Nationwide Catering Services (NCS), which has been supporting the UK food service industry since 1953, is celebrating ten years of using BigChange job management software.
Recognising its potential above other systems available on the market at the time, NCS was the first to adopt the then newly launched all-in-one job management system. Since implementing BigChange, Yorkshire-based NCS has grown significantly, seeing a 70 percent increase in turnover, with BigChange helping to underpin this success.
NCS uses BigChange to live-link field engineers to the back-office support team, track in real-time its nationwide fleet of service vehicles and integrate with its accountancy package for financial management. During the last decade, NCS has seen many changes in the food service sector, including the impact of the pandemic, and the cloud-based BigChange system has ensured it continues to adapt and respond to the market.
“Having worked with the founder of BigChange, Martin Port, and his team in the past, we were open to the idea of what was, at the time, a new approach to field-service management,” commented Simon Atkinson who has been Managing Director of Nationwide Catering Services since 1989. “For the first time BigChange brought together all aspects of managing a complex mobile operation. From real-time tracking to financial management, vehicle checks to dynamic communications, BigChange supports all aspects of the business giving us complete visibility and the capacity to capture, record and share time and business critical information.”
Using the BigChange job management system, which incorporates customer relationship management (CRM), job scheduling, live tracking, resource management, job finance and business intelligence, in one simple to use and easy to integrate solution, NCS has transformed the management of its nationwide team of field engineers.
At the start of each week, engineers are guided through a series of vehicle checks ensuring their van is safe and legal and providing early warnings of future maintenance requirements. A daily schedule with optimised route and individual, customisable job sheets is shared to each engineers’ mobile device and real-time vehicle tracking allows ETAs to be calculated, updated and communicated to clients.
Communication between mobile engineers and back-office staff is improved and the ability to capture detailed information whilst onsite, including date and time stamped photographs complete with geocoded location, is boosting customer service. Integration with SAGE, the accountancy package used by NCS, is also ensuring the accuracy of invoices and the efficiency of producing and sending to clients.
“The catering sector has seen some enormous changes over the past 10 years, not least of which was the pandemic, and I am sure the next ten years will be just as interesting,” concluded Atkinson. “However, with BigChange on our side I am confident we can rise to any challenge and continue to provide a first-class service to all our clients.”
Nationwide Catering Services was formed in 1953 but the origins of the company date back to the nineteenth century. In 1890, Charles Midgley (Great, Great Grandfather of the current MD) was General Manager of British Power Traction and Light Company Ltd. After a management buyout in 1901, the Eclipse Copper Company, market leaders in the development, design and manufacture of commercial water boilers, was born.
Eclipse Equipment Services Ltd was incorporated in 1953 and current MD Simon Atkinson took charge in 1989, at which point the business relocated to Selby and changed its name to Nationwide Catering Services Ltd to reflect the growing nature of the business. NCS now offers a customer-centric culture, national coverage and over 60 years’ experience supporting the catering needs of customers such as Grosvenor Casinos, Pho restaurants and ODEON cinemas.
About BigChange
Launched in 2013 and based in Leeds, UK, BigChange is a leading Field Service Management Software Provider trusted by more than 1,900 field-based organisations around the world. BigChange employs over 220 people and is recognised as an outstanding employer with a 2 Star Accreditation from Best Companies.
In 2020 BigChange was awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation, one of the highest business honours in the UK awarded for the company’s contribution to international trade, innovation, sustainable development and promoting opportunity. The company has also featured in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and was named in the 2018 Deloitte Technology Fast 50.
BigChange is the complete Job Management Platform that’s helping field service businesses across the UK to win more work, take control of their operations and deliver winning customer experiences. Bringing customer relationship management (CRM), job scheduling, live tracking, field resource management, job finance, business intelligence into one simple to use and easy to integrate platform, BigChange liberates customers from inefficient paper-based processes and the complexity of multiple different technology systems that hold their businesses back.
For more information please visit www.bigchange.com.
