Saving 10 hours a week of HR admin - Blue Sky Leisure's results with Breathe's HR software for hospitality 

"Breathe has made a huge difference. It's simple, clear and makes managing rotas, sickness and leave so much easier. We couldn't go back to paper now."

Tracey Manning, Deputy Estates Manager, Blue Sky Leisure 

About Blue Sky Leisure

Blue Sky Leisure is the team behind Kelling Heath and Woodhill Park—two holiday parks set in beautiful Norfolk countryside. Their focus on nature, community and the guest experience drives everything they do. From estates and housekeeping to HR and operations, they’re all about creating a great place to stay—and a great place to work.

The challenge: Manual admin and shift scheduling was slowing things down 

Before fully adopting Breathe, the team relied on spreadsheets, paper forms and scattered data to manage their people. HR records were stored in Microsoft folders, rotas were done by hand, and communicating with seasonal staff – many without company emails – was tricky.    

The HR team, made up of Debbie (HR Manager) and Jude (HR Officer), found themselves constantly chasing managers for probation reviews and timesheets. Pulling reports for payroll systems took hours each month. 

“We spent all our time chasing paper rather than focusing on positive activities”.

Debbie Moore, HR Manager, Blue Sky Leisure 

Deputy Estates Manager, Tracey Manning, was feeling the pressure too. One of the biggest challenges she faced was around shift scheduling and tracking employee hours. Managing timesheets for a large seasonal workforce was a time-consuming task, with frequent changes, paper-based forms and no clear view of upcoming shifts. It made the scheduling process inefficient and left room for errors that could impact payroll and team schedules. 

Holiday and absence tracking was another constant challenge. Staff had to submit paper holiday request forms, which then needed to be cross-checked manually and sent to HR. Because employees didn't have visibility over their remaining allowances, Tracey often found herself fielding repeated questions about balances and approvals - creating extra work and frustration. 

"Everything was paper-based - rotas, holiday requests, sickness returns. It was time-consuming and open to errors. We needed a better HR and staff scheduling solution."

Tracey Manning, Deputy Estates Manager, Blue Sky Leisure

The solution: Simplifying people, time and staff scheduling

Blue Sky Leisure had already been using Breathe for basic record keeping, but it was when Debbie and Jude explored the Rota, Time and Attendance add-on that things changed. They realised that Breathe could do so much more, including timesheets and rota management, sickness tracking, holiday management, shift requests, punctuality tracking, and more.  

The Rota, Time and Attendance add-on helps the team create schedules, assign recurring shifts and track employee hours with ease. Managers can build and share team schedules in minutes, monitor time and attendance with clock-in/out tools, and handle shift swaps and sick leave with minimal faff. 

It helps the managers and HR team at Blue Sky Leisure:  

• Cut down time spent chasing shift schedules and timesheets. 
• Pull sickness, holidays, and employee breaks into one clear view. 
• Make payroll more accurate by syncing directly with employee attendance data. 
• Reduce labour costs by helping managers schedule shifts more smartly. 
• Give employees access to their team schedules and the ability to request shifts or swap shifts easily. 
• Empower staff to manage shifts from mobile devices using the Breathe employee scheduling app. 

Giving employees more control over team communication and scheduling was the true selling point for Blue Sky Leisure. 

The team loves the self-service element and that they can request holidays, view their rotas and keep personal details updated on their phones. It’s the little things - like seeing how many days of leave they’ve got left or counting down to their next holiday on the app. That extra bit of visibility has made a real difference. 

" I knew that being able to see team holidays, submit sickness reports and update rotas in one place would make my job so much easier."

Tracey Manning, Deputy Estates Manager, Blue Sky Leisure

The results: 

Since switching to Breathe and using the rota management software fully, Blue Sky Leisure has saved time, improved staff scheduling and simplified communications. 

Plus, implementing the Rota, Time and Attendance Add-On was quick and easy—there was no disruption, and the team was up and running in no time. 

“We've reduced the admin burden and can now focus on supporting the business properly. It's helped us move from reactive to proactive HR."

Debbie Moore, HR Manager, Blue Sky Leisure

The results include:

✅ HR admin hours cut from 25 to 15 per week.

✅ Reports that used to take hours now take minutes.

✅ 15 minutes saved every day just on timesheets. 

Plus: 

• Reduced time managing shift requests and open shifts using personal dashboards.
  
  
• Easier shift swaps and schedule updates with ability to make changes remotely and notify other staff.
  
  
• More accurate attendance tracking with hassle-free clocking in and out.
  
  
• Faster sickness reporting: staff can log sickness instantly from home, and managers receive updates in real time—no more scanning forms or waiting for emails.
  
  
• Higher team morale by sharing customer feedback via Kudos.
  
  
• Improved internal communications with fast digital updates via Breathe announcements. 
  
  
• Centralised access to timesheets, replacing paper and desktop solutions with a secure online system. 

“Being able to manage schedules and leave online has been a game-changer. Staff love being able to check shifts, request time off or suggest swaps themselves - it's just easier for everyone.” 

Tracey Manning, Deputy Estates Manager, Blue Sky Leisure

Ready to simplify your employee scheduling?

Try the HR software for hospitality that helped Blue Sky Leisure improve their staff scheduling and cut admin time. Start your 14-day free trial today—no faff, no strings. Just simple rota software that works.