Success story: Cairn Group

In Access Procure Wizard, we have found a technology partner that exceeds our expectations and goes the extra mile to make sure that we have a system which enables us to deliver exceptional customer service, delivered by a motivated and enthusiastic workforce.

Cairn Group is a forward-looking company that embraces technology whether it be to make them more efficient, improve financial performance or enhance the experience of their team, enabling them to recruit the best staff in the hospitality industry.

Before the implementation of Access Procure Wizard it would take two minutes to manually enter an invoice into the accounts system. With 150,000 invoices passing through their head office every year, streamlining that process has saved the company a staggering amount of staff time and had an extraordinary impact on profitability, employee and customer satisfaction.

With such a large and varied operation spread around the country, previously it could be difficult to achieve an accurate report on spending at individual sites and to understand where efficiencies could be made from coordinated purchasing. The team are now able to pull consumption reports from Access Procure Wizard, allowing them to get an accurate picture of what has been spent on what product and where, which is helping them to streamline the contract tendering process, as well as boosting consistency and quality across the group.

In Access Procure Wizard, we have found a technology partner that exceeds our expectations and goes the extra mile to make sure that we have a system which enables us to deliver exceptional customer service, delivered by a motivated and enthusiastic workforce.

Embracing technology is also having an impact on Cairn Group’s bottom line. It’s estimated that around 5% of all invoices raised will include an overcharge. Before the software, capturing these inconsistencies would have involved manually checking every line on every invoice and highlighting any discrepancies there may be. Over the last 12 months, the group has saved £185,046 through credits which, prior to Access Procure Wizard being in place, may well have slipped through the system.

The beauty of Access Procure Wizard is that it’s a back of house system which our guests are unlikely to ever be aware of, but which is constantly making cost savings, efficiencies and improvements that contribute to their overall experience and satisfaction.

Guest experience is of paramount importance at every one of Cairn Group’s venues as customer satisfaction is the crux of their business. The Group has absorbed Access Procure Wizard into the business with the aim of maximising the impact employees can make during their time at work. By using the system to significantly cut back the time they spend on admin work, employees spend more valuable time with the guests, ensuring that their visit is the best it can possibly be and giving stand-out service in comparison with competitors.

The visibility and control over expenditure and supplier relationships has proved to be second to none, it has delivered tangible savings to our bottom line and has given the team the scope and freedom to spend time on making a real difference.

The team spend less time chasing invoices and can devote more time to improving the supplier payment process by paying them on time and reducing potentially disruptive service to the hotels. Relationships are key to the smooth running of any business, especially in a service industry, so building and maintaining a good rapport with suppliers ensures Cairn Group venues have a competitive edge.

• Improved efficiency, saving 5000 working hours, equivalent to 625 working days or 125 working weeks previously spent on laborious admin tasks
• Raised £185,046 of credits from inaccurate invoices that would otherwise have been missed
• Saved approximately 150,000 paper invoices passing through Head Office – the equivalent of about 19 trees
• Generated efficiencies in paying invoices with everything in one place
• Real-time data provides precise product lists and volumes to suppliers, improving negotiations on prices and time to turn-around contracts - generated savings, further time efficiency and less waste
• Higher levels of consistency achieved for food quality and allergen information across Cairn Group
• Standards improved across quality and availability, encouraging familiarity, loyalty, advocacy and repeat bookings
• Contract reminders have enabled Cairn Group to research and negotiate the best rates possible for service contracts, avoiding out of contract rates and making further cost savings with minimum effort

Modules used

• PO Control
• Advanced stock management
• Flash reporting
• Recipe and menu engineering
• Waste management
• Contract management
• Capture – MP Scan

We can’t imagine a time without the system in place. It has proven to be central to so many aspects of Cairn Group’s operating processes and has an impact on both financial and experiential performance like no other.

Furthermore, consistency and availability are important to guests who expect to find comfort and familiarity when they visit any venue within Cairn Group portfolio. Everything that is served in their hotels and restaurants is ordered through Access Procure Wizard, from food and drink to amenities, and this gives a standard across the group that encourages loyalty and repeat bookings.

The time factor alone has saved numerous staffing hours and enabled us to focus resources on less mundane tasks that impact positively.