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Success story: Stonegate Group
We’re proud to have been invited by Stonegate Group to contribute to their Digital Transformation Report, developed in partnership with BizClik, a collaboration highlighting the central role Access Hospitality has played in Stonegate’s transformation - not just as a technology provider, but as a true strategic partner.
‘’They have a really strong understanding of what the hospitality sector needs.’’
Digital transformation journey
Stonegate Group, now the UK’s largest pub company, started with just 333 pubs in 2010 and has since expanded to over 4,500 venues nationwide. This remarkable growth has been driven by their commitment to modernising their operations and meeting the changing needs of the industry and their customers.
As part of their digital transformation journey, Stonegate has partnered with Access Hospitality since 2017 - starting with Trail, followed by Access Collins in 2018, Acteol in 2021, and more recently, Qikserve. Together, these tools form a fully connected guest journey – from reservations (Collins) and CRM (Acteol) to in-venue ordering (QikServe) and operational tools (Trail).
Of all the changes, the shift towards data-driven decision making has been the most significant.
Access stood out not only by meeting all our requirements but also for their innovation and agility. We’ve developed a really strong partnership and use multiple products across Stonegate Group, including Acteol for our MiXR app and customer database. The insights it provides are monumental in our transformation journey.
- Ashlie Thurston, Head of IT and Digital Transformation, Stonegate Group
With Access as a strategic partner, Stonegate has been able to:
- Become truly data-driven – using guest feedback, team input, adoption rates and other data points to shape decisions across marketing, operations and technology.
- Understand guest behaviour – identifying changes in habits and responding with timely, targeted offers via Acteol.
- Streamline operations across 4,500+ sites - simplifying processes and consolidating systems to support scale and efficiency.
- Co-develop MiXR, Stonegate’s market-leading, consumer-facing app, integrated with Access solutions to deliver real-time engagement, loyalty and insight across all demographics.
“Being able to use the Acteol platform to pinpoint when somebody who was, for example, drinking Guinness all summer, then suddenly they shifted to something else. Understanding whether that was because of a price change – was it a pricing decision? Was it that they didn’t like it after a formula change? Or if we sent them a voucher for the drink, would they go back to it? This is gold dust for our drinks suppliers and something no-one else in the industry can provide at this level.”
-Ashlie Thurston, Head of IT and Digital Transformation, Stonegate Group
A future that’s more efficient, more effective and faster
The future of Stonegate is nothing short of exciting. With Access Hospitality as a long-term partner, Stonegate is working to expand its suite of solutions, incorporating Access Evo, a unique artificial intelligence solution to make their operations even more efficient, more effective and faster across every part of their business. It’s a partnership built for growth, and one that will continue to evolve.