Drinks are on Retail Assist

Drinks are on Retail Assist

Retail Assist has won a one-year contract to provide out of hours Help Desk support for the 2300 stores owned by First Quench, the UK's largest High Street drinks retailer, which includes Thresher, Victoria Wine, Bottoms Up and Wine Rack.

The contract - an example of the 'selective outsourcing' ethos now being favoured by many retailers - covers the traditionally busy evening and weekend hours for drinks retailers, and was won based on Retail Assist's experience in managing the transition to new working methods over short timescales.

 The UK's largest High Street drinks retailer has awarded Nottinghamshire-based retail IT specialists Retail Assist a one-year contract to provide "out-of-office-hours" IT Help Desk for its 2300 stores nationwide.

  First Quench - which includes the Thresher, Victoria Wine, Bottoms Up and Wine Rack outlets and has the largest high-street retail store estate in the UK - has tasked Retail Assist to provide first line IT support during the traditional busiest trading hours for drinks stores.

 The Help Desk will act as a single focal point for all in-store IT issues, whether hardware, software or applications related, during the hours of Monday to Friday, 18.00 to 23.15 and at all times on Saturdays and Sundays. Analysts with actual retail experience will either resolve the issue there and then, or manage third parties on behalf of First Quench if urgent on-site technical support is required.

 The contract was awarded to Retail Assist based on the company's pedigree in providing flexible IT solutions for clients in a range of retail sectors, and also the company's ability to manage the transition to the new way of working in very short time-scales.

 Peter Baxter, IT Services Manager at First Quench, commented: "Providing out-of-hours IT support to our store network was becoming an increasing burden to us and we decided that stores would be better serviced by a dedicated, external operation during these periods.

 "With more than 2000 stores, we need access to a fast, responsive service, where issues can be quickly handled and resolved with the minimum impact on store trading.

 "We view the establishment of such a relationship with Retail Assist as a low-risk strategy, given their extensive retail experience, first line problem solving capability, and ability to manage a seamless transition to the new support system for the stores, who have seen little or no change to the way calls are logged."

 Retail Assist Business Development Director Alan Morris commented: "The 'selective outsourcing' function - where companies can use Retail Assist for any or all aspects of its IT support requirement - creates a flexible, cost-effective option for retailers of all sizes.

 "The Help Desk support we are providing gives First Quench a consistent, reliable first point of contact for all out-of-hours in-store IT issues. The Retail Assist Help Desk now provides support to nearly 3,000 stores across the UK and Ireland, equating to over 5,500 tills."


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