Founded in 1887, Smythson sells a range of leather goods, travel and writing accessories and bespoke stationery. The retailer also holds three Royal Warrants, providing goods for British and European royal families and a number of international celebrities, says the company. Smythson recently opened its second US store in Beverly Hills, California.

"We selected to work in partnership with Attenda because of their credentials, their track record and their flexibility," says Martin Wildsmith, commercial director of Smythson. "They have the unique capability to assist us through managing this change in our strategic IT systems, and to extend the depth and breadth of our limited internal SAP resource."

Attenda is providing a fully managed service for the new SAP infrastructure, which is currently in the initial phase of a major project to review and replace the current IT systems and business processes at Smythson.

The service involves the overseeing and managing of the SAP system's operations in a secure and robust environment. It will also include the full extent of back office applications from Financials, ERP, warehousing and procurement through to sales, telesales and CRM.

Having recently been re-accredited as an SAP Hosting Partner, Attenda offers operational management of SAP and delivering highly available and secure SAP managed services. The company's partnership with SAP enables customers to access the latest SAP NetWeaver platform and new evolving enterprise service-oriented architecture and business process technologies, as well as benefit from an extended network of SAP technical specialists and business consultants.