Edgcumbes was born in 1981 after founder Frank Edgcumbe-Rendle returned from India and was decidedly unsatisfied with the quality of loose-leaf tea in the UK. In the decades since then, Edgcumbes has evolved from an importer of loose-leaf tea, to a coffee roaster, wholesaler, and now a popular cafe. The company’s latest venture sees Edgcumbes partner with a local brewery to form the Brewhouse Project, a brewery taproom and coffee house.

With so many projects in the works on both the retail side and the hospitality side of the business, the team needed to make sure staff were in the right place in the right time — without rota planning taking up too much of managers’ valuable time. That’s where RotaCloud came in.

The challenge

Edgcumbes first signed up to RotaCloud in 2016, using the software to manage rotas at the company’s first cafe.

When current Head of Operations Paul Lightfoot joined Edgcumbes in 2017, he noticed that there were numerous other ways that RotaCloud could help the business expand.

“The day-to-day schedules, costings, and the way the team can self-manage their time off — I love all that. But RotaCloud is also a great tool for planning as far ahead as you want to,” Paul told us.

“When doing any sort of scheduling or labour planning, everything is in one place — it’s very easy to flit between different parts of the software,” he added.

While initially responsible for building rotas at Edgcumbes, Paul now oversees aspects such as costings and holiday planning.

“At the beginning of the year, I sat down with the wholesale manager and planned out all the bank holiday and everything we needed to do, for the whole twelve months — and then we started to get staff holidays planned in [RotaCloud].”

“I love the traffic light system that RotaCloud uses to show holiday allowances — it’s easy for me to see who hasn’t used any holiday, and who’s run out of it. The team can manage their own time off, and I can get access to leave information wherever I am.”

The solution

Paul’s had plenty of experience with scheduling software in the past, including many years with enterprise software Kronos. But RotaCloud wins out for one simple reason: ease of use.

“If you know how to use an iPad or a smartphone, you can certainly use RotaCloud,” Paul told us. “And if I’ve ever needed any help, the support has been really good. The online chat system is brilliant.”

“Overall, [RotaCloud] is a nice, easy tool to use — and it’s easy for the team to use, too. RotaCloud is just perfect for our business.”