Bailey’s of Wistow.
How clearer data helped multi-department garden centre protect its margins
Background
Founded 27 years’ ago, Bailey’s of Wistow has grown from a small garden centre into a destination business at the Wistow Rural Centre, within the walled grounds of Wistow Hall.
We caught up with Laurence Middleton, Operations Manager at Bailey’s, to hear how the switch to Vector EPOS has changed the way the business runs. Laurence has been with Bailey’s for seven years, splitting his time between the shop floor, stock, and strategic planning across all three parts of the business.
The challenge
Running a garden centre, an interiors business and a florist from one site meant Bailey’s needed an EPOS that could keep pace with a varied product range and a busy team.
Their previous system wasn’t built for that kind of scale. Products had to be entered one by one rather than uploaded in bulk, which meant hours of manual work every time new stock came in.
Support wasn’t always easy to reach either, which mattered on a site where something going wrong at the till had a knock-on effect across the whole business. Bailey’s needed a system that could grow with them, without adding admin to already stretched days.
The solution
System installation and onboarding with added expert support
CSY’s onboarding process is built to minimise disruption, and for Bailey’s that meant an engineer on site for a week at the end of March, right as the garden centre headed into spring.
“He sat down and talked through what we wanted, how we wanted it to look… he was very calm, very patient with us, and he didn’t leave until we were taking money, until he knew it was working.”
On top of installation and hands-on training, moving their full stock catalogue across was handled in one pass rather than item by item.
“Those 6,000 items that we painfully transferred into the old system, we transferred over in a heartbeat.”
An intuitive EPOS system the whole team picked up fast
With three business lines and a mix of varied products, ease of use mattered as much as functionality for long-standing staff and new starters alike, especially during seasonal peaks. Laurence’s own summary of Vector EPOS was very clear: it just made sense.
“It’s just logical. You make an error, you know what to do. Teaching staff to use it for the first time is very straightforward. It’s very easy to show them exactly what to do if there’s a refund, a customer on account, a credit note required, or a return. It’s all very easy to use.”
That same logic carries through to the back office. Even stepping in only occasionally, Laurence can find what he needs without having to relearn the system each time.
“I can sit there and think, well, where would I look for that? It’s going to be under invoices, it’s going to be under stock, it’s going to be under tracking or takings. Very logical.”
Faster, clearer payments system with CSYPay powered by ClearAccept
Bailey’s moved card processing over to CSYPay, replacing their previous provider’s rates and reporting with a built-in payment product that ran on the same systems as their EPOS.
“The floor rates are better than what we were paying previously and the dashboard is very, very clear, it’s transparent. I can get the answers I need quickly.”
That clarity comes in handy on an ordinary morning, not just when reviewing the numbers. When Laurence needed to check on a payment glitch, the answer was a quick login away.
“I logged in, I could see the information straight away. I’m back out the door, reassuring the customer the payment’s gone through, and we’ll forward them a receipt. It just works.”
Trustworthy data for smarter range planning
Perhaps the biggest shift has been trusting the numbers behind day-to-day decisions, right down to knowing exactly how much compost is left in the yard without a manual check.
“We’ve got confidence in the system to give us the answers we want when it comes to stock, when it comes to profitability… we’ll look at sales data rather than guessing.
That confidence carries through to the bigger calls too. When it comes to sitting down and planning next year’s ranges, Laurence knows the figures behind the decisions are solid.
“We’ve got actual bulletproof figures there to say, look, that sold, that didn’t. It’ll help us in our decision making.”
How is it working with CSY?
“CSY just came back to us and answered every question. Other companies were just nowhere near you guys in terms of contactability…it just ticked all the boxes. It’s as simple as that.”
Want to learn more about CSY?
See how CSY supports growing, multi-department garden centres with a fully integrated EPOS system built specifically for the sector. Or if you’d like a demo or a quick chat about your requirements, just get in touch.
ClearAccept Ltd. t/a CSYPay is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (FRN 926372) for the provision of payment services.
