DELIVERING A BEST PRACTICE SOLUTION. CASE STUDY: JD

 DELIVERING A
BEST PRACTICE
SOLUTION.
CASE STUDY:
JD SPORTS FASHION & HRS
JD Sports Fashion plc is one of the UK’s leading specialist retailers
of fashion branded and own-brand sports and casual wear,
principally through its main retail outlet, JD Sports.
Founded in 1981, JD Sports Fashion has over 500 stores offering both sports and
fashion, with brands including Scotts and Bank Fashion, and the group also owns
the rugby heritage labels Canterbury of New Zealand, The Duffer of St George and
Kooga. The company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1996, operates
in both the UK and Ireland and has also moved into the French market through the
acquisition of 75 Chausport stores.
JD Sports Fashion has expanded significantly in recent years and has many
travel bookers based across the business in five regional offices and at its
headquarters in Bury. Previously, each booker had their own personal preference
and used many different services to book hotels, but all complained of not being
able to secure the best deals, and the lack of customer service from the various
online sites.
BUSINESS CHALLENGES
• Various hotel booking
services used
• No single service satisfactory • No corporate travel policy
• Lack of financial clarity
KEYS TO SUCCESS
• Hotel rates and availability
• User friendly interface
• Search process supports
travel policy
• Comprehensive
implementation plan
RESULTS
A CHANGE IN APPROACH
• 100% adoption rate
JD Sports Fashion decided it needed to change this inefficient and unsatisfactory
process and wanted to implement a cohesive corporate travel policy for all
bookers, and a hotel booking service that would become the foundation for
consistency and transparency for reserving accommodation.
• Structured corporate travel
policy
• Empowered bookers
• Detailed hotel usage data
to secure improved
corporate rates
With HRS, you can. Challenge us and we’ll show you how.
Call us today on 020 8846 0640 or email uksales@hrs.com
Hotel Reservation Service Ltd, The Triangle, 5-17 Hammersmith Grove, London W6 0LG
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CASE STUDY
An alternative was initially implemented but quickly rejected due to poor
room availability, lack of data, inflexibility and inadequate customer service.
Sandra Handley, PA to Buying and Design and JD Sports Fashion’s Head
Accountant conducted extensive research and evaluation on other selected
travel companies including HRS.
“HRS was the clear winner in our key criteria for a hotel booking service –
attractive rates, excellent availability, data visibility and ease of use. As JD Sports
Fashion has now expanded into France, it was also essential that there was a good
selection of hotels in France, which HRS also offers,” said Sandra Handley.
HRS was selected as the corporate hotel reservation provider for JD Sports
Fashion, and quickly developed an extensive training plan to enable fast
implementation and seamless adoption by all bookers. HRS identified the
individuals who were responsible for the majority of the hotel reservations, or
‘super-bookers’ and organised for them to attend a HRS product training session.
TRAINING
At the training at JD Sports Fashion HQ, HRS staff comprehensively
demonstrated the reservation service, explained what the service could achieve
for the company, how it could help support company goals and that the bookers
were integral to the success. The training continued until all bookers were
comfortable with using the new system and any concerns were resolved.
When HRS went live, an HRS Account Manager spent two days at JD Sports
Fashion to provide any assistance and support to bookers when required.
During the following few weeks, HRS also organised WebEx refresher sessions
and visited other sites to provide training.
“The training programme HRS developed and executed was superb. The plan
comprehensively detailed the service, its capabilities, included all bookers and
demonstrated the important role we could play in achieving company goals,”
commented Sandra Handley. “The support shown by HRS has been fantastic and
they continue to be always available to answer any requests.”
With HRS, you can. Challenge us and we’ll show you how.
Call us today on 020 8846 0640 or email uksales@hrs.com
Hotel Reservation Service Ltd, The Triangle, 5-17 Hammersmith Grove, London W6 0LG
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CASE STUDY
The best-practice model HRS delivered to JD Sports Fashion has ensured the
service has been implemented effectively, and has achieved an almost 100%
adoption rate by bookers, enabling the desired business objective of a unified
and consistent travel policy to be achieved in a very short timeframe.
“I can’t imagine life without HRS. It goes without saying that it is user-friendly,
but also availability is excellent, even in remote locations in France,” continued
Sandra Handley. “The search fields are very good and are only done within our
budget parameters so it ensures we adhere to company policy. The Traveller’s
Profile provides all scenarios and options that suit the client and is convenient
when charging to internal cost centres.”
HRS has also worked closely with JD Sports Fashion to help the company drive
down costs and secure more competitive corporate rates. Liaising with, in
particular, the Finance Department, HRS has collated all the hotel bookings and
calculated spend in particular venues, to ensure JD Sports Fashion have all the
necessary facts to negotiate better deals.
“HRS was the clear winner in our key criteria for a hotel booking service –
attractive rates, excellent availability, data visibility and ease of use.”
Sandra Handley,
PA to Buying and Design, JD Sports Fashion
AN ENTERPRISING HOTEL BOOKING
SOLUTION THAT SETS THE STANDARD?
CHALLENGE HRS.
HRS is the perfect solution for large enterprises wanting to cut costs,
work more efficiently and manage a company-wide travel policy.
HRS integrates seamlessly with your in-house travel management
programme, so you get the best of both worlds.
100% FREE. No joining fee, no commissions and no hidden extras.
ALWAYS GET THE BEST DEAL. Your negotiated rates
integrated directly into the HRS system.
BIGGER CHOICE. A global solution – over 250,000 hotels in 180 countries, with booking in 32 languages.
THE SOLUTION YOU CAN TRUST. For total reliability, our
Service Level Agreement guarantees 99% uptime.
WORKS THE WAY YOU DO. Fully customisable, HRS will seamlessly integrate with your intranet.
BOOKING ON THE MOVE. HRS’s native apps on iPhone
and BlackBerry will revolutionise how, where and when
you can find and book hotels.
SAVE TIME AND EFFORT. All hotels are bookable online,
with real-time availability and pricing.
HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT. 24/7 telephone support because global business never stops.
INFORMATION AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. HRS’s management
tools let you run reports, analyse usage and get instant
answers on your hotel spend.
With HRS, you can. Challenge us and we’ll show you how.
Call us today on 020 8846 0640 or email uksales@hrs.com
Hotel Reservation Service Ltd, The Triangle, 5-17 Hammersmith Grove, London W6 0LG
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