Thomley

Find out how the VenposCloud solution was implemented at an incredible charity in Buckinghamshire, aimed at providing unforgettable, accessible experiences to people with disabilities and their families. See how Thomley utilises our online ticketing and EPoS systems to maximise revenue and increase staff efficiency.

Thomley

First conceived in 1997 by the parents of children with autism and complex needs, Thomley is a place dedicated to providing accessible experiences for people of all ages with staff who are understanding and supportive. Thomley was formally registered as a charity in 2001 and began to provide services to the public in 2002.

Many families who have individuals with autism, complex needs, or Down’s Syndrome within them feel excluded from mainstream leisure facilities due to a lack of accessibility options. Thomley exists as an alternative, designed to provide a fun and inclusive place for people of all ages with any disabilities to partake in a huge range of activities and events over the eight-acre site. They also encourage the non-disabled family members of their guests to get involved!

Thomley approached Vennersys looking for a way to help better manage bookings and events, provide online ticketing services, and increase their revenue. This is how we helped them!

What Were The Challenges?

Thomley previously used a manual booking and ticketing system that relied on customer emails and had no facility to take payment upfront. This was both inefficient and costing them a significant amount of potential income, especially since customers would make bookings without paying and then not turn up without informing Thomley at no cost to themselves.

This created two key issues for Thomley:

• They wouldn’t know that the booking was going to fall through until the customer failed to turn up, meaning it was far too late to re-book that slot. Since no payment was taken in advance, they would just lose out on the income that would have been generated.
• The staff member(s) assigned to that activity would be wasting time waiting for guests who never show up rather than completing tasks or assisting busier areas for the benefit of the charity.

Additionally, the manual booking process was both slow and inefficient, resulting in administrative complications and inefficiencies with back-office processes. Since Thomley operate such a wide variety of events, including reduced noise firework displays, accessible festivals, Sunday Roasts, and seasonal celebrations, it was often incredibly difficult for staff to keep up and maintain correct records.

How did we help?

The implementation of the VenposCloud visitor management system has brought pre-booking and online ticketing functionalities to Thomley, allowing them to collect payment at the point of booking rather than waiting for guests to be on-site. This has helped Thomley reduce the amount of lost revenue as if a group misses their booking, the payment has already been made, and it also helps improve the user journey, stimulating additional bookings.

Guests can now see which timeslots are taken or available immediately rather than needing to enter an email chain with Thomley staff. Having a much quicker and simpler process when booking can help encourage more bookings, as people can be put off by lengthy or complex processes.

When planning their numerous events throughout the year, the ticketing system allows Thomley to capacity-manage their attraction much easier and admit people faster. This process was previously done manually with a pen and paper, but now visitors can now scan themselves in using the access management feature at entry tills or by staff using the mobile app.

Additionally, our online ticketing system allows Thomley to set their own prices and timeslots to better manage their resources and staff day-to-day. Since the charity offers a huge variety of different activities, it helps to know what is happening and where, so they know how to best station their staff around the site.

This is complemented by the installation of our EPoS system and hardware on site, which has helped integrate and streamline processes site-wide. Now, Thomley staff can collect and collate data significantly faster than ever before, which has already helped them gain insights into the sales in their café and dining area and adapt the menu accordingly.

Mary Coleman, Senior Administration Officer at Thomley, had this to say about our partnership:

“Thomley is a place for people of all abilities and disabilities. We provide an exciting site for disabled people along with their families, carers, and friends. We support people at any stage of their diagnostic journey, whatever their additional needs.

Prior to our work with Vennersys, we operated a basic ticketing system involving a great deal of admin and no facility to take funds upfront, resulting in a loss of revenue through visitor no-shows.

Vennersys has helped us increase our revenue in this way by providing the functionality for our guests to book activities and events in advance. Utilising the app, we can redeem tickets at our popular events, such as reduced noise fireworks and our accessible festivals, in a much faster manner.  

The implementation of the EPoS system has helped us have a more in-depth view of the sales in our busy café area and helped us to revamp our menus – a practice that we will continue to implement on a regular basis.

We are a bespoke charity that is ever evolving and the Vennersys team has been on hand to help support us throughout our partnership. There is always something new going on at Thomley and we know Vennersys will support us to achieve the best for the charity and, most importantly, our visitors.”