When Geoff Rouse, Managing Director of Bettavend, decided to roll out Vendmanager, he did it the same way he approaches everything in business—with a clear plan and careful timing. The decision wasn’t rushed. First, there was a car park to finish.
Geoff explains: “Your (SBS) guys came down here to see me. Simon your MD for the technical demo, and Robin on the sales side. I liked what I saw, but I told them to come back in a year. I explained that I needed to invest in a car park first – the big trucks delivering vending machines were even ripping up the old tarmac, if they did a tight turn. So you can see what we did in the photo. It was the same machinery that they use for building a highway. It wasn’t cheap. And it was well worth it. It was the right thing to do.”
Twelve months later, Robin followed up—right on schedule—and Bettavend went live with Vendmanager. Geoff doesn’t hide his pride in the system or in the care with which he chose it.
“Am I pleased we have done it? Yes. Because the improved efficiency leads directly to improved profitability.”
Inside the Business: A Team That’s Always Learning
The next day, Geoff sat down with two key team members: Vicki, Office Manager, and Ben, Operations Manager. With a combined 36 years at Bettavend, their back-and-forth shows just how aligned they are. Their insights into how Vendmanager supports day-to-day operations make one thing clear—it’s become part of their workflow and decision-making.
Ben shares the before-and-after: “Before Vendmanager we were using an old system created for tobacco vending. It wasn’t up to the job and we found ourselves forced to do more and more of the business on nothing more sophisticated than spreadsheets.”
He adds: “In deciding to make the change, your Datakey was a clincher.” Geoff and Vicki nod in agreement.
“Datakey has removed errors, and gaps in our data. With Datakey, the benefits of accurate efficient easy meter reading are overwhelmingly valuable on their own, let alone everything else. Before Vendmanager staff kept on forgetting. Today they not only do what’s needed, they understand why.”
Data-Backed Decisions That Drive Real Change
Ben doesn’t just monitor reports—he tests and adjusts. Using Vendmanager, he’s able to challenge assumptions and prove results before rolling out changes more widely.
“I have thrown the rule book out on the layouts. And customised them to these specific sites. With Vendmanager I will then monitor improvement, whether on a busy machine or one with low usage. So, we are testing new layouts. Proving whether they improve performance. Then rolling them out at scale (if justified).”
He explains how he uses unit rate of sale as a key indicator: “Sell people what they want to buy! It’s a good strategy. And Vendmanager can help us. The best example so far? Kinder chocolate.”
“To be honest, I only took them at first to show some willing with Ferrero. So I put them in a third of machines, and evaluated performance via Vendmanager. And now? We have them everywhere.”
“They have even displaced altogether the best known bars there are on some machines – we have some machines without a single ‘old favourite’ in them. Geoff was dubious at first, I can tell you – it went against his gut instinct, and experience … but he soon got over it when the data was proven right and converted into hard coin (or increasingly nowadays, online credit as cashless grows ever more important).”
Office Insights, Route Knowledge
Vicki talks about the value of staying close to daily operations, even if it means stepping out of her regular role: “Ben and I spent the whole day yesterday out doing a route ourselves, and returned full of ideas. Ideas for further improvements.”
“My favourite question is always ‘Why ….’ although Ben claims I say ‘Why isn’t ….’ more often – because I tend to take things a step further and suggest solutions in the same breath.”
She continues: “However good our understanding of the business, even after 18 years working together, it’s always that little bit better for extra contact with reality.”
Vendmanager supports that improvement. “We aim to make operators’ lives easier. They feel it’s good for them – everyone likes it. And it’s good for the business too.”
On service: “What Vendmanager has done for our service side too is phenomenal – especially with filters and preventive maintenance.”
And on product visibility: “Nowadays for example our operators take photos of layouts on site. Then we compare them with how the machines ‘should’ be (using Vendmanager).”
But she admits: “There’s one thing I can’t forgive Vendmanager for though. Cheese and Chive Pringles. Plain Pringles are my favourite. And nowadays I have to bring my own into the office, because they have been displaced by Cheese and Chive in all our machines – on the say-so of Vendmanager. The system is right, I can see that in the better sales performance. But if I could find an override button…”
Forensics, Focus and Financial Integration
Geoff returns to his broader goals: “Did we want to save a member of staff at the outset? No. That was never our objective. But we are now doing more with the people we have.”
“Our goal is to spend our time more wisely. Not scatter gun.”
He adds: “So, we have a hit list of sites, monitoring how profitable machines/locations are. This allows us to make informed decisions about options – for example rentals.”
“Sometimes you don’t have to go to the site more often, you just have to have the right products/layout.”
Geoff’s finance background also shaped implementation: “Integration of Vendmanager with SAGE was essential.”
System Power, Day In and Day Out
Sarah, from the operations support team, explains her relationship with the platform: “The first thing I do each day? Switch Vendmanager on. The last thing I do, switch it off. I would happily sit here all day on it, using the system to help us make better decisions.”
She adds: “We will never be content – in the sense that the job is done. That’s not who we are. But we are very happy with the changes that Vendmanager has made possible for our people.”
Visibility, Efficiency, Profitability—and Customer Service
To wrap up the visit, the team took part in a simple exercise. Each was asked to rank four core benefits of Vendmanager—visibility, efficiency, profitability, and customer service—in order of importance from their own role’s perspective.
The answers varied, but it didn’t take long for them to reach a shared conclusion: the question itself is flawed.
As Sarah put it, “All the benefits are important.” The team quickly agreed that each one feeds the others. Visibility drives efficiency. Efficiency improves profitability. Profitability supports better customer service. And the cycle continues.
Instead of choosing one over another, they saw the strength in how Vendmanager connects them all. That realisation wasn’t just a nice takeaway—it sparked a quick conversation about applying that insight even more deliberately across their operations.
It’s a perfect reflection of their approach: thoughtful, data-driven, and always looking for ways to get better. Because, as Geoff says: “If a job’s worth doing…”
Fast Facts:
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Bettavend uses Vendmanager to improve visibility, cut errors, and boost profitability.
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Datakey technology eliminated meter reading mistakes and improved data trust.
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Product changes are driven by performance data—not assumptions or habit.
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Real-time insights help the team optimise everything from stock to service routes.
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