Work force management for the retail and leisure industry

Backhouse operate 20 Betting shops in the West of England and have recently expanded by acquiring several smaller independent betting shops. What Shopworks do for Backhouse: They use Shopwork's Work Force Management software to manage their staffing needs. Having acquired several small chains, they had a number of different systems in operation and Managing Director Andrew Croft was keen to consolidate using one modern system. "We had different spread sheet models in different shops and moving to a single online system has been a real bonus. We saved 7% on our staff costs and it is much easier for us to operate."

Better were founded in 2005 and grew to 45 shops within 3 years. Better won the 2009 Betview Bookmaker of the Year and High Street Chain of the Year awards, a reflection of the innovation that the company brought to the industry. In 2009 Better merged with Jenningsbet.

What Shopworks do for Better: Better was Shopworks first customer and they operate our staffing, reporting and compliance modules in all of their shops. We have helped Better keep their staff costs down whilst halving the administrative costs involved in staffing. The reporting also ensures that they have accurate profit and loss figures on each shop on a week by week basis, vital for a shop chain that opened a shop every other week and needed strong control over many immature shops.

The Fox Poker Club is London’s first licensed poker club, situated on the world famous Shaftesbury Avenue in the heart of London’s West End. Owned by Genting Casinos, The Fox Poker Club started trading in the Autumn of 2010 and has over 25,000 members. It operates 24 hours a day and is already the number 1 poker venue in the UK.

What Shopworks do for Fox Poker Club: with several departments in a single venue such as “gaming”, “reception”, “bar”, “kitchen” and “security” Fox chose the Casino version of the staffing module which allows for a more complex organisation. Within each department different roles such as “dealer” and “supervisor” in the gaming department are supported and staff can work betwen different departments such as “reception” and “bar”. This high level of flexibility allows Fox to allocate the exact costs to each department. When establishing the business from scratch, Shopworks allowed the, Managing Director, Chris North, to quickly get the staffing levels correct and on budget.

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Jenningsbet is of one of the most established and progressive Bookmakers in the United Kingdom.
The company was founded in 1961 when off course betting was first made legal by the British government. The business has progressed in this time, to become one of the largest independent shop chains within the British Bookmaking industry. The Jenningsbet group currently trades from nearly 100 licenced betting offices located throughout Southern England, employing in excess of 400 personnel.

What Shopworks does for Jenningsbet: When Jenningsbet merged with Better in 2009 Julian and Greg Knight, who took over the management of the combined group,  were so impressed with Shopworks that they implemented it throughout the combined estate. Even before a combined till system was installed, the new enlarged company quickly got a handle on its staff costs and profitability across the estate. Jenningsbet use the reporting, staffing and compliance modules.

The company continues to grow and has recently acquired another London betting firm. Shopworks was again the first system that Jenningsbet installed into the new shops, it allows immediate control of staff costs and accounting whilst having an instant impact on the professionalism and operational efficiency of the newly acquired shops.

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Joe Jennings Bookmakers are a privately owned family business with betting offices throughout the South East of England, Jersey and the Isle of Man and have been trading in the betting industry for over 50 years. They pride themselves on a high level of customer service and modern air conditioned shops. What Shopworks do for Joe Jennings: Owner and Managing Director Jason Jennings saw Shopworks in action at Jenningsbet, which is operated by his cousins, and was so impressed with the savings that the system was giving that he ordered the staffing module right away. They have seen similar levels of savings to the rest of our customer base.

Paddy Power is Ireland’s biggest, most successful, security conscious and innovative bookmaker. They operate via www.paddypower.com and a chain of retail outlets throughout Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain Paddy Power was founded in 1988 by the merger of three existing Irish bookmakers. From the outset the company took an unconventional approach to betting and adopted a commitment to offer greater value and fairness to customers. What Shopworks do for Paddy Power: The UK betting shop division of Paddy Power is growing by a combination of new shop openings and acquiring smaller independent chains. Paddy Power use Shopworks staffing module to keep costs tight in all their shops and ensure immediate control of staffing costs and operational efficiency in all of the new shops they acquire.

Runnerz is the exclusive operator of Horse racing betting shops in Holland. Under license from the Dutch Government, Runnerz operate betting shops, franchises, Internet betting and on track betting at four Dutch Racetracks. Runnerz is owned by Sportech Plc. What Shopworks do for Runnerz: They use our staffing, compliance and reporting modules to keep costs under control and ensure accurate and timely accounting throughout the business.

Talarius operates 180 Adult Gaming Centres and around 10,000 machines in the UK, which makes them the country’s largest operator. It also operates Quicksilvergames, an online gaming web site licensed in Malta. Talarius is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tatts Group, one of the largest gaming companies in Australia, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. What Shopworks do for Talarius: With over 180 venues, the administration involved in staffing across the group was large before Shopworks was installed. The system has allowed Talarius to reduce their admin burden as well as deliver a useful saving on staff costs in all shops.

Winners operate 18 Off Track betting terminals in Connecticut. These venues are huge compared with UK betting shops, some are over 50,000 square feet. They include bars, restaurants as well as betting counters. Winners is owned by Sportech Plc. What Shopworks do for Winners: Winners use the full reporting and staffing package and because of the size and complexity of the units, they use the Casino module of Shopworks.