Bishopsgate Computer Services (BCS) was founded by Derek May (deceased 2007) in the UK in 1974 and had its Office at 100, Piccadilly, London SW1. In 1988 the name was converted to Bishopstrade LTD (BTL) and an office was set up in Johannesburg (RSA) to approach the African Freight Forwarding market.

 

On 16^thNovember 2006 Bishopstrade Ltd was registered in Port Louis, Mauritius, with a Category 2 Global Business Licence.

 

The main business was the development, customisation and sale of integrated and large-scale Boffin Customs / Freight Software, and Boffin Container Tracking System.

 

The system was a game-changer in customs processing as it aligned national operations for the first time with international best practices, and improved the ease of users doing business and Revenue Authorities’ collection procedures, not only in Kenya, but also the in East African Community (EAC), and in line with the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) requirements.

 

The main customer was the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) – contract signed in November 1998 to run until 2005 – until replacing certain elements with the Simba (Sierra Leone developed) front end. This was deemed as a breach of copyright by Bishopstrade, which was confirmed by independent arbitration court in London.

 

Including maintenance fees, compensation and interest, Bishopstrade’s outstanding claim against the KRA amounts to US$ 13,011,553.43 to date. 

 

The implementation of the operational “Boffin Customs/Freight Software” has been outsourced to the South African company Boffin Software (PTY) Limited registration 2009/008304/07 – www.boffinsoftware.co.za . 

 

In addition, Boffin was successfully deployed in Mozambique – Port of Beira – during its privatisation phase overseen by Andre Claeys.