diff --git a/.github/workflows/dockerhub-main-push.yml b/.github/workflows/dockerhub-main-push.yml
index a032044..bed4d7b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dockerhub-main-push.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dockerhub-main-push.yml
@@ -23,5 +23,4 @@ jobs:
         uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
         with:
           push: true
-          tags: oislen/randomtelecompayments:latest
-          build-args: GIT_BRANCH=main
\ No newline at end of file
+          tags: oislen/randomtelecompayments:latest
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 0b9a0ff..56c54a9 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -4,23 +4,19 @@ FROM ubuntu:latest
 # set environment variables
 ENV user=ubuntu
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
-# set git branch for cloning
-ARG GIT_BRANCH
-ENV GIT_BRANCH=${GIT_BRANCH}
 # set python version
 ARG PYTHON_VERSION="3.12"
 ENV PYTHON_VERSION=${PYTHON_VERSION}
 
 # install required software and programmes for development environment
 RUN apt-get update 
-RUN apt-get install -y apt-utils vim curl wget unzip git tree htop
+RUN apt-get install -y apt-utils vim curl wget unzip tree htop
 
 # set up home environment
 RUN mkdir -p /home/${user} && chown -R ${user}: /home/${user}
 
-# clone git repo
-RUN git clone https://github.com/oislen/RandomTelecomPayments.git --branch ${GIT_BRANCH} /home/ubuntu/RandomTelecomPayments
-#COPY . /home/ubuntu/RandomTelecomPayments
+# copy repo
+COPY . /home/ubuntu/RandomTelecomPayments
 
 # add deadsnakes ppa
 RUN apt-get install -y software-properties-common
diff --git a/data/unittest/transaction_data.parquet b/data/unittest/transaction_data.parquet
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1067bf5
Binary files /dev/null and b/data/unittest/transaction_data.parquet differ
diff --git a/data/unittest/transaction_data.pickle b/data/unittest/transaction_data.pickle
deleted file mode 100644
index 654abf5..0000000
Binary files a/data/unittest/transaction_data.pickle and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/data/unittest/user_data.parquet b/data/unittest/user_data.parquet
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..af44975
Binary files /dev/null and b/data/unittest/user_data.parquet differ
diff --git a/data/unittest/user_data.pickle b/data/unittest/user_data.pickle
deleted file mode 100644
index 580da20..0000000
Binary files a/data/unittest/user_data.pickle and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/exeDocker.cmd b/exeDocker.cmd
index 535b387..0ac8e11 100644
--- a/exeDocker.cmd
+++ b/exeDocker.cmd
@@ -4,13 +4,12 @@ SET DOCKER_REPO=randomtelecompayments
 SET DOCKER_TAG=latest
 SET DOCKER_IMAGE=%DOCKER_USER%/%DOCKER_REPO%:%DOCKER_TAG%
 SET DOCKER_CONTAINER_NAME=rtp
-SET GIT_BRANCH=v0.1.0
 
 :: remove existing docker containers and images
 docker image rm -f %DOCKER_IMAGE%
 
 :: build docker image
-call docker build --no-cache -t %DOCKER_IMAGE% . --build-arg GIT_BRANCH=%GIT_BRANCH%
+call docker build --no-cache -t %DOCKER_IMAGE% .
 
 :: run docker container
 SET UBUNTU_DIR=/home/ubuntu
diff --git a/exeGenNames.cmd b/exeGenNames.cmd
deleted file mode 100644
index 771025c..0000000
--- a/exeGenNames.cmd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-call python -m pdb generator\utilities\gen_user_names_file.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/exeMain.cmd b/exeMain.cmd
deleted file mode 100644
index a891444..0000000
--- a/exeMain.cmd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-call python -m pdb generator/main.py --n_users 100 --use_random_seed 1 --n_itr 1
-:: call python generator/main.py --n_users 13000 --use_random_seed 1 --n_itr 2
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/exeMain.sh b/exeMain.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index ca77c92..0000000
--- a/exeMain.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-python3 -m pdb generator/main.py --n_users 100 --use_random_seed 1 --n_itr 1
-# python3 generator/main.py --n_users 13000 --use_random_seed 1 --n_itr 2
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/exeUnittests.sh b/exeUnittests.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index e48b782..0000000
--- a/exeUnittests.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-python3 -m unittest discover generator/unittests/utilities
-python3 -m unittest discover generator/unittests/objects
-python3 -m unittest discover generator/unittests/app
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/generator/cons.py b/generator/cons.py
index 0877fc9..c7cebf4 100644
--- a/generator/cons.py
+++ b/generator/cons.py
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@
 fpath_llama_firstnames = os.path.join(subdir_data, 'ref', 'llama_firstnames.csv')
 fpath_llama_lastnames = os.path.join(subdir_data, 'ref', 'llama_lastnames.csv')
 fpath_smartphones = os.path.join(subdir_data, 'ref', 'smartphones.csv')
-fpath_unittest_user_data = os.path.join(subdir_unittest, 'user_data.pickle')
-fpath_unittest_transaction_data = os.path.join(subdir_unittest, 'transaction_data.pickle')
+fpath_unittest_user_data = os.path.join(subdir_unittest, 'user_data.parquet')
+fpath_unittest_transaction_data = os.path.join(subdir_unittest, 'transaction_data.parquet')
 fpath_aws_session_token = os.path.join(subdir_creds,'sessionToken.json')
 
 # set url links to files available online
diff --git a/generator/exeGenNames.cmd b/generator/exeGenNames.cmd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5b0025b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/generator/exeGenNames.cmd
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+call python -m pdb utilities\gen_user_names_file.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/generator/exeMain.cmd b/generator/exeMain.cmd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1db51e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/generator/exeMain.cmd
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+call python -m pdb main.py --n_users 100 --use_random_seed 1 --n_itr 1
+:: call python -m pdb main.py --n_users 13000 --use_random_seed 1 --n_itr 2
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/generator/exeMain.sh b/generator/exeMain.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89790f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/generator/exeMain.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+python3 -m pdb main.py --n_users 100 --use_random_seed 1 --n_itr 1
+# python3 -m pdb main.py --n_users 13000 --use_random_seed 1 --n_itr 2
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/exeUnittests.cmd b/generator/exeUnittests.cmd
similarity index 59%
rename from exeUnittests.cmd
rename to generator/exeUnittests.cmd
index d1c96c1..28e5818 100644
--- a/exeUnittests.cmd
+++ b/generator/exeUnittests.cmd
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+call cd ..
 call python -m unittest discover generator\unittests\utilities
 call python -m unittest discover generator\unittests\objects
-call python -m unittest discover generator\unittests\app
\ No newline at end of file
+call python -m unittest discover generator\unittests\app
+call cd generator
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/generator/exeUnittests.sh b/generator/exeUnittests.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4953f25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/generator/exeUnittests.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+cd ..
+python3 -m unittest discover unittests/utilities
+python3 -m unittest discover unittests/objects
+python3 -m unittest discover unittests/app
+cd generator
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/generator/unittests/app/test_gen_user_trans_data.py b/generator/unittests/app/test_gen_user_trans_data.py
index c158800..07e5df8 100644
--- a/generator/unittests/app/test_gen_user_trans_data.py
+++ b/generator/unittests/app/test_gen_user_trans_data.py
@@ -88,12 +88,12 @@
 # if writing observed data to unittest data directory
 if cons.unittest_gen_test_dfs:
     print(f"WARNING: cons.unittest_gen_test_dfs == {cons.unittest_gen_test_dfs}")
-    obs_user_data.to_pickle(fpath_unittest_user_data)
-    obs_trans_data.to_pickle(fpath_unittest_transaction_data)
+    obs_user_data.to_parquet(fpath_unittest_user_data)
+    obs_trans_data.to_parquet(fpath_unittest_transaction_data)
 
 # load in expected user level data
-exp_user_data = pd.read_pickle(fpath_unittest_user_data)
-exp_trans_data = pd.read_pickle(fpath_unittest_transaction_data)
+exp_user_data = pd.read_parquet(fpath_unittest_user_data)
+exp_trans_data = pd.read_parquet(fpath_unittest_transaction_data)
 
 class Test_gen_user_trans_data(unittest.TestCase):
     """"""