About

History

A privately owned company, Petrel Computer Consultants have specialised in providing and supporting leading computer based financial solutions and business systems for almost 10 years.

Started as a sole proprietorship in 1997 by Penny Mercer, Petrel Computer Consultants soon built up a loyal and dedicated customer base. The company ran as a successful one woman show for the next 3 years and started making a name for itself as a Pastel Value Added Reseller (VAR).

Towards the end of 2000 Penny decided to take the plunge, employ staff and convert the business into a closed corporation. She was joined by her husband Andrew and together they employed one staff member and started running the business from the dining room table.

Over the next few years the company grew their staff compliment, expanded their service offering and graduated from the dining room to a room set aside as a dedicated home office.

2005 was a big year for Petrel Computer Consultants, they achieved their Pastel Evolution Business Partner status their Microsoft Certified Partner certification and the Microsoft Small Business Specialist designation, but the biggest event, especially from Penny and Andrew’s point of view was the move out of the house and into a business park.

With a current staff complement of 9 Petrel is an SME, like the majority of our customers, and we run our business on the same systems that we recommend and sell to our customers. We like to think of ourselves as business partners rather than suppliers and will put as much effort and dedication into ensuring your business succeeds as we have into ours. Contact us

Our Name

Southern Giant Petrel

Back in 1997 under pressure to name the company Penny opened the dictonary, stabbed at the page with her index finger and Petrel was born……but what does it mean?

A petrel is a family of birds which are characterised by their tube-like nostrils on the upper beak. Species include albatross, petrels, shearwaters and prions.

They vary considerably in size with the wing span of the Wandering Albatross reaching more than 3 metres and the wings of the Wilson’s Storm Petrel (the smallest petrel) spanning only 40 cm.

Their flight is graceful and apparently effortless, but they are ungainly on land, and generally stay at sea except during the breeding season. Great flocks of feeding petrels are a feature of southern waters. In the Antarctic, there are more species of petrels than of any other bird family.

Cape Petrel

Some species breed in Antarctica as well as on the Sub Antarctic islands. Two species are almost entirely restricted to Antarctica while others migrate northwards during winter. In fact, the Wilson’s Storm Petrel travels as far as Europe.

Petrels lay one large single egg and incubate for a long period. By breeding in spring and wintering at sea, they make the best possible use of the environment using the brief summer and autumn, when food is most plentiful, to rear their slowly growing chicks.