John Sheppard is a traditional butcher with a forward-thinking mindset. By switching to an IP solution with BT Business, they’re ready for the digital future.
John Sheppard is a traditional butcher with a forward-thinking mindset. By switching to an IP solution with BT Business, they’re ready for the digital future.
When you’re the largest catering butcher in the South West of England, not only do your meat products have to be a cut above the rest, but so does your service.
By moving to an IP solution, John Sheppard Butchers can confidently deliver the high-quality service its customers expect, without having to worry about networks and connectivity slowing them down.
John Sheppard is a third-generation family-owned business that’s been in the butchery trade for over 85 years. In the early days, the Sheppard family ran high-street butchers throughout the Bristol area. Now, not only do they deliver meat products to the general public, but to hotels, schools, universities, restaurants, and events nationwide.
Technology has profoundly changed since the business began back in 1936 when orders were sent out via a single delivery bike. Today, the team processes around 400-500 orders a day – 60% through its online ordering portal, and the rest over the telephone. For John Sheppard, reliable and fast connectivity is critical.
John Sheppard has grown significantly over the years. So when their previous analogue-based telephone service, supplied by another provider, went down for six weeks, there were serious repercussions.
Not only did they potentially miss out on tens of thousands of orders, placing huge financial pressure on the business, but they also ran the risk of losing some of their loyal customer base. And when you’re a family-owned company, loyalty is everything.
After the massive outage, the business simply couldn’t afford for this to happen again. With parts of the UK landline network already being turned off, and the deadline to move to an IP solution by 2027 fast approaching, the management team saw this as a perfect opportunity for John Sheppard to future-proof its communications.
Service availability is everything to keep your business running, and your customers satisfied, so John Sheppard needed a trusted provider they could count on. And that’s why, with the biggest network in the UK, covering 99% of premises and offering 99.999% service reliability, they reached out to us to switch their communications to our digital network – that’s faster, more efficient and above all, reliable. It’s what businesses like John Sheppard need to be flexible today, and agile in the years to come.
Our analogue-based telephone system went down for six weeks, and we struggled to get back up and running fast enough. That motivated us to engage with BT and upgrade our technology.
John Sheppard works in a just-in-time environment, which means speed and reliability are critical for processing and delivering orders for their customers. After discussing their business requirements and future plans, we came up with a bespoke solution. BTnet, the UK’s no.1 dedicated leased line, would provide the foundations to implement BT Cloud Work, a cloud-based voice communications platform, provided by RingCentral.
We have a proven track record of 99.999% uptime across BT Cloud Work and our core network, giving John Sheppard the speed and reliability they needed. Plus, Cloud Work over BTnet prioritises voice traffic for guaranteed call quality and availability.
By taking both products, John Sheppard were not only able to reduce costs, but realise the benefits of an IP solution, like rapid connection speeds, rich collaboration features, and greater reliability, well before the PSTN switch-off.
And with BT’s market-leading 100% target service level availability, John Sheppard has peace of mind that their leased line connection will be up and running at all times, with no outages.
Taking orders for deliveries is the driving force of John Sheppard’s business. Around half of their orders are made by telephone and the other half made via the internet and online ordering portals. As the sales team handles a lot of calls, Cloud Work allows them to make and take calls through a single platform on any device, speeding up response times and making it easier for customers to get in touch.
Cloud Work offers a number of powerful call-handling features too, including Auto Receptionist, where incoming calls are answered automatically with a professional or custom recording. Another great feature is call recording, which allows John Sheppard to double check the accuracy of its telephone orders.
One of the main benefits of moving to an IP solution is the ability to record calls. It really helps us with training and with the accuracy of orders.
BT Cloud Work and BTnet have transformed John Sheppard’s day-to-day operations, freeing their business from previous restrictions and streamlining their communications, with apps, tools and software that enhance the way its employees work.
By combining their communication and collaboration tools, they’ll never miss a customer call again. And with everything in the cloud, the team can access customer information at any time.
Cloud Work Analytics is also helping them identify trends and forecast online shopping volumes before peak periods, like Christmas, thanks to its real-time usage statistics.
John Sheppard has ambitious plans for the future, but wants to stay true to its roots as a family business. Cloud Work will allow them to easily scale as their business evolves. Allowing them to add new lines and workers, in minutes. And if they do decide to move premises or expand to new locations, they can keep the same number for life, allowing them to keep a local presence. Plus, they’ll also get the latest updates without having to replace hardware, future-proofing John Sheppard for generations to come.
They may be a traditional company, but thanks to the family’s forward-thinking approach to business, John Sheppard is now one step ahead of its competitors. By making the move to an IP solution early, not only have they boosted their network performance, but they can continue to go about their day-to-day business safe in the knowledge that everything will continue to run smoothly when the switch-off happens, avoiding any potential disruptions.
Thanks to the success of Cloud Work and BTnet, the business is also looking to upgrade their mobile fleet, along with signal boosters to ensure there are no connectivity issues onsite.
Giving their teams the tools they need to embrace the digital future with confidence.
We’re already seeing the benefits of moving to an IP solution, like faster connectivity, and greater reliability. And by communicating and collaborating on one platform, we don’t have to worry about missing customer calls.
We’re currently helping thousands of UK businesses of all sizes secure their digital future by moving to an IP solution. Discover more about moving to a fully digital solution and future-proofing your business.
We’re currently helping thousands of UK businesses of all sizes secure their digital future by moving to an IP solution. Discover more about moving to a fully digital solution and future-proofing your business.
We’re currently helping thousands of UK businesses of all sizes secure their digital future by moving to an IP solution. Discover more about moving to a fully digital solution and future-proofing your business.
We’re currently helping thousands of UK businesses of all sizes secure their digital future by moving to an IP solution. Discover more about moving to a fully digital solution and future-proofing your business.
