IN WHAT now seems the olden days, workers would "punch a card" or clock-in. Then came family-owned Mitrefinch, of York, to blaze a new trail by creating the first-ever computerised time-recording system.

That was in 1979. Since then the Mitrefinch clocking-in system has clocked up major successes with its new technology tailored also to the exact human resources and payroll management needs of a long list of organisations like Swan Hunter, Walkers Snack Foods, Sky Television, Procter & Gamble and Leeds-Bradford Airport.

Now, giving added impetus to the firm's claim for the Evening Press Growth Business of the Year title, TMS Version 4 has been launched in the UK which integrates email systems and advanced planning capabilities.

A team of software programmers at Mitrefinch House, on the Green Lane trading estate at Clifton Moor, has devised a programme so versatile and targeted that it can even identify the actual cost of each shift.

The software and terminals can be linked with biometric equipment - such as fingerprint readers - to verify the identity of all who electronically clock in.

Alongside this development is Mitrefinch's tailor-made administration system launched in summer last year which enables firms - itself included - to automate internal processes such as purchase orders, invoices, expenses, customer order processing and tracking.

And the results for Mitrefinch are demonstration enough of its efficiency, with a 15 per cent increase in turnover in the year to August, linked to a 98 per cent rise in profits and prospect for even more on the Mitrefinch payroll of 57 people over the next year.

Part of its success is due to a sophisticated and hugely efficient help desk, which handles about 900 calls a month, with calls doubling towards the payroll year end.

It is also due to Andrew Simpson, the managing director, and his namesake father who found that for eight years their other successful business, A One Feed Supplements, of Thirsk, was financially "nourishing" what was a struggling venture until it switched from general accountancy software to its current niche market product.