Acorne plc...

case studies

Virgin Tribe

VIRGIN TRIBE is the employee benefit programme available to 30,000 Virgin employees in the UK.

Offering significant savings on a range of Virgin products and services and other leading brands, Virgin Tribe aims to save Virgin employees lots of money on not only every day essential spending but also through better deals for their leisure time with companies including Virgin Experience Days and Virgin Vouchers.

Lisa Equi is the Marketing Commercial Manager at Virgin Management. She says Virgin Experience Days has been a successful part of the Tribe programme, particularly over the past couple of years, when Virgin Tribe has noted a trend toward people holidaying in the UK.

“We’ve definitely noticed a recent shift towards UK holidays and an increase in the uptake of offers including Virgin Media as more people stay at home,” said Lisa.

With this in mind, Virgin Tribe recently created a campaign to appeal to people holidaying in the UK. A bespoke enewsletter promoted Virgin Experience Days alongside another popular Tribe partner www.cottages4u.co.uk.

“We looked at Virgin Experience Days activities on offer throughout the UK and matched them to popular holiday regions eg. surfing in Cornwall, flying lessons, sailing, quad biking in Wales, cookery courses, white water rafting and a host of pamper and relaxation experiences in the Cotswolds, ” said Lisa.

“We mailed all members reminding them of the discounts available with both Virgin Experience Days and www.cottages4u.co.uk and highlighting the activities nearby different cottages. This also reinforced the huge savings they can make through Virgin Tribe.

“The great thing about Virgin Experience Days is new products come on line all the time which really helps to keep communication fresh. Popular occasions including Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Halloween are key dates when we promote Virgin Experience Days and suitable experiences for people to enjoy or buy as gifts around these times.”

Brinc Ltd

Brinc Ltd manages a number of public and private sector Voluntary Employee Benefit websites dedicated to helping employees to save money.

One example, NHSDiscounts, is free to members and offers discounts and special deals to more than 300,000 members across the UK.

Brinc launched its leisure and experience section with Virgin Experience Days and Leisure Vouchers. NHS employees enjoy a 20% discount on all Virgin Experience Days gifts.

Brinc Account Manager for NHS Discounts, Jamie Fisher, said:

“Virgin Experience Days and Leisure Vouchers have soared in popularity in recent months.

“Members are taking advantage of the special discounts and promotions to enjoy activities and try out new experiences as tough economic times have seen an up turn in numbers choosing to spend leisure time in the UK.

“We chose to work with Acorne PLC as the company’s brands offer the best selection of leisure opportunities in the UK. In addition to Virgin Experience Days, Leisure Vouchers offer access to restaurants, tourist attractions and theme parks, holiday companies, and wine delivered direct to the door.

“In addition to this innovative range of leisure experience opportunities, Acorne PLC provides help behind the scenes with customer service and fulfilment, which is a huge job.”

For more information log on to www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk

P&O Ferries

Leisure Vouchers, from Acorne plc, has been entrenched in the P&O Ferries war zone since 2007, with no sign of the warring Forces retreating.

P&O Ferries boats the largest fleet of ships and comprehensive European route network, which means there’s never a dull moment at its Kent based call centre.

The call centre operates a Tribal Wars reward scheme designed to motivate staff. Telephone operating staff compete in a league table, with the monthly winning team receiving a £500 reward of Leisure Vouchers.

Staff are incentivised to earn points for bookings, cross selling upgrades etc and Leisure Voucher are also used to recognise individual achievement with on the spot rewards and bonuses. Call Centre Manager, Joe Keight, says:

"Tribal Wars is designed to celebrate team work and Leisure Vouchers are perfect for that as they can be spent at several different restaurant brands including Beefeater, Table Table, Pizza Hut and Café Rouge. We also have an annual winning team who enjoy a trip to London with lunch, taking in a few sights and a theatre performance, all courtesy of Leisure Vouchers."

"It’s a great opportunity to reward teams who enjoy the chance to socialise outside of work, to relax and they become even stronger as a team."

Personal Group

Market leaders in providing employee benefit packages, The Personal Group work with companies to create employee benefits to meet the aspirations of all staff from senior management to shop floor staff.

With a series of employee benefit communication options, both online and benefit books, Personal Group Works with leading suppliers to offer employees an unrivalled benefits portfolio.

Personal Group's Ben Lawton, responsible for managing supplier relationships, says Virgin Experience Days is a very popular choice among employees from all types of business and industry.

"We work closely with Virgin Experience Days to create employee and team rewards that represent outstanding value for money. The trusted brand name makes the experiences particularly desirable and popular."

"We track benefit programmes to ensure we continue to offer employees what they really want. This analysis reveals an amazing percentage of schemes members visiting the web site, which is good news!"