In the Spotlight — Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club

Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club is a Members Golf Club, run by the Members for the Members meaning it is a not-for profit organisation. The Club has hosted many prestigious championships over the years including the Open Championship on eleven occasions, the Ryder Cup twice, the Women’s British Open four times and the Senior Open Championship on four occasions. The Club is regarded as one of the most prestigious in the World and is regularly included in top 100 listings of Golf Clubs in the UK and the World. Traditions are extremely important to the Club however it is also necessary to provide a modern experience especially when providing payment options for annual subscriptions.

Charles told me his experience on getting the whole process set up, “Setting up and adopting a new system which involves change can be daunting and difficult. Interbacs staff have been of great assistance throughout the process from the initial stages of gaining the SUN to liaising (willingly) with the Club’s Membership System provider to ensure both systems would work efficiently to streamline the Club’s office administrative tasks. Of particular benefit was the bespoke design of the sign up process via a web portal which was well designed and easy to use which helped the Club achieve a greater number of direct debit users than initially forecasted”

“All Members of staff have been a pleasure to work with; friendly, attentive, patient and knowledgeable and have made what was initially a daunting process relatively straight forward and enjoyable.”

Our Bacs Approved Bureau Services are designed for those companies who already have a SUN (Service User Number) assigned. Similar to the Facilities Management (FM) service, Interbacs will process on your company’s behalf taking away the administrative tasks therefore saving your time and cost, the advantage of the Bureau operation is that payments shall be cleared directly into your account.

“Interbacs have delivered exactly what they said they could and would deliver at the initial meeting. The service provided has exceeded my expectations!”

With many golf clubs still using standing orders and cash as a means of membership payments I was keen to find out what encouraged Charles to take up the Direct Debit scheme, “Interbacs came highly recommended when I was looking in the marketplace. I spoke to a respected colleague at a neighbouring golf club who spoke very highly of the service provided to the Club he was managing. This was enough for me to establish a first meeting and ultimately I and the Club Council were impressed with the service options available and the professionalism of the Interbacs employees.”

“The Bureau Service has been well received by staff and Members. The sign up to the Direct Debit has been more encouraging than initially forecasted. We had thought that this would affect the cash flow of the Club however this is not to the degree first feared. I feel that sign up to the Direct Debit scheme has been higher than predicted as the Members see it as a Club run scheme with subscription being paid to the Club Account. The Members do not see the outsourcing element which saves the office staff time and therefore money.”

Finally, I asked Charles if he would recommend Interbacs to other clubs, “Yes, wholeheartedly. Interbacs have delivered exactly what they said they could and would deliver at the initial meeting. There has been no broken promises along the way just a mutually beneficial business relationship which I hope will continue to develop over time. The service provided has exceeded my expectations.”

Interbacs are very pleased to be able to offer our Bureau service to Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club and support their Bacs and Direct Debit payment management requirements.

For more information on our Golf club services, contact us via sales@interbacs.com or call us on 08444 127 180.