Vue Entertainment outsources IT Support & Service Management across its cinema estate to Retail Assist

Published 5th March 2010

Vue Entertainment, one of the UK’s premier cinema chains, has outsourced the management of user support and technical service management in its head office and across its 69-strong cinema estate to Retail Assist. It is a milestone for Retail Assist, marking the company’s entry into the leisure sector.

Vue employs 3,000 staff, including 100 at its head office. The objective was to establish a single point of contact across the business for everything IT related, and to formalise all elements of service management by means of structured processes and procedures.

Observes Vue Entertainment’s IT Director, Roland Jones: “This new partnership with Retail Assist means our staff will no longer need to think about who they need to call for what. With just one team owning all calls, we can look forward to faster problem resolution and better communication.”

Prior to engaging the services of Retail Assist, Vue used a third party for 1st-line user support of its Vista software solution whilst support for other IT systems was provided inhouse. Support services needed to be streamlined, both to reflect Vue’s increased reliance upon IT and to optimise the cost-effectiveness of the operation.

The decision was made to put both elements of service management out to tender; a process from which Retail Assist emerged as winner. “We couldn’t help but be impressed by Retail Assist’s Help Desk. They are used to supporting some of the UK’s largest retail businesses,” continues Roland Jones. “We also liked their professionalism, energy and enthusiasm.”

Retail Assist pulled out all the stops to get the new service up and running speedily. It achieved this in just 5 weeks after securing the contract, well in time to support Vue’s peak trading over the Christmas holiday period.

Retail Assist is providing a Retail Service Desk service between 9am and 12am, 364 days a year, covering 1st-line support and incident management. It is also delivering a full IT service management function encompassing problems, service levels and knowledge, together with service asset and configuration management.

Retail Assist is the channel for all IT support across the Vue business, and is also assisting in the day-to-day management of third-party suppliers and their service level agreements.

Retail Assist owns all support calls until resolution. Using its specialist Retail Service Desk technology, it provides full visibility of support calls, manages required changes and liaises with internal or external teams providing 2nd-line and 3rd-line support for specific hardware, software and services.

Retail Assist’s Managed Services Director, Dan Smith, carries ultimate accountability for the success of the new relationship. Excited to see the company move into the leisure sector for the first time, he states: “The critical success factors of this new relationship will be to use our experience to drive down call volumes and fix as many problems as possible at 1st-line. We need to provide Vue with management information that will enable it to more easily manage IT operations across a large and geographically diverse business.”


Retail Assist Limited www.retail-assist.com & www.merret.com
Retail Assist is a leading retail-only solutions and services company, providing UK and international retailers with end-to-end business applications plus a comprehensive range of services that reduce costs, optimise retail operations and support higher revenues.

The company was the first retail-only IT services provider to be awarded ISO 20000 accreditation by the BSI.

Retail Assist clients include Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, WDF, A|Wear, La Senza, Paperchase, Adams Kids, Whistles, Aurora Fashions, The White Company, Odin Retail, Tec7, Burberry, Mint Velvet, Jane Norman and ASOS.

In Products, it excels in developing, integrating, deploying and supporting customised Head Office and Supply Chain systems that extend from merchandising through replenishment and finance to e-commerce. These include its award-winning Merret supply chain solution.

Merret is a real-time, multi-currency, multi-channel merchandising, warehousing and stock control solution that covers all areas of the retail supply process with the exception of EPoS. Merret capabilities include product content, purchasing, warehousing, replenishment, inward and outward distribution, store back-office, retail financials, in-season planning, CRM data capture and reporting, and business intelligence and corporate performance management. Through working with third parties, Retail Assist also integrates and delivers EPoS systems.

In Managed Services, Retail Assist’s proven offerings include 24/7 Help Desk, Technical Services, Operations, Data Centre, Hardware Maintenance and Disaster Recovery. Professional Services cover Retail Business Consultancy and Project Services.

The company’s Managed Solutions offer hardware, software applications and services in a cost-effective Software as a Service package. Solutions are hosted and costed as affordable, revenue-based expenditure, designed around monthly payments over an agreed contractual period. This provides small to mid-sized retailers with the advantages and levels of service usually only experienced by large companies.

Vue Entertainment www.myvue.com
Formed in May 2003 after SBC International Cinemas acquired 36 cinemas from Warner Village, Vue Entertainment has rapidly grown to be a sector leader. Its circuit has expanded to encompass 654 screens over 69 cinemas and 140,500 seats, and it now attracts over 34 million customers every year.

Vue boasts state-of-the-art multiplexes, with the highest quality infrastructure in the market. 90% of its cinemas have modern stadium seating and all are equipped with the most up-to-date projection and audiovisual technologies. The flagship cinema is in London’s Leicester Square, in a building that has hosted royal premieres for over 60 years.

Vue continues with its commitment to innovate, build and develop the most distinct, modern multiplex cinemas in the UK and will be opening an estimated 10 sites in the next 2-3 years. Aside from upgrading and increasing infrastructure, Vue has concentrated on building an entirely new culture within the industry.

In 2005, Vue won the prestigious award for 'International Exhibitor of the Year' at Cinema Expo. During 2006, the company’s Board and Bank of Scotland completed a successful management buyout. In the same year, CEO Tim Richards won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award.

Over the coming years, Vue will continue to strive to be the finest in the industry and to offer all its guests an unrivalled cinema experience.