Brathay Trust manages resources with Retain International
UK charity for young people realises greater operational flexibility and improves response times with Retain’s Resource Planning System
London, 08 February 2012 – Retain International, the specialist provider of resource planning software, has announced the successful delivery of its Resource Planning System at Brathay Trust, a national charity that inspires young people to become successful, confident and responsible citizens. Based in Cumbria, Brathay has rolled out Retain across three locations to manage vehicles, accommodation and some of its technical resources. Retain provides staff with an accurate view of resource availability allowing them to easily adapt to changes in bookings and availability.
Brathay runs a wide range of resource-intensive personal and professional development programmes, including classroom-based learning and outdoor activities such as climbing and rowing. Operating a fleet of cars, minibuses and support vehicles, as well as a variety of technical resources, it must also arrange accommodation for those attending residential courses at its Lake District venue. Brathay replaced its legacy custom-built software with Retain to optimise the use of assets by matching the right resource to the right job and allowing allocations to be adjusted as and when required.
“Our legacy system had been in operation for several years and was no longer fit for purpose,” comments Paul Ashworth, Assistant Venue Manager, Brathay Trust. “Retain provided a reliable and stable off-the-shelf package with all the features we needed to allow staff to check resource availability, make bookings and get back to clients quickly with availability. Accommodation has to be booked well in advance, whereas vehicle allocation and planning for a programme happens much nearer the time, so the fact Retain allows us to move allocations means we can adapt to changes quite easily.”
Retain’s Resource Planning System is a graphical scheduling software solution designed to optimise the use of anything from staff, to assets such as cars, conference rooms and overhead projectors. Each resource can be given classifications, groupings or attributes that can be used in the allocation process and for producing reports. It also includes a client application for managing user access by assigning roles and restricting access rights based on customisable settings. Brathay is now looking to build on Retain’s reporting functionality, as well as moving its staffing onto the Resource Planner.
“Retain enables Brathay’s staff to see availability and bookings in a very clear and visual way on screen, while enabling managers to gain critical insights by analysing and reporting on resource utilisation,” says Peter Collins, Director at Retain International. “Being able to monitor the different types of events that it runs as well as the percentage of bed nights it has allocated for charitable and corporate purposes is particularly important for Brathay because it must comply with certain guidelines regarding occupancy. Analysing occupancy around specific dates will also help it with future planning and selling course availability.”
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About Retain International
Retain International is a provider of resource planning software for businesses of all sizes. It provides cost-effective and flexible solutions to allow firms to effectively manage their staff and resources. With a complete overview of current clients, projects and staff, organisations can ensure they are operating at optimum efficiency and profitability.
Retain International works with customers in over 65 countries and has experience in providing solutions to the consultancy, accounting, banking and legal sectors, including PwC (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers), BDO, Shell, Zurich Insurance and Cap Gemini. For more information about Retain International’s suite of resource planning solutions and for a free trial, please visit http://www.retaininternational.com
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