Peterborough Software Ltd is forecasting UKP750,000 worth of business in year one for a time recording system that represents the personnel software development and marketing company’s first foray into the IBM Personal Computer market. Priced from UKP8,000 up – a 10 terminal system based on an IBM AT, costs UKP25,000 – Unistar uses smart card-driven terminals from Feedback Data or NCR to record attendance information. Data on individuals’ hours worked, overtime, absence and lateness can be uploaded to Peterborough’s mainframe personnel packages. Unistar is the first product developed by Peterborough’s newly-formed PC Business Division which was set up, according to its manager Peter King, to evaluate and research new low-cost technology. Aimed at all sites with 50 or more employees, Unistar is already in use at Ingersoll-Rand and Barclays Bank. Peterborough Software resisted the temptation to rush for a public flotation, and instead sold itself to quoted insurance broker C E Heath Plc last year.
