Author: Julie - BookingsPlus
BookingsPlus Logo

The second in our series of free, online webinars takes place on Wednesday 24th June, where our team will be sharing our 20+ years of knowledge and experience in managing lettings.   

This time, we’ll be sharing practical tips on a range of lettings models with School Business Managers and Heads of Estates, helping them choose the right lettings approach for their school or MAT. 

It’s free to attend, and we’ll be exploring the pros and cons of:  

📄Traditional DIY approach   

💻Self-Managed with software assistance   

📞Outsourced lettings management    

👩‍💼Fully-managed  

Click here to register your attendance. 

Unavailable at this time? Simply register and we’ll share an on-demand recording once the webinar has ended.  

As providers of lettings software and services to hundreds of schools across the UK, we’re often asked about the benefits MAT schools and their Trusts can realise from centralising lettings.

Across many Trusts, school lettings are still managed in silos. Individual schools handle bookings via various third-parties, or in-house via spreadsheets, email threads, or legacy systems – often with different processes, pricing models, and levels of oversight.

The result?

The challenge is to be able to grow lettings, without growing the workload of those who manage or oversee them. Centralised lettings or standardised lettings are often proposed as solutions – but what’s the difference? And which approach is right for your MAT?

Centralised Lettings: one team, full control

A centralised model involves transferring responsibility for lettings to the MAT’s central team.

This typically includes:

Who it appeals to:

With a dedicated resource in the central team, this approach can deliver consistency and clear oversight.

Standardised Lettings: consistency, without central workload

Understandably, a “fully centralised” model raises concerns with some MATs, not wishing to add workload or remove autonomy from schools. For many, a standardised approach offers a different, but equally effective, option.

1. Schools can still manage their own lettings

They continue to operate with local knowledge and autonomy.

2. Processes are standardised across the trust

This reduces confusion and ensures a professional, trust-wide approach.

3. Administration is automated and simplified

So rather than adding work, a standardised system removes avoidable, repetitive admin.

The standardised model gives MATs consistency and oversight, without adding pressure to the central team or removing autonomy from schools.

The Common Benefit: Trust-wide Visibility

Centralised and Standardised lettings lead to the same, powerful outcomes.

When all schools use the same platform, MAT leaders gain access to real-time, comparable data across every site.

For example, using BookingsPlus reporting tools, you can:

The Bookings Value report is particularly valuable – it highlights:

This kind of insight is almost impossible to achieve when schools operate in isolation.

A smarter way to grow lettings

Improving lettings doesn’t have to mean restructuring your organisation or creating new roles.

With the right approach and the right tools, MATs can:

Contact Us

If you’d like to know more about the support BookingsPlus could offer your Trust, we’d be delighted to hear from you – Contact Us.

Since 2023, our team has created over 500 virtual tours, covering a wide range of facilities including libraries, schools, community centres and town halls. Virtual tours are ideal for showcasing your venue to potential hirers and visitors, as well as helping existing hirers comply with any accessibility requirements their users may have.

Here are eight of our top tips for managing and creating the most effective and efficient project:

  1. Make sure staff know what to expect. It is not unknown to turn up to a venue and have confused staff looking back at you! Make sure they are informed what will happen to facilitate a smooth onsite capture. If a public building, like a library, put posters up informing members of the public that filming is taking place.
  1. Remove seasonal decorations. To give as much longevity as possible to your tour, ensure you have removed the Christmas tree and Spring bunting. Just like decorations, out-of-date posters or branded items from past events will make your tour appear outdated, so it is wise to remove or hide them.
  1. Tidy in advance. A little obvious, but in our experience, it doesn’t always happen. Make sure the building is as well presented as possible. Think about the arrangement of furniture – be creative and help potential hirers and users really get an idea of how the space could work for them. Edits can be made to hide and tidy smaller items, such as misplaced litter, but it is always better to invest some time in tidying your spaces beforehand.
  1. Consider what you want to show and its relevance to the user. Do you want to include the toilets? Are there multiple entrances? Are some areas for staff only? Is there outdoor space worth capturing, exit routes only or pathways into the building? It is wise to “over capture” as it is easier (and cheaper!) to remove the shots you decide you don’t need, as opposed to arranging another visit.
  1. Use information points to display text and images. This will signpost the virtual visitor to certain features or services they can access. Make sure you use plain language so they are easy to understand. Link to relevant URLs for further information. This can drive the accessibility benefits.
  1. Keep doors open. Open doors are more inviting and support the natural journey through a building, rather than teleporting through closed doors. By contrast, keep doors closed for areas that will be inaccessible.
  1. Test neutrally. When reviewing the initial tour and considering the user journey, imagine that you have never stepped foot there before. Does it flow naturally? Are there confusing elements? Are there too many or too few steps to understand the building? Try to be dispassionate and put yourself in the shoes of someone that is seeing your venue for the first time.
  1. Consider logistics. To manage costs, you will want the tour captures to run with maximum efficiency. If you have multiple venues, then group together local sites to minimise travel time. If engaging our team to capture the tours for you, in advance of a project, they will create a Google Map containing each site and work out route that minimise wasted time in the car.

Our experienced team are trained in the use of the latest camera technology to capture still and 360 degree footage of your facilities, as well as full editing of your end project.

If you are considering commissioning a virtual tour project why not speak with our team? You can contact us through the forms on this website, at hello@bookingsplus.co.uk or by calling 01604 677 764.

Our team of lettings experts will be hosting a series of free, online webinars, sharing our 20 years of knowledge and experience in managing lettings. 

From schools to local community centres, church and village halls, sports pitches, swimming pools and everything in between, we’ll be sharing our hints and tips on how to maximise your lettings, without adding extra workload. 

The first one ‘Unlock Your Hidden Revenue: Smarter School Lettings’ takes place on Wednesday 29th April, and will be aimed at School Business and Lettings Managers who want to achieve more from their lettings. 

It’s free to attend, and we’ll be discussing: 

✅ Successful approaches to marketing school facilities 

💷 What return you should expect from your school’s community assets 

📈 Ways to grow lettings, without taking on extra workload 

Click here to register your attendance.

Unavailable at this time? Simply register and we’ll share an on-demand recording once the webinar has ended.