Blackpool Council sought a way out of the “build vs. buy” dead-end after years of disruption cycling through one-size-fits-all solutions. They needed a strategy that would genuinely fit their context: integrated data, timely reporting, and reliable client invoicing—without another costly false start.

Caterlytix conducted a focused discovery programme: interviews with catering leadership, IT, and commercial heads to surface pain points and priorities across performance, admin reduction, automation, and integrations. From this, we authored a three-phase strategy and target architecture:

• Phase 1 establishes a central data warehouse with simple digital capture of sales, revenue, and expenditure—delivering immediate gains in reporting speed and cost-plus invoicing.
  
  
• Phase 2 introduces middleware to automate data flows across MIS, pre-order, payments, payroll, and finance; Microsoft Power Platform and SharePoint become the operational layer for compliance checks, workforce logs, and communications.
  
  
• Phase 3 adds advanced analytics and AI for forecasting, quality audits, and safeguarding insight—turning data into continuous operational improvement.

The programme emphasises robust data governance and a single source of truth, enabling real-time dashboards in Power BI for site performance, stock, and finance; transparent, cost-plus billing; and the ability to iterate without being locked into any single vendor. Crucially, the plan is owned by the Council, sequencing work into practical sprints that de-risk change and build internal capability.

"For the first time, we have a clear, staged plan we can actually deliver—moving reporting from months to minutes, improving invoicing accuracy, and cutting manual rekeying. Caterlytix helped us define a modern, integrated approach that fits how our service really works, not how a generic system thinks it should."

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