Initially a member of 'shellmeister' Mike Edelson's stable, Chelford moved into the business efficiency software market last August when it was reversed into by Strategic Systems International. Maiden interim results since the £12m acquisition of SSI (for the six months to June) revealed a £826,000 loss on £3.74m of sales - figures described as being 'broadly in line' with SSI's results a year ago. Encouragingly, more than £2m remains in the bank and, having received 'a number of new orders' of late, the management claims the company is in good shape for the second half. Leading Chelford forward will be William Birkett, who becomes the company's third chairman in a year. Edelson departed as the SSI deal was completed and his replacement Adrian de Ferranti has now decided to step down, having completed his objective of 'bringing together and integrating Chelford and SSI'. House broker Old Mutual Securities expects pre-tax losses to be scaled back to £300,000 by December's year-end.