English Lakes is a family-owned group of hotels in and around the Lake District, which offers guest facilities that include health clubs, spa services and a water sports centre. With a portfolio of five hotels, ensuring each reaches its commercial potential is challenging. However, with the recent installation of Core by Premier Software at Low Wood Bay and Lancaster House Hotel, English Lakes is ensuring that both sites can be effectively managed through one business management software solution.

At the Core
Michael Kay, group leisure manager at English Lakes says: “Fundamental to the success of English Lakes is the ability to manage multiple sites through one business management system, while integrating with our PMS and access systems.”

He adds: “Having worked with previous providers, we were acutely aware that most focus on single elements such as membership, spa and salon. We needed a flexible system that seamlessly brings together all our operations through one dashboard.

“Core provides an unrivalled solution that enables us to manage our health club memberships, spa services and water sports centre activities, while providing a flawless service to our visitors.”

Developed by Premier Software, Core was successfully installed in the English Lakes hotels in March this year and has quickly become an essential part of its business.

“On a day-to-day basis our teams are heavily involved with Core and find it’s easy to manage indoor and outdoor activities, spa services and membership queries,” says Kay.

“At the back end, the management and reporting suite allows the group to measure the facilities both individually and collectively, and by hotel. If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. Core covers just about every report you need to assess the performance of each single element of the business.”

Planning the future
The future of English Lakes is rosy. With five hotels to choose from, further expansion is inevitable as visitors look for hotels set in stunning scenery with luxurious spa and health club facilities.

“The next 12 months will see the culmination of significant development work at Low Wood Bay Resort, including a health club and spa with an extensive indoor and outdoor thermal journey,” adds Kay.

“It will also include a marina, water sports centre and additional bedrooms – creating the Lake District’s first luxury destination resort.

“At the heart of this will sit Core, where we can access and assess how well our facilities are performing, and where there is potential for growth. Core flexes to our needs while providing a real-time, multi-site overview,” says Kay.