Making the most of facilities

Charlie Gothold, co-founder/director of SchoolHire, explains how schools can increase revenue whilst making efficiency savings through advertising their facilities online

SchoolHire, established in 2015, allows schools to manage facility hire in-house, in a much more effective and efficient way.  Many schools have excellent facilities which they are happy to rent out to community groups and the general public.  However, unless you know the school well, you may not know that these facilities exist, let alone that they are available for hire, and it is often hard to liaise with the person dealing with lettings who is usually juggling numerous other responsibilities.

This was the problem I faced a few years ago when managing an amateur football team.  I wanted to find an artificial pitch for us to play their league games on, as well as a sports hall for midweek training, but it proved extremely difficult to find and then book these facilities. Why should booking school facilities be so painful?  It should be a frictionless process, the same way one would book a cinema ticket or a flight.

This experience led me to co-found SchoolHire – and we are now the market-leading school lettings booking platform; our system is now being used to manage lettings at over 550 schools nationally.

Our system allows customers to view information about your facilities – such as pricing, opening hours and features – as well as being able to view live availability. Customers send through booking requests directly to you (including block bookings); they upload the required documentation; answer any questions you set and then agree to the school’s terms and conditions/policies. You can then accept, reject or modify the booking; this is key, as it means that you still retain control as to who is using your facilities. On acceptance, an invoice is generated, and payment is taken automatically.

All further fund flows, such as refunds, are done through the system at the click of a button.  At the end of the month, we send through one lump sum payment, along with a monthly remittance report which includes a report for your finance team to input into their financial package.

We would be very happy to arrange a bespoke demo to show you how SchoolHire can transform the way lettings are managed at your school.

Benefits of SchoolHire…

• This bespoke lettings website is provided free of charge, offering greater online visibility.
• Live facility availability negates the requirement for constant back-and-forth between venues and their customers.
• Payments are received securely online in advance. No more chasing bad debts.
• Any required cancellations or amendments are processed through the system.  Refunds and revised invoices are generated automatically.
• Simplifying the process has been proven to increase utility and generate more revenue.
• A large range of financial and operational reports are accessible, offering greater insight and visibility.

Feedback from our schools…

• 90% say that SchoolHire has increased lettings revenue.
• 95% say that SchoolHire provides excellent customer service.
• 97% say that SchoolHire has streamlined their lettings process.
• 99% say that they would be happy to recommend SchoolHire.

To find out more about how you can improve and streamline your lettings process, come and chat to SchoolHire at EdExec LIVE SOUTH in London on 9^th June 2022 or NORTH in Manchester on 6^th October 2022.  Book your tickets here!

To register your interest for free or discounted tickets email [email protected] quoting the subject line ‘I want to learn more at EdExec Live!’