UK manager for Dunkin Brands.