Since the opening of the first store in 1864, John Lewis plc has become the largest department store retailer in the UK with 26 shops and a growing online business. The success of this retail giant has not only been due to exceptional customer service and high quality goods but through the acute business sense of its founder, John Spedal Lewis, who was careful to create a governance system, set out in the company's Constitution, that would be both commercial - allowing the company to move quickly and maintain a leading position in a competitive industry, and democratic - giving every Partner a voice in the business they co-own. This combination of commercial acumen and corporate conscience, so ahead of its time, is what makes John Lewis the success it is today.
To retain their leading position and ensure long-term success, the management at John Lewis continuously look for new ways to improve their operations and decision making processes and to implement their Corporate Social Responsibility. So when they decided to link all of their main offices throughout the UK – including London, Bracknell, Milton Keynes, Maidenhead and even some external consultants as far afield as Edinburgh they approached Smartcomm for the integration of state-of-the-art Videoconferencing Systems.
The objective was to continue achieving the same business results through increased productivity whilst reducing unnecessary travel related costs and to achieve a measurable reduction in the organisations carbon footprint. Smartcomm’s Systems Consultant, Mark Allen, conducted an in-depth assessment of the application, the aesthetics and the infrastructure of each office and produced a specification that fulfilled all of these requirements.
Polycom’s VSX7000 Series systems with twin screen display, ISDN and IP connectivity were installed in each office – these systems are ideal for medium to large rooms of up to 40 people, come as an all-in-one solution including an embedded PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) camera, with incredibly natural imaging using the latest in video technology and standards, embedded speaker and subwoofer for superior audio performance and can be used to easily share presentations, movie files, audio clips and pictures.
In addition Smartcomm installed Visual Concert FX units to compliment the VSX7000s – these units allow a presenter to easily integrate a laptop with graphics into a video call with a single cable. The ability to project a presentation, new product design, tentative advertising campaigns or technical drawings is made simple.
John Lewis were so impressed with Smartcomm’s videoconferencing solution that when they were looking to update the training facilities in some of their stores they had no hesitation in turning to Smartcomm once again for their AV requirements.
Wherever possible, the Partnership promotes from within and has internal management training programmes designed to help them achieve this - they also have a comprehensive induction programme that assists new Partners to gain the skills and knowledge they need to perform to the best of their ability. In order to deliver the training in a manner that would encourage and motivate trainees, John Lewis wanted a versatile and intuitive solution. Smartcomm did not disappoint – delivering a SmartWall system that included integrated speakers, DVD players, projectors and a combination of projection screens, writing tablets and flip charts all on a twin track system – making interchanging quick and simple.
The John Lewis Partnership is a visionary and through its knowledge and foresight knows the importance of new technologies and the role they play in maintaining the success of a business. With this in mind Smartcomm have been contracted to fit out all new stores in the Partnerships ’10 Stores in 10 Years’ program – having already completed Bluewater, Glasgow, Southampton, Solihull, Cambridge, Liverpool and Leicester.
Forthcoming projects include SandC, Cardiff, Sprucefiled and Portsmouth.