The 7,500-strong portfolio of pubs, has integrated the software with a new financial package, allowing it to manage the documents it sends to hundreds of its pub managers as well as small local suppliers, like builders and plumbers.

Dave Rowling, Punch chief information officer said: 'The Formscape [document management] software is closely integrated to the JD Edwards [now known as Peoplesoft One] financial software.

'The three main areas it is currently used in are document production, supplier invoice payments and document management.'

The link between document management and financial systems means that scanned invoices, purchase orders and delivery notes can be displayed alongside relevant accounting information.

Customer services can reference the original document on-screen alongside their call centre software when dealing with supplier or pub manager queries to improve levels of satisfaction.

The company doubled in sized over the last four years and undertook the deployment in refreshing most of its technology investments to integrate and standardise the IT systems inherited from companies it had acquired.

For example, prior to installing the document management software - in August last year - Punch would send up to six separate invoices and statements a week out to each pub manager in its capacity as landlord and beer wholesaler.

Rowling said: 'We found that Formscape could consolidate these documents into one envelope. So there was a very simple return on investment that was a reduction on printing and postage.'