Torex Retail Helps To Improve Access To Leisure Facilities In Derbyshire

A consortium of six of Derbyshire’s nine local authorities is set to transform citizens’ use of leisure facilities in the area with the installation of Torex Retail’s Leisure Management System, TLMS. The £285,000 project will standardise systems across the county, simplify analysis of user information and provide a central portal for the searching and booking of leisure facilities through Torex Retail’s leisure online product.

In line with regulations from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, ODPM, which require sport centres to have online booking by December 2005, Derbyshire Sport, the strategic body for sport in the county, evaluated several companies to help the consortium achieve this goal.

Commenting on the selection of Torex Retail, Paul Chambers, Facility Development Manager at Derbyshire Sport says: "Torex Retail scored the highest following the tendering process based on several factors, including the Leisure Management Systems’ functionality, end user simplicity, and adaptability to future growth needs. The potential of the TLMS database and the prospecting and loyalty modules to help us focus our marketing efforts also impressed us."

The Derbyshire Partnership currently consists of Bolsover District Council, Chesterfield Borough Council, Derbyshire Dales District Council, Derby City Council, Erewash Borough Council and North East Derbyshire District Council. The three authorities who have chosen not be part of the project at this stage are Amber Valley Borough Council, High Peak Borough Council and South Derbyshire District Council.

"We felt that due to the scope of the project, we needed a company with the industry experience and reputation to handle it," explains Chambers. "We knew that with Torex Retail, rollout across the County in six months and compliance with IT requirements, in particular the Electronic Government Interoperability Framework, e-GIF, would not cause any undue problems. Also, by procuring as a group, we are not only sharing the project workload and good practice, but we have also achieved significant cost savings.

"Our mission at Derbyshire Sport is to encourage people to regularly take part in sporting activities, so making it easier for people to do this is a high priority," continues Chambers. "Our aim, with the help of Torex Retail, is to develop our website as the central portal for online booking. This will enable customers to log-on, search and book any facility in the county from our website and our partners’ websites as well. With Torex Retail and its exciting product developments, the future is looking great for sport and leisure in Derbyshire."

The phased implementation approach taken by the Derbyshire Consortium plans to have 22 sport and leisure sites at all six authorities installed with TLMS by October 2005 with online booking live across the county by December 2005.