About Us

First B2B's history

First B2B Limited was established in 2001 specifically to bring to market a new way of performing integrated EDI. The original product was designed, as all EDI products have been since EDI started, to be deployed on customers own systems. However in 2002 First B2B became the first company to offer an outsourced EDI service.

At the same time First B2B Limited made a core part of its strategy to establish partnerships with vendors of ERP software. These long term partnerships offer the optimum solution for the EDI user and a new profit stream for the software companies. 2003 saw First B2B Limited begin its partnership with COINS Limited and has helped COINS to establish the COINS etc (Electronic Trading Community) as the most successful Electronic Trading Hub for the UK construction Industry.

To date the First B2B outsourced EDI solution has grown to over 1200 live trading relationships, with over 2 million business documents exchanged each year between these relationships. The number of documents exchanged is growing at over 26% per annum.

All of the First B2B Limited service has been funded entirely by organic growth, without recourse to venture capital or other financial instruments. Last but not least First B2B Limited makes a profit.

What differentiates First B2B from the competition?

By delivering integrated EDI as a fully-hosted, Software as a Service (SaaS), First B2B lowers your EDI Total Cost of Ownership without the worries of getting it right. There are no hidden costs and no nasty surprises in the form of additional "consultancy" or "development" charges just because you or your trading partners work in different ways from other companies. Plan your budgets with accuracy and precision thanks to our fixed-cost, comprehensive service.

The best communications environment for you and your trading partners, AS2, is included in the service. WE OFFER AS2 FREE to your trading partners to trade with you. You get receipts, know your messages have arrived, avoid scheduler and dial up delays because AS2 is on all the time for instant processing. You find it easier to achieve and get better service levels.

First B2B's Quality Assurance procedures (uniquely accredited to ISO 9001:2000 standards) ensure clients gain the true benefits of EDI in the same way as the giants in the retail world do. With no extra hardware, no EDI software, no extra work for your IT colleagues and with First B2B doing the work for you, it is easy and viable to expand your use of EDI whilst increasing your profits in the process.

Key clients