BookingsPlus is five! Development Manager, Jo Doull, takes a look back on its journey so far

BookingsPlus is our bespoke online lettings software, designed specifically for schools to help them maximise the use of their facilities out of hours.  In 2018, as we celebrate BookingsPlus’s 5th birthday, Development Manager, Jo Doull, takes a look back at why and how the online lettings software was born and what its aims are for the next 5 years!

“In 2002 we started managing community activities in school’s across the UK.  In the early days, like many schools, we struggled to easily manage our lettings administration.  We had separate systems for promoting our facilities, managing bookings, invoicing and recording payments.  Over the years we moved from paper-based processes to electronic software but we still required lots of resource to carry out basic admin tasks and the process was cumbersome and time-consuming.

In 2011, Community’s parent company Kajima Partnerships Ltd ran an internal Dragon’s Den style competition where departments were invited to put forward innovative ideas that would change and improve the business.  We saw an opportunity to re-invent how we were working, making things easier to manage, working smarter and increasing productivity across our department.  BookingsPlus, version one, was born…

We spent the next couple of years fine-tuning the software and in 2013 signed up our very first BookingsPlus customer.

The last few years have seen us focus on investing in our team.  We now employ a team of ten, consisting of three full-time developers, two Helpdesk operators, two training and marketing staff and two after-sales account managers – they’re all here to ensure our customers not only receive a software package which is continually developing and growing with their needs, but that they also have access to an after-sales and support service which is second to none.

Our aim for the future is to continue to grow our customer base, using our knowledge and experience as school lettings specialists to help other schools benefit from hassle-free, profitable lettings.  We are working hard to expand further into new markets such as; healthcare, libraries and museums, churches and more.”