About Peppermint events

In 2003, Alex Brooke and Adam Hempenstall formed Peppermint Events & Bars to deliver fresh event concepts and high-quality bars at outdoor events.

Peppermint delivers fresh event concepts and high-quality bars at outdoor events. Often running multiple bars across a site, Peppermint needed a quick and easy way to track stock levels and staff requirements and on-site wholesale operations at events which could have over 65,000 party-goers. Peppermint turned to Workhorse for a sales reporting App that maximised efficiency, service and profits with real-time information.

65,000 party-goers to serve

One of the events they service on behalf of AEG is Barclaycard British Summer Time, a music festival held over two weekends every July. Peppermint produced and ran 24 front-of-house bars in a unique ‘village environment’ in Hyde Park. 65,000 music lovers visited the festival during the course of those two weekends. Peppermint also provided the backstage bar solutions, including 5 VIP bars to over 5000 guests. Aside from this, Peppermint was responsible for the entire trader wholesale operation on site.

It’s a big responsibility to keep all 65,000 visitors refreshed with their favourite drink!

Peppermint needed help with their complex needs

To help with the slick operations the directors of Peppermint turned to Alastair Badman, Managing Director of Workhorse.

“Our business can be quite complex, but Alastair understood really quickly what we did and how we go about it. He came up with a solution that allows us to have real-time information so that we can maximise bar sales at each of our outdoor events.”

Peppermint relied on staff eyes and ears on the ground to determine which areas were busy

Challenges

Previously to using the Sales Reporting App, till print-out data from all the bars would be punched into a calculator to provide a snapshot of sales. This exercise could take up to 2 hours by which time the information was out-of-date. The main act might have come on stage and the demand for drinks shifted to a different part of the festival.

They relied on staff eyes and ears on the ground to determine which areas were busy and where bar staff should be moved to, as well as relaying stock requirements.

Requirements

The Peppermint event teams need to know:
• The level of activity of every bar at any given time during the day
• Products that are being sold at every bar at any given time during the day
• Make informed decisions on where to move staff to ensure a high level of customer service
• Make informed decisions on stock control so that products can be replenished
• Make informed decisions on Point of Sale so that popular products are on display

Workhorse cloud-based sales reporting for Peppermint

Solution

Workhorse developed a cloud-based Sales Reporting tool. It is mobile-friendly and can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Peppermint Events’ clients also have access to the App. This means they can see in real-time, business data about their event without having to wait to receive a report at the end of the day or weekend.

The Sales Reporting App is highly visual. Sales for each bar are highlighted in green, amber or red. This makes it extremely easy to see which bars are performing well and which ones are quieter. Staff can be moved around the event to make sure the customers are receiving a high level of service.

Stock levels around the venue are easily visible. Predictions can be made and stocks replenished to avoid popular drinks temporarily running out.

“The Sales Reporting tool allows us to maximise sales and provide a high level of service both to the event visitors and our clients.”

Adam Hempenstall, Founder Peppermint Events

Next phase

Workhorse is currently working on a solution that consolidates 6 highly complex spreadsheets that deliver business-critical information for Peppermint Events.

This will provide a stable, faster and streamlined approach for the business processes. It will be much easier for the staff to use, removing many of the current frustrations … not least that the spreadsheets can take up to 8 minutes to load!

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