Chester Racecourse has acquired new technologies to run point-of-sale, procurement and stock control, and cash management. The business, operated by Chester Race Company Ltd, turned to hospitality solutions provider, Agilysys Limited, earlier this year.

Whilst successful, Chester Racecourse could see its growth and profitability potential were being reined in by inefficiencies. It resolved to automate the many processes across the venue that were still manual - and therefore often slow, labour-intensive and inaccurate - and to identify cost-savings.

The Racecourse now has a large estate of some 120 electronic points-of-sale (EPoS). The InfoGenesis PoS by Agilysys solution, running on PC-based touchscreens, manages back-office sales operations and front-of-house in the public and corporate areas: private hospitality boxes and chalets, the seven corporate facilities that can accommodate from 20-700 persons, the four public bars and restaurant.

It also runs point-of-sale at the public food concession stands and in the two onsite gastropubs. Procurement, inventory and stock control are automated by Eatec® by Agilysys, and the Agilysys Cash Manager solution has transformed cash reconciliation speeds.

“We can now build the business we want because we have the right technology in place. We can introduce efficiencies, reduce costs and lift our sales,” says Jonathan Davis, head of business services at Chester Racecourse.

“Whilst Restaurant 1539 had EPoS, the racecourse, bars and corporate hospitality areas were still using cash registers. Procurement and stock control were driven by manual product counts and stock sheet completion. The end-of-month close-down was particularly laborious, counting stock to extract the information Accounts needed to produce management reports. On event days, cash reconciliation was lengthy and sometimes inaccurate.”

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