Affinitus, the provider of Freshware, was established by leading IT professionals in 1990 as an IT Business Solutions provider to organisations within the Distribution, Manufacturing and Warehousing and Storage sectors and has since purchased competitors that have traded since 1980 in the fresh produce industry.

In 1997 the business went through a MBO and the direction of the business decision was made to focus its efforts on a single sector; the Fresh Produce and Frozen Food Wholesale Distribution and Catering Supply industries.

Freshware for Windows was launched during 2001 and was developed and designed over three years. This development resulted in a business management system with a range of application modules, which are easy to use, functional and flexible in structure.

Boasting an enviable client base of over 150 clients within the produce industry, including some concentrated pockets of clients, such as 24 individual companies in Covent Garden Market, which can only be achieved by recommendation and keeping clients happy.

The Freshware team is headed up by its Managing Director, Paul Hardy with co-directors: Lana Simmonds and Derek Dilks, in addition to its team which is unrivalled in their loyalty and commitment to our product and our clients.

Paul, a software developer by trade, has been working within the produce industry for over 20 years. He wrote the original version of Freshware in 1991 and the designed subsequent version of the windows application, which has been developed and enhanced by the current development team. Paul is pleased to say that his technical team are now far more advanced in the latest technologies than himself and that allows him to push the boundaries in the functionality within the Freshware product.

Lana, with a degree in Finance and Economics and a second degree in IT and Computing, joined the team in 2001 as a support programmer. In 2003 she moved into a development manager role and in March 2006 she became technical director. During the last few years, Lana has been project director for a number of key installations and the leading developer on our SQL and .net projects. Somehow Lana has also managed to pass an MBA in Business and Finance with merit!

Derek, joined the Affinitus Group in 1998 and quickly developed a passion for the produce industry and quickly established himself as an authority on the complex running of catering companies within the produce industry.