McWilliam Bags / UK Sailmakers Ireland

McWilliam Bags / UK Sailmakers Ireland

A dual-division marine trade business that had outgrown its manual systems, and needed a single connected view of repairs, production, stock, and customers to keep pace with its own growth.

80%

Projected reduction in repair admin time

100%

Improvement in customer history traceability

70%

Drop in wholesale order handling volume

50%

Faster invoicing and billing

“Working with Jigsaw Better Business felt less like a consultant and more like having someone properly in my corner: someone who asked the right questions, pushed back when needed, and provided grounded, honest support that made a real difference.  It is so much more than business support – it’s mentoring, coaching, and genuine support across every part of running a company.  Months on, we are still using the frameworks we worked through together – it’s become a part of how we run the business day to day, not just a one off fix.  It’s given us much more than I expected going in: what started as a way to get organised ended up reshaping our whole business.”

– Claire Morgan, Uk Sail Makers

CLIENT

McWilliam Bags / UK Sailmakers Ireland

INDUSTRY

Marine Trade & Manufacturing

SERVICE

Digital for Business

DURATION

6 months

In their own words

Company Overview

McWilliam Bags / UK Sailmakers Ireland is a hybrid B2B and B2C business operating across two divisions and two physical locations. McWilliam Bags produces high-quality, made-to-order sailing bags and accessories, sold through direct e-commerce and growing wholesale channels. UK Sailmakers Ireland focuses on custom sail manufacturing, seasonal repairs, and winter service, handling over 200 sails in its peak season alone. Founded in 2017 and run by a team of six to seven, the business had built a strong reputation in the Irish marine market, but its internal systems had not kept pace with the scale of what it was managing.

The Challenge

Across both divisions, almost everything was running on manual effort. Sail repairs came in with no job cards, no tracking system, and no customer history. Bag production was coordinated through spreadsheets and messaging apps, with components moving between two locations and no digital record of what went where. Invoicing was slow and error-prone. Customer data was scattered across multiple disconnected sources. Wholesale bag orders arrived by email and phone with no structured intake process. The business was producing high volumes across three distinct product lines, but without any visibility into the work in progress, the stock on hand, or the customer behind each job.

Our Approach

We started with a detailed Digital Discovery, mapping end-to-end processes across all three product lines: bags, sails, and windsocks. This gave a clear picture of where the gaps were and how urgent each one was. In parallel, we cleaned and consolidated customer and job data from multiple scattered sources, and introduced an interim automated repair tracker to deliver immediate relief while a longer-term solution was being scoped. We then assessed a range of integrated platforms against the business’s specific needs across CRM, production scheduling, inventory, repair tracking, wholesale ordering, and e-commerce integration. We delivered a phased 12-month implementation roadmap to bring all core operations into a single connected system.

The Outcome

With foundational data work complete and a structured roadmap in place, McWilliam Bags / UK Sailmakers Ireland is positioned to transform how both divisions operate. On full implementation, the business is projected to achieve an 80% reduction in repair admin time, full traceability of customer history from first contact through to delivery, a 70% drop in the volume of emails and calls required to manage wholesale orders, and invoicing that is 50% faster and more accurate. A four-phase rollout covering job tracking, inventory, financial integration, and customer communication automation ensures the transformation can be absorbed by a small team without disruption to day-to-day operations.