Case Studies

InterContinental Hotels Group

Since May 2008, IHG has been working with Venners across its European managed estate. The service offering provided by Venners includes inventory counting, potential variance analysis, stock control and an advisory service for procedure reviews. All the services delivered by Venners have proved to be effective and, as a result of this successful partnership, IHG has developed a preferred supplier relationship with Venners.

Make your ‘Score on the Door’ work for you

A small struggling West Midlands’ inn had a zero ‘Scores on the Doors’ rating before Venners became involved. After much hard work, training and dedication, the business was later awarded 5 stars. This excellent result is now used in all the inn’s marketing and public relations such as adverts, menus, business cards and website, etc. Business is now booming and the sensible, proactive and cost-controlled investment in Venners is paying dividends.

Outsource is the best source

A major hotel company which conducted internal stocktaking appointed Venners to look after a portion of its estate. Within four months Venners showed that using an external provider had: increased the gross profit by up to 2.4% in 86% of the hotels (worth circa £96,000); reduced the stock deficits in 71% of the hotels (annualised to approximately, £250,000) and reduced allowance claims in 57% of the hotels - proving that external controls and stocktaking deliver big results.

Daily grind

LA major coffee retailer was flummoxed by the apparently poor returns at one of its major outlets. Venners decided to complete a line by line sales analysis, to identify losses through poor grinds, staff consumption and pilferage. The losses were staggering - 35 kilos of coffee a month - equivalent to over 5,000 grinds. With an average price of £2.00 per cup, the cash being haemorrhaged was colossal. The retailer was fairly content with his profit previously but delighted once he closed these loopholes.

Pull the other one

Late at night with a catering event starting the next day, two Venners' auditors had to count four enormous cellars of beer and work out which keg served which bar. Accompanied by security, one auditor visited each bar and drew through a small amount of beer. The other checked which keg the beer was coming from. Staying in touch by mobile phone, they quickly apportioned the stock to the correct bar so that the event got off to an accurate start.

Compliance audit: the unsafe safe

A Venners' auditor arriving at a client's premises to conduct a compliance audit was astounded to find a message written on the wall in the manager's office: “If the manager is late, the keys to the safe are in the second drawer of his desk.” Proof that this client desperately needed Venners' compliance audit services.

DVD technology works for Venners and Hilton

As part of the sale of the London and Birmingham Metropole hotels, the client called in Venners to compile full inventories of both hotels' chattel assets – a huge task considering the scale of the two facilities. On the day of completion itself, the inventories were meticulously checked and updated to meet the requirements of both vendor and purchaser. For the first time, the Venners inventory team used DVD technology, enabling instant updating in the final hours before the sale. Also on the day of completion, six stocktakers attended each hotel to value the stock in trade. They worked through each premises, adhering to an action plan carefully coordinated with colleagues at Christie + Co.

VenPowa caters well

Approached by Sodexho, Venners conceptualised, designed and built a new stocktaking system (VenPowa) that allowed the client to control stocks at its Prestige Event Catering locations. VenPowa provided the backbone of stock-related data for a number of high-profile events, including The Chelsea Flower Show, The Open, The Derby, The Ryder Cup and Royal Ascot.