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Client Spotlight: Chichester Restaurant Group at Oakdene


We might be tooting our own horn here, but Microkeeper truly streamlines businesses, making the life of line managers, financial professionals and business owners easier in the process. 

As much as that’s a big claim, the proof is in the pudding. And that’s exactly why we headed to Oakdene Vineyards - to hear directly from our clients at the Chichester Restaurant Group.

Marty, Director: “Problems solved without us spending hours trying to get a hold of people” 


A seasoned chef and restaurateur with over 30 years of hospitality industry experience across the globe, Marty Chichester has seen it all. 

Since 2004, Marty served as Oakdene Vineyards' chief chef and from 2014 he became proprietor of both restaurants at Oakdene Vineyard, it’s Manor Suite Wine Bar and a third restaurant on the Bellarine Peninsula.

The biggest difference between life before and since using Microkeeper? Marty doesn’t have to think about that very long. “The time it saves me.”

“Before Microkeeper, the only way to know anything from our staff was having a conversation,” he says. “With Microkeeper, every employee has access to all their information and I’ve got access to all their requests.”

Which is especially powerful during rostering. “When I bring up the roster, Microkeeper tells me who is available and who’s not. Staff can tell me they want to work certain shifts, and if I have to add staff because the booking system shows we’ve had an unexpected number of extra bookings, I can put the call out on Microkeeper.”

“It’s really powerful and it solves these problems without us spending 30 or 45 minutes on the phone, trying to get a hold of people.” 

Robyn, GM and Payroll Officer : “Quick, efficient and ideal for multiple cost centres” 

For General Manager Robyn, running payroll for multiple locations and cost centres meant payroll used to take at least half a day before Microkeeper came along. 

“We just couldn’t manage things anymore with the old system, these days with Microkeeper we handle payroll in an hour.”

“I feel it’s been so easy to use, payroll is just much more efficient now, and with Microkeeper I can split out the cost of wages into its various departments which allowed us to understand the cost of our payroll much more effectively.”

The benefit of using the same system for entering new employees, clocking hours and running payroll means there’s now one single source of truth when it comes to employee administration too. 

“We use it for all employees, they can be easily added in the system, update their information, clock on and off and check their payslip - all in one place. It’s a great timesaver.”

Sarah, Operations Manager: “It's really, really fast”

Sarah is Operations Manager at Chichester Restaurants and when asked about Miicrokeeper, one word comes to mind for her too: “It’s fast”.

“I mainly use Microkeeper for rostering and approving timesheets at the end of the week. For me it’s been super easy to deal with.” Sarah says.

Approving timesheets used to be a paper-based task when Sarah started, but with Microkeeper things can run on computers, tablets or via the Microkeeper phone app - meaning that Sarah can approve timesheets anywhere she is.

“The other benefit for me, is that, with rostering and timesheets in one place I can see the overlap. That means when approving timesheets I can tell when staff was rostered on and the timesheet that was entered, or not entered, in one screen. Approving is easy that way, and if there’s a timesheet missing I can manually add it really, really fast.”

Microkeeper will also automatically tally up all hours worked, and it can even be set up to automatically approve timesheets if they match up with the rostered shifts, making Sarah’s job a lot easier.

The future of payroll

For Marty and the team at Chichester Restaurants, moving away from their old-fashioned ways meant creating more time to carry on the continued success at Oakdene and expanding the loyal following they have accumulated over the years.

The use of Microkeeper's integrated solution not only improved data accuracy and allowed a more seamless workflow, it also eliminated the barriers of paperwork, so staff can now work more efficiently and collaboratively from any location.

If you would like to chat about how we can help your business grow, grab a timeslot with one of our team members via this link or the form below (just keep scrolling!). We'll listen to your specific needs and offer a solution that works for you.

All this talk about restaurants make you hungry? Click here to book a table at one of Marty’s restaurants and discover the taste of the Bellarine Peninsula.




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