The Sefton Group

The Sefton Group has undertaken several key improvements to its telecommunications infrastructure. Working closely with Manx Telecom, the company has introduced Business Class wireless internet connectivity, plus an innovative phone system at its new Executive Suites.

It also installed a state of the art video conference facility at its flagship Sefton Hotel, plus upgraded the telecoms system across all Sefton Group companies on the Island.

The Sefton Group plc is a Manx Company and is one of the largest and most high profile companies on the Isle of Man and is synonymous with providing superior quality and service. It is the Island’s largest premier hotel group encompassing the Sefton Hotel, the Palace Hotel and the Sefton Express Hotel at the airport and is the Island’s largest private sector supplier of leisure facilities, including the Island’s only casino and bingo operations, together with a multi screen cinema, restaurants, nightclubs, and bars.

It is also active in the property sector, via Sefton Manx Properties Ltd, which owns and manages a portfolio of high quality commercial investment properties.

In the last few years the Sefton Group has invested more than £10 million in improvements to its hotel and leisure operations on the Island. The Group’s flagship Sefton Hotel is a landmark on the Douglas promenade, and has been the focal point for much of that investment.

Executive Suites

In total, nine five star luxury suites were added to the Sefton complex. The project, which cost more than £3m, creates a new standard of five-star suite accommodation on the Island and is expected to be a major attraction for visiting VIPs and top business people.

The Group’s Chief Operating Officer, Mark Lewin, said “The addition of the new executive suites represents a considerable vote of confidence by the Sefton Group in the future. We are determined to maintain the quality of our facilities and service, ensuring that we remain the premier hospitality and leisure company on the Island.”

The new executive suites provide everything a demanding clientele base could wish for in luxury accommodation, and are finished to the highest standards. One of the attractions of the new suites is a state of the art telephone system designed and installed by Manx Telecom.

“As you might expect,” said Roberta Castle, Sales Account Manager at Manx Telecom, “the users of such suites expect the very best, and Manx Telecom was able to recommend a system based upon the high specification Mitel 5340 IP Phone, which offers guests a huge range of calling and other options, all with the highest quality audio.”

Commenting, Mark Lewin said, “Modern business and leisure travel means never being out of touch. We wanted the new executive suites to have the best possible telecoms facilities, which are a huge part of the experience of staying in five star accommodation.

WiFi

Providing the suites with faultless WiFi coverage was also a key requirement, and this presented a considerable challenge for Manx Telecom’s engineers.

“The new executive suites are located in a Victorian building which has very thick walls, and that can hamper good WiFi coverage,” says Roberta Castle. “However, after an extensive site survey we were able to place an optimum number of transmitters at key points which ensured total WiFi coverage in all suites.”

Video Conferencing

The Sefton Group also installed a leading edge video conferencing facility in the new Savoy Room at the Sefton Hotel. Using the latest flat screen and audio video technology, the system – the Tandberg Edge – turns the meeting room into an interactive situation room for improved team-work and accelerated decision-making.

“We have some of the best conference and meeting facilities on the Island,” says Mark Lewin, “but we wanted to improve them even further by giving clients the ability to video conference with others anywhere in the world. Manx Telecom was able to offer a superb product, which has really enhanced the overall attraction of our meeting facilities.”

The Sefton Group has a large number of properties and operations throughout the Island and, while the existing telecoms setup provided a good service, it wasn’t able to provide the sort of reliability and flexibility offered by the very latest systems. Manx Telecom undertook an extensive review of the company’s needs now and in the future and recommended that their entire telecoms system be moved to one based on an IP protocol. The new system gives them a huge amount of extra capacity and reliance, effectively creating their own private minitelecoms network which can change and adapt as the company continues to grow.

The new telephony system in the executive suites, proposed improvements to WiFi and the installation of the video conferencing facility at the Sefton Hotel, plus the upgrade of the Sefton Group’s telecom systems is typical of the range of services which Manx Telecom can provide.

“On projects such as this,” says Roberta “we see ourselves as a strategic partner in our client’s business. We like to work with the management team to understand the issues they face so that, together, we can devise the best telecoms system for them. Many clients are very busy concentrating on business and can’t be expected to keep up to date with how developments in telecommunications products and services could help their business – that’s where we come into play. Clients can contact us on a no obligation basis and we will be happy to review their business needs and, if appropriate, offer them help and advice. There is usually something we can recommend which saves a client time, maximises operational flexibility, delivers better customer service, and generally helps the company gain a competitive edge."