About CT Baker
Founded in 1770, CT Baker is a proud, family-owned retail group at the heart of Norfolk. With the
flagship Bakers & Larners of Holt department store, supermarkets across the region, and a
dedicated home hardware division, CT Baker has built a reputation for quality, service, and
community values for over 250 years (bakersandlarners.co.uk).
But behind the scenes, managing a diverse workforce across multiple divisions was becoming
increasingly complex. Paper-based systems, manual processes, and fragmented scheduling
tools were holding the business back, making it harder to deliver the seamless service
customers expect from an iconic brand.
The Challenge
With hundreds of employees working across supermarkets, a department store, and hardware outlets, CT Baker faced several operational challenges:
- Paper-based timesheets created frequent payroll errors and delays.
- Scheduling inefficiencies meant managers were spending too much time on admin instead of focusing on customers.
- Limited visibility of staff availability made it difficult to fill last-minute shifts and maintain optimal staffing levels.
- Compliance risks around working hours and overtime were difficult to monitor manually.
- Payroll challenges based on historic payroll provider processes and non-standard payroll cut-off date being mid-month and ‘forecasting’ employees hours after cut-off dates. This immediately has implications on bottom line and accurate hours worked and paid for.#
- Roll call for evacuation procedures was paramount for the welfare of employees.
For a business committed to heritage and innovation, CT Baker needed a workforce management solution that could bring together all areas of the group, ensuring efficiency while preserving their high standards of service.
The Solution
CT Baker partnered with Nextra to implement an end-to-end Time & Attendance solution across the group. The rollout included:
- Seamless digital clocking via state of the art Bio-metric face recognition devices, enabling staff to clock in and out easily and accurately.
- Automated rostering, replacing paper-based schedules with digital versions that consider staff availability, local regulations, and business needs.
- Payroll integration, ensuring timesheets feed directly into pay calculations, reducing errors and saving significant admin time.
- Smart communications, using email and SMS notifications to fill last-minute gaps and keep staff informed.
- Leave and absence management, giving managers and HR real-time visibility of availability across all divisions.
- Compliance safeguards, ensuring rosters automatically avoid breaches such as insufficient rest between shifts.
The Results
By adopting Nextra’s solution, CT Baker has:
- Reduced payroll errors by digitising timesheets and integrating them directly with payroll.
- Saved hours of admin time every week for managers across the group.
- Improved workforce visibility, with a centralised view of availability and absences.
- Enhanced staff communications, allowing last-minute cover to be filled quickly and efficiently.
- Strengthened compliance, ensuring schedules respect working time regulations automatically.
With Nextra, CT Baker has future-proofed its workforce management while staying true to its long-standing values of quality, service, and community.
