tick9 wins Cin7 Breakthrough Partner Award for 2026

tick9 has won Cin7's Breakthrough Partner Award for 2026, marking a year of rapid growth for the East Yorkshire business systems consultancy.

The prize reflects the speed of its expansion since it began reselling Cin7 and iplicit in spring 2025. In that time, tick9 increased headcount from seven to 20 and delivered 36 projects across the two software platforms: 20 Cin7 projects and 16 iplicit projects.

The consultancy focuses on mid-market businesses and has increasingly worked with companies moving away from larger enterprise resource planning systems rather than upgrading from entry-level finance software. It says more clients are leaving platforms such as NetSuite, SAP Business One and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central after finding the systems were poorly configured and still required substantial manual spreadsheet work.

The trend suggests some mid-sized companies are rethinking the balance between software cost and operational fit. Rather than pursuing broad enterprise deployments, some are choosing more targeted combinations of finance, inventory and manufacturing systems.

tick9 is among a relatively small group of UK consultancies that implement both Cin7 and iplicit together for mid-market clients. For smaller businesses, it would typically recommend Xero or QuickBooks paired with Cin7 through an existing integration.

Hiring push

Its approach to building the partner business was unusually direct. Instead of adding staff gradually, tick9 recruited three ERP consultants at the outset and trained them on both platforms, then brought in three iplicit specialists and two project managers.

Stephen Fewster, Founder and Director, tick9, said the decision to scale quickly was deliberate. "We started reselling both platforms in spring 2025 and made a decision early on not to do it gradually. We hired three ERP consultants straight away and trained them on both products, because we could see the two systems were going to be sold together. Going from seven people to 20 in a year is not comfortable, but it is the reason we can now deliver at the pace clients expect. Winning this, from a base in Hull, against partners many times our size, is a good marker of that."

The award was presented by Sheldon Cummings, Chief Executive Officer, Cin7, to Fewster and Sales Manager Neil Wells. At the same ceremony, iplicit was named ISV Partner of the Year.

Shift in demand

One of the clearest points in tick9's view of the market is the changing profile of incoming clients. The firm said that five years ago, most customers had outgrown products such as Sage 50, Xero or QuickBooks. Now it is seeing a larger share of companies moving in the opposite direction, away from systems associated with larger organisations.

Neil Wells, Sales Manager, tick9, described the change in demand. "The interesting shift is the businesses coming to us from the other direction. Five years ago our clients had outgrown Sage 50 or Xero. Now a good number of them are coming off NetSuite, SAP Business One or Business Central. They were sold something built for a much larger organisation, it was never configured properly, and they are still running month-end in Excel, just with a six-figure licence bill attached. We expect that trend to accelerate."

For software vendors and implementation partners, the shift could point to a more competitive market in which mid-sized businesses scrutinise total cost more closely and place greater weight on whether systems are properly matched to their operating complexity.

Cooper linked tick9's growth to its decision to invest in delivery staff. "tick9 has grown faster than we expected when we signed them as a partner, and they have done it by investing in consultants rather than salespeople. That shows in the delivery. They understand where iplicit fits for a mid-market finance team, and, just as importantly, they are honest with prospects about where it does not. Breakthrough Partner is exactly the right award for what they have done this year."

Cin7 executives also pointed to tick9's judgement in matching system size to client needs. Michelle Calkins, Global VP of Partnerships and Alliances, Cin7, said, "I shared a stage with Steve at the Summit, and it was easy to see why tick9 has done so well. He made the case for sizing an ERP implementation to the business rather than to the ambition, which is exactly the judgement this award is meant to recognise. I have been building Cin7's partner network since we expanded into the US in 2020, and tick9 is one of the clearest examples I have seen of a partner getting that balance right in their first year with us."

Cummings framed the award in terms of speed and market reach. "Breakthrough Partner recognises real impact delivered fast, in a market we care about deeply. tick9 built genuine capability across two of our most important integrations inside a year, from a base in the UK, which says a lot about how global this opportunity now is. It was a pleasure to hand them the trophy in Denver."