Customer Case Studies

Airport Retail Enterprises

Product:

Sage Intacct

Location:

United Kingdom

Industry:

Hospitality

Number of Employees:

~400

About The Customer

Airport Retail Enterprises UK (ARE) is a privately owned, family-run business specialising in food and beverage services within UK airports. The company has established a strong presence by offering a mix of bespoke own-brand concepts, licensed franchises, and strategic partnerships. Currently, ARE operates fourteen sites across key UK airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Edinburgh, providing a wide range of dining experiences that span pubs, casual dining, fast food, and grab-and-go options.

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Business Challenges

Airport Retail Enterprises UK (ARE) was facing several operational challenges as it pursued growth across new locations. The company’s reliance on Sage 50 exposed a lack of scalability and an inability to integrate its other systems into the core finance package. This led to increased dependence on manual processes, increasing the risk of errors and creating operational bottlenecks.

Additionally, the absence of real-time reporting and integration with key systems limited financial and operational visibility and delayed decision-making. Together, these challenges strained resources, hindered strategic agility, and threatened ARE’s ability to scale in line with its expansion plans.

Sage 50 was a great fit when we had a smaller operation. As our business expanded with more sites, more brands, and greater operational complexity, we began to feel the strain of manual processes and disconnected systems. Sage 50 simply couldn’t scale with us, and we found ourselves relying on workarounds to keep things running. It wasn’t that the system failed, but it wasn’t built for our current requirements and the level of growth we’re now navigating.

Derek Parlour | Head of Finance

Key Requirements

Airport Retail Enterprises required a financial management solution built around four core needs: scalability, automation, connectivity, and real-time visibility.
ARE identified that as their business continued to grow, it was essential to implement a system that could scale effortlessly without causing operational disruption. Reducing reliance on manual processes was also a priority, with a clear focus on streamlining workflows like approvals to improve efficiency and reduce errors.

In addition, real-time reporting and intuitive dashboards, especially at macro/company level as well as micro/entity level, were critical to empower the central finance team, as well as individual locations, with instant access to financial and operational data, supporting faster, more informed decision-making.

Lastly, as ARE operates franchises on behalf of different brands, it requires a system that not only integrates with the current systems but also is future-proofed and open to connect with systems that might be required to run their operation in the future.

We needed a financial system that is not only suitable for our operation today but could scale with our business, automate routine tasks, and deliver real-time reporting across the business. Integration with our existing platforms, like MarketMan and Barclays, was critical to ensure smooth operations and eliminate manual duplication.

Derek Parlour | Head of Finance

Benefits of Sage Intacct For ARE

Sage Intacct has delivered significant benefits to Airport Retail Enterprises by providing the scalability, automation, real-time visibility, and connectivity needed to support its growing operations.

Automating key processes has reduced manual workload, improved accuracy, and freed up
staff to focus on strategic priorities.
Real-time reporting and customisable dashboards have also transformed decision-making, giving leadership instant access to performance insights across the business.
The open API design of Sage Intacct has also allowed ARE to connect to their current systems seamlessly, whilst having the assurance and peace of mind that any other new systems introduced to their business and operation can be connected without disruption to the current system.
Moreover, the modular structure of Sage Intacct has allowed ARE to only purchase what they need. Unlike other financial systems, Sage Intacct’s modular design allows you to purchase and configure the functionality that your business requires, saving time and money, whilst giving the ability to purchase additional modules, with no penalty (increased cost of implementation or purchasing, whether modules are purchased during phase 1, or separately).

Together, these capabilities have streamlined operations, enhanced agility, and created a solid foundation for sustainable growth.

We’re still learning the system, but it’s already clear that Sage Intacct is a leap forward. Features like automated bank feeds are a definite upgrade. It’s helping us streamline key processes and giving us much better visibility into our financial performance.

Derek Parlour | Head of Finance

Why Mysoft

Airport Retail Enterprises chose Mysoft as their Sage Intacct implementation partner because of their specialist expertise and reputation for delivering smart, scalable solutions, especially in the Food & Beverage industry.

Mysoft’s team demonstrated a deep understanding of ARE’s operational challenges and worked closely with stakeholders to tailor Sage Intacct to the business’s specific growth objectives. Their consultative approach, attention to detail, and commitment to long-term success gave ARE the confidence that they were partnering with a team capable of delivering real value, not just through the technology, but through the support and insight behind it.

This was by far the best implementation we’ve ever experienced. The project was delivered on time, the process was smooth, and the team was fantastic. The consultancy provided, in particular, has been incredible. Their knowledge and support continue to make a real difference.

Derek Parlour | Head of Finance