When Guy Fitzgerald started Country lanes Cycle Centre 23 years ago, he couldn’t have foreseen the future. However, now he has an incredibly successful rental business and has doubled turnover since integrating Booqable as his management platform and online store.
Windermere is among the most beautiful areas of the Lake District, and it can be experienced in many ways. You can walk around, boat across the lake and, of course, cycle. The last method has become increasingly popular in recent years, so it’s no wonder Guy has found huge success renting bikes in the area.
Country Lanes Cycle Centre
Guy Fitzgerald founded Country Lanes Cycle Centre in 1998 at Windermere railway station. When he started, he had just 20 bikes, but the convenience of being able to hop off the train and straight onto a bike to continue your journey was an appealing prospect. However, this was only the beginning.
Over the years, he managed to grow his business alongside others in the area and technological advancements. During this journey, a solar power building was installed near the train station. This allowed Guy to expand his offering from not only mountain and road bikes. In addition, he could now stock a range of e-bikes that have gained a lot of popularity.
Now, Guy has over 80 bikes available from his rental store, which is still located at the iconic Windermere railway station. He enjoys year-round customers as people flock to the area no matter what the weather is. Recent developments have also led to an increased number of people vacationing in the UK, further expanding his customer base.
Breaking a habit
Of course, no success comes without hard work and adapting to the world as it constantly changes. For example, Guy would take bookings and payments over the phone for a long time and keep track of his stock and orders in a spreadsheet. Anyone who has tried to maintain mass amounts of rentals in spreadsheets knows that this never turns out well.
Despite this, Guy managed his business for almost 20 years and managed to grow through the pains. However, he knew it was time for a change and started looking at better ways to manage his operations. He began his search for software that could help him keep on top of his inventory and bookings and provide an online store.
Streamlining operations
During his search, Guy came across Booqable. He saw that it was intuitive to use both from a management and customer perspective. Being able to take, track and fulfill reservations within one system transformed Country Lane Cycle Centre. Guy has lost count of how much time he has saved because he no longer has to take bookings and payments over the phone.
For his online store, Guy decided to integrate the Booqable product list into his website. This means that all his products can be viewed on one page and customers can click on them for a pop-up window with more information. The result is customers having a complete overview of what’s on offer, so they can make a quick and easy choice before booking.
Online bookings have also been incredibly popular with his customers leading to his turnover doubling since implementing Booqable. Guy credits this to customers being able to book their bikes day and night instead of sticking to business hours. In addition, he says they find the booking experience “intuitive and fast.”
