Malvern Inns – HLS case study

Case Study

How Malvern Inns use both S4labour & High Level Software

Malvern Inns Overview

Serving up brilliant hospitality since 2010.

Stylish locations with dedicated teams offering delicious food, a great selection of drinks and special stays. 

Party and event management services offered throughout Yorkshire under the banner of Malvern Events

The deployment graph in S4labour is really useful. We get our scheduling just right by matching our shifts to sales per hour. The visual representation of our expected revenue across the day guides the managers in determining the optimal levels of labour. We reduce our slack (excess staff members) which means we save money”
Matt Avery

Ops Director , Malvern Inns

Tell us about Malvern Inns as a business.

Malvern Inns has two venues based in Yorkshire, The Castle and The Square & Compass as well as event management services. We have been operating since 2010, The Castle has 12 ensuite rooms and offers a great village pub environment.

 

Tell us how S4labour works in Malvern Inns.

Malvern Inns has had S4labour for a very long time and is a key tool in our business. Without S4labour everything would be extremely manual, and we wouldn’t have visibility over our costs and budgets. In addition, S4labour helps us engage with the teams. By being clear and transparent with our team about what we require from them in the business they can have a productive shift.

 

Which features of S4labour do you find the most useful?

The deployment graph in S4labour is really useful. We get our scheduling just right by matching our shifts to sales per hour. The visual representation of our expected revenue across the day guides the managers in determining the optimal levels of labour. We reduce our slack (excess staff members) which means we save money.

 

S4labour integrates with many companies in the hospitality industry please explain the benefit of that.

A lot of systems are required to make a hospitality business successful, from Epos, scheduling systems and room reservation systems. Having S4labour integrate with them all is really useful because it means the systems talk to one another and saves us time from having to do manual tasks and means we spend more time with the customer.

 

Tell us how High Level Software works in The Castle

The intuitiveness of the system is a game-changer for us. Its user-friendliness ensures that our team can navigate it with ease, leading to fewer mistakes and a significant reduction in the time spent on training new staff.

 

How do your customers find using HLS?

The system’s user interface is incredibly user-friendly, lots of positive feedback from top to bottom. Making a new reservation or editing an existing one is a breeze. Even our housekeeping team, who rely on it to manage room requirements daily, find it easy to use.

 

Have you encountered any challenges or limitations while using HLS If so, how has the platform addressed or resolved those issues to meet your needs?

As with any new system implementation, there were some teething issues as our team was becoming familiar with the new Property Management System. However, what truly stood out was the excellent support and training provided by the HLS team.

 

 

Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group

Case Study

From flagship hotels to gaming arcades: how Mikhail Group manage their people

Company Name: Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group 

Mikhail Overview

Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group started working with S4labour at the beginning of 2018 to help them best manage their dynamic workforce of over 250 team members, across a variety of different types of venues. From their flagship hotels to gaming arcades, Mikhail Group boasts 14 sites and two head offices. 

Before switching to S4labour, Mikhail were relying on a server-based workforce management system, which was outdated and no longer allowing the business to be its best.  

“We’re a very accounts-led company, so having the numbers and the data there ready to review every single day is key to the ultimate success in the business. The business has been successful over the years, we’ve gone from 1 venue in 2015, to sitting at 14 now.”

Geoff Wareham

Commercial Director , Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group

Time and attendance

Commercial Director at Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group, Geoff Wareham, told S4labour: “It was all very manual. There was no till links. I had to put sales in every day. The clocking in and out was temperamental at best and at worst case scenario you risk of underpaying staff quite significantly or overpaying them because the system wasn’t fit for purpose, it was probably a system that was 20 years old.” 

For such a diverse and growing business, getting actual hours recorded for every employee to ensure they could process accurate payroll. Finding the right tools that would allow them to do this efficiently, and across all of their different venues, was a top priority. Geoff commented: “there was always that risk of staff being underpaid or overpaid. So obviously last year when S4labour launched big TAPS, that was a real key feature.” 

Visibility of labour costs

Mikhail Group also find a huge amount of value in having accessibility and visibility of their labour costs: “we’re a very accounts-led company, so having the numbers and the data there ready to review every single day is key to the ultimate success in the business. The business has been successful over the years, we’ve gone from 1 venue in 2015, to sitting at 14 now”, said Geoff. 

For Mikhail Group, it’s important that at each level, their team have the right tools in place to be their best. General managers can access key financial KPIs, which is essential to making key decisions and plays a part in making the business thrive. 

Speaking of the key role Mikhail’s GMs play in the overall business, Geoff said: “when they’re managing their cost, to be able to just log onto their phone and see: what’s my forecast today? What’s is my wage percentage looking like this week? is massively beneficial.” 

People management

Mikhail Group also use S4labour’s HR tools, which help them to save time and ensure they are GDPR compliant, without any of the stress. As a young company, they didn’t always have systems in place for everything, so contracts were something that used to be a manual process. 

With the help of S4labour, their people management has become even more effective: “the HR solution as an add on was essential. It just gives everything in the same place”, Geoff commented.  

In terms of cost vs benefit, Geoff told S4labour that “the benefits far outweigh the cost.” 

The Chestnut Group

Case Study

How The Chestnut Group streamlined their people management 

Company Name: The Chestnut Group  

Chestnut Overview

Winners of this year’s Pub and Bar Award, Chestnut boast a collection of beautiful East Anglian pubs. Founded by Philip Turner, the 16-strong group are known for their focus on guest experience, delivered by their championed frontline workers.  

People Director, Charley O’Toole, spoke about how the group have streamlined their people management across over 500 team members, from their 15 general managers to Ops managers and sous chefs, to get the best from them.  

“I publish a rota, and everyone gets a notification on their phone. It was so quick and simple to do. In every hospitality business I’ve ever worked in, the team are always keen to receive their rotas as far in advance as possible. It helps people to plan their lives outside of work and they are always really appreciative.” 

Charley O'Toole

People Director , The Chestnut Group

Workforce management

Chestnut have worked with workforce management provider S4labour for around 3 years. With such a complex and growing business, using paper and spreadsheets to manage their shift patterns and pay wasn’t a viable option, and the business also had a focus on streamlining communications and HR onboarding.  

Charley commented: “I publish a rota, and everyone gets a notification on their phone. It was so quick and simple to do. In every hospitality business I’ve ever worked in, the team are always keen to receive their rotas as far in advance as possible. It helps people to plan their lives outside of work and they are always really appreciative.” 

S4labour onboards new employees onto the system and the HR tools allows all important employee information and documentation to be completed accurately and efficiently.  

By systemising deployment and rotas, labour demand and budgets are looked after and sales increase is driven by having the right people at work at the right time, without any of the stress or extra admin. “When you’re looking at your rota model and you’re able to see your flex, it helps you to determine if you have the right level of team required – it makes our lives really simple”, Charley commented.  

Once the rotas are in, they can be viewed via the app. Holiday management is made easy with visibility of accruals, the ability to request time off and holiday pay automatically calculated in the rota. 

Charley added: “anything that makes lives simpler for our teams is a big win for us.” 

Cost versus benefit

Cost versus benefit is high on every operator’s agenda. When it comes to investing in S4labour, Charley said: “Cost of living has risen, the hangover of COVID, Brexit, you name it, everything is much more expensive, so you have to be really mindful about labour costing and I think S4labour is commercial in that respect.” 

Benefit

One thing really stands out for Chestnut, and that is the customer service they receive with S4labour.  

In terms of first-line support and account management, Charley said “everyone is so incredibly approachable; nothing is beneath anyone. It makes us feel like it’s a partnership, rather than S4labour just being a product that is supplied to us.” 

Oowee Vegan

Case Study

S4labour helps fast-food restaurant Oowee Vegan

Compay Name: Oowee Vegan
Business Type: Multi Site
Date: December 2022

Plant-based Fast Food | Oowee Vegan

Oowee Overview

Oowee has been a customer at S4labour for over a year. Their business is split into two concepts: Oowee Diner and Oowee Vegan, which operate in 8 locations across Brighton, London and Bristol.

They have a strong and successful brand and team, serving vegan and non-vegan fast-food at affordable prices, without compromising on quality.

Watch our case study video at Oowee Vegan, Brighton.

“There’s ongoing support from Veno who is fantastic […] any feedback I’ve had has been listened to.”

Lina Blythe

Operations Director, OOWEE Vegan

Challenge

One of the most important challenges for operators is creating a strong and well-organised team. Before S4labour, Oowee were relying on excel sheets and a mix of different systems to manage all the different areas of their labour. This made visibility and reporting difficult, as there was no one point of truth to work from. 

Oowee were looking for a system that could bring all of their labour costs, sales data and operational trends together on one screen and improve rota visibility and engagement for their team. 

Solution & Benefits

The solution to their problems arrived in the form of S4labour. After an in-depth system demonstration, S4labour was rolled out into their stores.

The launch of S4labour allowed their Operations Director, Lina Blythe, to get to know the system and how it would work for Oowee. Open communication with the S4labour implementation team allowed us to roll out a bespoke system package that would take care of all of their business’s needs.

Results

Since their decision to make S4labour a part of their business, Oowee have been able to reduce the amount of time spent on labour significantly. Their general managers are able to spend more time training and engaging their employees, which makes everything from a head office perspective, more efficient. 

For their teams, the features for writing the schedules and swapping shifts gave them visibility and flexibility to ensure a good work-life balance exists. 

Onboarding of new employees is now done through the app, where essential details are captured, making the whole process seamless. 

Oowee received ongoing support through monthly, and now bi-monthy, calls with their Account Manager, Veno.

Nisa

Case Study

Nisa Retailer Rav Garcha has complete visibility of costs with s4labour

Company: Nisa
Business Type: Convenience Store
Date: Feb 2023

Nisa Overview

Retailer Rav Garcha operates 4 convenience stores across the West Midlands, with sites in Shrewsbury, Birmingham, Walsall, Broadway and Sutton Coldfield.  Across the stores, the number of employees can reach up to 35 depending on the season.

Challenge

Before using S4labour, Garcha relied on Google Sheets for rotas and scraps of paper to track holidays and sickness. Managing labour in this way was disorganised and unsustainable, and Garcha needed a solution to implement across all of his stores that would look after rotas, holidays and sickness with clear visibility across all areas.

Slide 1

“So overall I think we have targeted 3 things with s4labour. Firstly, it’s a technological solution that brings us forward within our business, secondly and the biggy is efficiency and finally the technology has helped us invest in people.”

Rav Garcha
Nisa Retailer

Solution & Benefits

S4labour offered a solution that encompassed the needs of the business across multiple sites, all in one place. Praising S4labour’s visibility, Garcha said, “I think clarity is a big benefit, I think seeing what all the numbers actually are and how to plan according to sales, that’s really beneficial.”

Results

S4labour allowed the business to move forward by managing labour according to sales, with foresight into the upcoming months as well. Writing rotas and accounting for holiday and sickness pay became a seamless process that ensured a stress-free payroll for every store at the end of each month. Garcha said, “we are getting more consistency and accuracy in the numbers.”

Boardman Community Pubs

Case Study

Boardman Community Pubs

Compay Name: Boardman Community Pubs
Business Type: Mulit Site
Date: Jan 2018

Boardman Community Pubs Overview

Boardman Community Pubs joined S4labour in 2022, with 7 pubs across the UK, 5 being Greene King and 2 being Thwaites. The biggest site is The Peacock, near Chester. The Boardman Community Pubs include:

  • The Bird i’th Hand
  • The Oak Tree
  • The Cock and Bottle
  • The Ship Inn
  • The Derby Arms
  • The Sportsman Arms
  • The Peacock

In the first month alone we saved 27 hours a week.
Peter Boardman

CEO, Boardman Community Pubs

Challenge

The 7 strong list of pubs knows that poor service impacts sales. Before S4labour, they were using a manual time sheet, which just wasn’t up to scratch when it came to ensuring people were in the right place at the right time. Time sheets do not allow one point of truth for all staff, nor can they accurately record actual time worked. These types of inaccuracies lead to overspending on labour and inefficient deployment strategies, which could impact service.

 

Solution & Results

Boardman Community Pubs needed to find a labour management tool that could deploy people at the right time and provide clear visibility, so they could have more control over labour costs.

Since turning to S4labour, Boardman Community Pubs haven’t looked back. Their takings have risen because they have properly managed staff, and as a result, customers are receiving first-class service and spending more. 

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