PARKDEAN RESORTS
Rolling out infrastructure across 65‘ small towns’ Parkdean’ s digital transformation came with all the challenges of a traditional shift in operations, but with the added difficulty of implementing technology across a geographically dispersed operation.
Amey explains:“ We’ re not just 65 parks, we’ re 65 parks with multifaceted commercial outlets and 30,000 individual accommodations spread across a range of topography across the country. So, a seemingly straightforward digital transformation like rolling out WiFi actually becomes incredibly complicated – it is like rolling out infrastructure for 65 small towns.” The procurement team’ s role in this transformation extends far beyond traditional purchasing activities. It is not just a case of building specifications to ensure appropriate technology, one size doesn’ t always fit all here – with parks situated from woodland areas to the beach.
Parkdean is also operating slightly differently from traditional procurement functions. While procurement often operates in a business-to-business environment, the organisation works in the business-to-consumer space too.
Parkdean’ s digital transformation had to keep the three million holidaymakers it welcomes annually in mind. That means a wide range of customer preferences, which span a broad spectrum due to the fact that the company maintains multiple service channels to accommodate varying comfort levels with technology.
“ We’ re not just 65 parks, we’ re 65 parks with multifaceted outlets with 30,000 individual accommodations spread across topography across the country”
AMEY FAIRBROTHER, HEAD OF PROCUREMENT, PARKDEAN RESORTS
“ We have holidaymakers and holiday home owners that just want to talk to somebody on the end of the phone and we need to make sure we can still offer that service for our guests. Others may just want to talk to a chatbot because they want quick answers, while somebody else may want to book online and not talk to a person at all,” Amey explains.
This customer-centric approach has significant procurement implications, requiring the maintenance of multiple technology platforms and service delivery methods simultaneously. The procurement team must resist the temptation to drive efficiencies purely through technology adoption and continue to meet the needs of their customer base.“ We don’ t want to alienate anybody who can come on holiday with us,” says Amey.“ From a procurement perspective, we understand efficiencies might be driven through technology, but that’ s on a spreadsheet, not necessarily in reality. We’ ve got to understand the
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