Camelot Hotel

Tim Naylor and his family took over Camelot Hotel in Bude in 1999. Tim heard about the actnow flex project and told us how he has been using broadband and flexible working to transform the hotel:

"When we bought the hotel, it was a run down 2 star open only for the summer season" he says. "Now it is a thriving 3 star hotel open year round, with no less than four separate websites targeting our various niche markets and we are making full use of broadband to allow us to work flexibly and manage the hotel as efficiently as possible, from wherever we may be."

Tim continues "This has been quite a transformation for the hotel and broadband and IT have been absolutely pivotal in allowing us to move forward."

Camelot Hotel was one of the first to sign up to broadband when it first came to Bude in 2002.

"Immediately, we experienced the benefits of being always online. Now we could respond to customers' email enquiries as soon as they came in, with a corresponding increase in booking levels. With broadband, it is also so much easier to update the websites, check out the competition and make use of industry portals such as www.laterooms.co.uk which need the very latest availability updates. Of course, we also now offer online booking linked directly to our computer in the hotel. The everyday running of the business and communications with customers are just so much easier - both for us and our customers."

As Tim also runs another business (www.symetrics.co.uk) he is often away from Bude, either in Taunton, where his business partner is based or elsewhere in the UK servicing clients.

Tim says "All the hotel's systems can be used from anywhere with internet access. It no longer matters whether I am in the office, at home or hundreds of miles away. I recently arranged salary payments while on holiday in the Lake District, using a Wifi hotspot to access the system. The member of staff who is responsible for accounts will shortly be leaving for maternity leave. Using a broadband connection at home she can continue to handle the role while fitting the work around the demands of her new family. I frequently work from my home office several miles from the hotel, checking availability and making reservations from there. And we put the staff rotas on-line so that they can check their shifts without having to come in to the hotel."

Tim says "Through making full use of broadband to enable flexible working, we have freed up time and opened new doors that allow us to focus on growing the business, whilst not being tied to it."

The hotel also offers wireless broadband to guests in all the bedrooms and public areas. Tim says "This is a strong part of our appeal to the business market and local residents come in to make use of the facility too. So broadband is helping the hotel in a whole raft of ways - increasing our appeal, underpinning our performance and even improving our work-life balance."

www.camelot-hotel.co.uk