Westmorland Limited, a successful motorway service station company, experienced rapid growth that strained their IT systems. They commissioned Waterstons to develop a new IT strategy. Waterstons conducted a review and identified needs for new point of sale, accounting, and data integration systems. They developed a four-year phased plan to implement the strategy. This transformed Westmorland's information management, giving them better control of costs and reducing accounting time.

1. CASE STUDY
CONSULTING • TECHNOLOGY • OUTSOURCING
An IT strategy for the 21st century
IT STRATEGY
“The IT Strategy Waterstons developed has helped
transform the information management in our company”
Julie Pattison, IT Manager, Westmorland Limited
CUSTOMER PROFILE THE CHALLENGE • Catering and retail point of sale and food
production software for Tebay and Rheged.
Westmorland Limited is one of the most Westmorland Limited had experienced rapid growth
• Time and Attendance software.
successful independent motorway service which put a strain on the administration and
station companies in the UK. information systems the company used.
• Payroll system.
Their catering has won recognition from In the light of Rheged opening, the company felt a
• New accounting system that was sophisticated
Egon Ronay and in contrast to other full review of their IT was needed, comprising the
enough to handle the diverse interests of the
motorway service stations they have built accounts systems, infrastructure, point of sale and
company.
up a solid foundation and regular visitors. back office systems.
• A data warehouse that integrated all of the
Waterstons were commissioned by Westmorland
In addition to the service stations information generated across the business and
to perform a complete IT Strategy review of their
Westmorland also operate a successful would connect it seamlessly to the new accounts
systems and infrastructure. This review was to
hotel caravan park and a truck stop at system.
include:
Tebay that caters for passing coach and
• A comprehensive Management Information
heavy haulage traffic. • New systems for controlling quality and cost of
System.
the retail and catering facilities at Rheged.
Towards the end of the millennium
Westmorland invested in a visitor centre • A complete review of the systems at Tebay and the
POTENTIAL REALISED
called ‘Rheged’ near Penrith. This has truck stop.
rapidly become one of the premier tourist A full four years phased plan was provided by
• All the physical infrastructure and cabling at Tebay
attractions in Cumbria. The visitor centre Waterstons; showing the scope of the work and the
and Rheged.
includes restaurants, specialist retail full impact of the IT projects on the company’s cash
outlets and a high quality big screen • The current accounts system. flow. Westmorland have seen the following benefits:
cinema.
• The integration and consolidation of all satellite • Over a four year period all aspects of the IT
systems to provide routine control data. strategy have been progressively completed; new
systems and upgrades were added as required.
• Payroll and time and attendance systems.
• The business has a much greater control of costs
SOLUTION as management and control data is produced
quickly and efficiently.
The resulting IT strategy development was carried
out over a period of 10 weeks. The process involved • The time taken to produce month and year end
working closely with the senior management accounts has been dramatically reduced.
to understand the business strategy and then
identifying the areas in which IT could add value and
contribute towards performance.
The following systems were identified as areas for
investment:
• Point of sale for the Rheged cinema.
• Forecourt software to handle fuel sales.
E-mail: info@waterstons.co.uk • Telephone: 0845 094 094 5 • Website: www.waterstons.com