From part-time doorman while studying to owner of a Westdene firm with national reach, Jim Hopkins of Abacus Epos UK Ltd has seen huge changes to the cash machine business over 30 years.

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"We’ve always connected and supported the local community where we are based"

We interviewed Jim, who owns Abacus with his wife Mary

Tell us about the history of the business
We set up after I had worked for other cash register companies which foundered. We moved from Small Dole to Matlock Road 24 years ago and then to Westdene with our three children 5 years ago. We now employ five here and a national sales network of 20. We have always been community-minded and in Matlock Road my wife ran the local coffee shop and restaurant to provide somewhere for the community to socialise and demonstrate our systems. She only stopped when she had an operation to donate a kidney to our teenage daughter.

What do you aim to achieve for your customers
Our systems provide the ears and eyes for a business owner when they are not there and we achieve this by consulting to them, carefully understanding their business rather than selling them something out of a box.

What excites you most about being in business?
I love the diversity – the national expansion; a local not-for-profit group that is putting together a guide of trusted suppliers for new businesses; the development of apps for businesses.

Jim and Mary

Abacus Epos UK Ltd 
Address: 5 Mill Rise, Brighton BN1 5GG
Phone: 01273 705 050
www.abacus4tills.co.uk

Barn Buddies is a unique scheme which recognises the regular financial support local businesses give to The Barn and promotes their goods and services to the Westdene community in return.

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