Overview

As workload complexity increased across the business, James Cowper Kreston outgrew spreadsheet-based resource planning. After moving from Excel to Retain, the firm gained longer-term visibility across work, staffing, and forecasting — helping teams make faster, more informed decisions around recruitment, utilisation, and project delivery. Today, Retain supports up to 12 months of forward planning visibility and has helped the firm improve utilisation by more than 5% through better visibility and faster decision-making.

Key Results

• Increased utilisation by more than 5%
• Extended planning visibility from 3–6 months to 12 months
• Faster and more informed recruitment decisions
• Improved visibility across workload and capacity
• Better forecasting and budgeting visibility
• Reduced risk when taking on new work

The Challenge

Before Retain, resource planning was managed in Microsoft Excel. As the business grew, spreadsheets became increasingly difficult to manage effectively because the volume of work, total headcount, and number of concurrent jobs simply outgrew Excel's capabilities. The business needed greater visibility across future work, staffing requirements, and budgeting to plan resources effectively. Transitioning away from Excel highlighted the necessity for a platform that could evaluate long-term resourcing, project scheduling, and revenue streams simultaneously over an extended period.

The Solution

James Cowper Kreston implemented Retain initially as an on-premise solution before later moving to Retain Cloud as part of its wider cloud strategy. Retain enabled the business to centralise resource planning while improving visibility into future demand, staffing requirements, and utilisation. The migration to the cloud platform minimized dependency on internal IT intervention and drastically reduced routine system downtime.

Today, the firm uses Retain to:

• Manage and schedule audit resources
• Forecast workload and staffing requirements
• Roll forward recurring work
• Improve visibility into future capacity
• Support recruitment planning
• Improve utilisation tracking

Increasing Utilisation Through Better Visibility

One of the biggest operational benefits for James Cowper Kreston has been the ability to improve utilisation through better visibility and faster planning decisions. The business estimates that utilisation has improved by more than 5% since adopting Retain, driven primarily by clearer visibility followed closely by accelerated decision-making. Retain gives the firm transparent insight into prospective downtime and upcoming capacity, allowing management to optimize resourcing and confirm everyone is fully utilised. Additionally, the business significantly expanded its planning horizon, shifting from a short-term three-to-six-month view to a stable 12 months of structural visibility.

Smarter Recruitment and Resourcing Decisions

Retain has also helped James Cowper Kreston make faster and more informed recruitment decisions. With continuous visibility into committed work and future resource requirements, the business can assess upcoming demand earlier and eliminate reactive, knee-jerk hiring processes. The firm can immediately evaluate whether existing team members possess the necessary capacity or if external talent must be brought in. This clarity also mitigates delivery risk, letting the business take on new engagements with absolute confidence that they can be successfully delivered, thereby protecting the firm's market reputation.

Features Supporting Day-to-Day Planning

Several Retain capabilities have become increasingly valuable over time, particularly for recurring project planning and administrative efficiency. Key features highlighted by the scheduling team include automated project roll-forwards, splitting bookings, copy-and-paste scheduling, skills tracking, and centralized resource allocation. Furthermore, the reporting capabilities provide continuous reassurance that allocations are perfectly appropriate for every project.

Moving Beyond Spreadsheets

For James Cowper Kreston, Retain has become a core operational planning platform that supports resource management, forecasting, and long-term planning. Moving away from spreadsheets has helped the firm successfully manage escalating operational complexity while granting unparalleled foresight into future workloads and staffing targets.