HBXL – the big picture
“When a product evolves out of a genuine need and passion then you know it has a very good chance of succeeding.”
Thirty years ago, HBXL Managing Director, Adrian Wild set up a building company. During this time he constructed in excess of 300 extensions and around 80 new builds, achieving a turnover of £4-5 million per annum. As the company became successful Adrian found he had little time to spend on site, as all his time was taken up by doing estimates for potential clients.
Fed up with confusing Price Books or SMM7 methods that were not written for the general builder, Adrian looked for a software package to help him with his estimates and found there was nothing on the market suitable for a small construction firm. Knowing that a large proportion of the UK’s construction businesses are about this size, he identified a niche market for an estimating product and spent the next few years working with developers.
In 2000 HBXL Ltd was officially set up to launch ‘Estimator & Project Manager’ – the first estimating software specifically for general builders - and has been operating as a software house ever since!
The launch of EstimatorXpress in 2004 changed the way builders estimate by becoming the first estimating software with easy to understand on-screen building drawings into which you enter your dimensions. Now, with the latest release of EstimatorXpress v.8, HBXL have the UK’s most popular estimating software with over 8000 users benefiting from unrivalled estimating speed and accuracy.
Since 2004 HBXL have consistently maintained product development to turn from the UK’s top estimating company to a complete building software solutions provider. From estimating and project management to CAD drawing, health and safety management and professional contracts HBXL now have a suite of software packages that can do the lot!
Adrian reflects: “I know how difficult it is to run a small building company as I experienced it first hand. I often worked late nights and weekends to turn round quotes for clients and make sure the work was priced accurately – profit margins are thin in this industry! EstimatorXpress was a major turning point in combating this. I also spent lots of money on architect’s fees, had to sort H&S paper work, and each job involved a process to ensure the work and costs were agree contractually with customers so everyone was covered – this is where the idea for PlansXpress, Health & Safety Xpert and ContractsXpert came from.
What’s more HBXL has developed their own unique data sharing technology called X- Connex™ and all HBXL software is built around this technology to ensure you only need input project information once which will transfer from package to package.
Anthony Botibol, Marketing Manager at HBXL says, “IT professionals and office-based workers utilise the power of Microsoft products for word processing, spreadsheets and presentation. All these packages link so you can import and export data between them - . this is what we have done at HBXL giving builders the complete Project Toolkit they need.”
HBXL are constantly researching and analysing the market to see where else they can help builders – watch this space for the next innovative, award-winning solution!
Got a great software idea?
All HBXL software is built around expert building and trade knowledge. All software packages undergo rigorous testing by builders and professionals and are the result of customer feedback. If you have an idea that you think HBXL should consider then email our Managing Director at adrian@hbxl.co.uk and let him know.