Bensons for Beds delivers exceptional IT service with Freshservice

A good night's sleep is worth the effort. Laurence Hendy has been helping customers with this since his days as a mattress salesman. Now, as Head of Applications and service delivery at Bensons for Beds, he's broadened his focus across the entire business. With a passion for technology that developed during his 21-year journey with the company, Laurence transformed from a retail floor salesperson to an IT leader, bringing modern service practices to a traditional retail environment.

When Bensons needed a solution to implement ITIL practices with a small IT team over a decade ago, Laurence chose Freshservice for its intuitive interface and cost-effectiveness. What began as a simple ticketing solution has grown into an essential company-wide platform, with Freshservice now supporting HR, finance, distribution, and more.

"We have had a positive experience using Freshservice for more than a decade," says Laurence. "It has been instrumental in streamlining our operations not only within the IT department but also across various business functions such as Marketing, Finance, and HR."

The Workspaces functionality in Freshservice has proven especially valuable, allowing different departments to customize their service experience while maintaining a unified approach. Supported by the Freshworks Neo Platform and powered by AWS, Freshservice provides the stability and scalability Bensons needs as they continue to grow their retail footprint from 160 to over 180 stores across the UK.

"What I love about Freshworks is that it's easy to set up,” says Laurence. “The settings are so easy and intuitive to do yourself.” This self-service approach has empowered his team to continually improve their service delivery without relying on costly external consultants, creating a foundation for exceptional internal service that supports Bensons' retail excellence.

The company

Bensons for Beds is a leading UK-based manufacturer and retailer of beds, mattresses, and other sleep accessories. The company has been in business for more than 70 years and has 160 stores across the United Kingdom, with plans to expand to over 180 locations. In addition to retail operations, Bensons owns several manufacturing facilities that produce approximately 60-70% of the products sold in their stores, including well-known bed brands. The company also operates Eve Sleep, a pure-play mattress website acquired a few years ago.

The challenge

Back in 2013, Bensons for Beds faced a common challenge for growing mid-market retailers. With a small IT team of just five people supporting the entire business, they needed to implement structured ITIL practices without the enterprise-level resources typically required for such initiatives.

"We weren't doing anything with ITIL at the time, and I got very much into it," recalls Laurence. "We tried to find a tool that we could use as an ITSM tool. We looked at ServiceNow, but that was ridiculously expensive—probably still is—and prohibitively expensive to implement."

The team needed a solution that would allow them to start with basic ticketing while providing room to grow as their ITIL practices matured. They also wanted something they could implement themselves without extensive professional services or specialized consultants, given their lean team and budget considerations.

As a retailer with both brick-and-mortar and manufacturing operations, Bensons faced complex service needs across multiple locations and departments. Any solution would need to accommodate users with varying technical abilities and different service requirements, from store operations to manufacturing floors.

The solution

Laurence chose Freshservice for its affordability, intuitive interface, and DIY-friendly configuration. "This fits where we were because we weren't quite IT mature in the ITIL space, and we just wanted to do basic tickets," he explains.

What began as a solution for the IT department quickly proved its value. Within five years, Bensons had rolled out Freshservice across the entire business. "We don't just use it in IT," says Laurence. "HR uses it as a ticket system, as do finance, our warehouses, and distribution network. Everyone uses Freshservice."

The addition of Freddy AI has further enhanced the team's capabilities. "QQ Freddy AI integrated into Freshservice offers several key advantages, including enhanced response quality, quicker issue resolution, and boosted productivity," says Application Support Analyst Blake O'Neill. "Since implementing Freddy, we've significantly reduced our average response and resolution times."

Workspaces has also allowed Bensons to create customized experiences for different departments. IT power users get the full range of ITSM capabilities, while other departments access a streamlined interface focused on their specific needs. This approach has helped drive adoption across the company while controlling costs.

IT Support Specialist Sameer Ali also notes that this approach has created "centralized information" that "improved visibility and transparency" while enhancing "coordination among geographically distributed, cross-functional teams."

As Bensons has grown its business, Freshservice—built on the Freshworks Neo Platform and powered by AWS—has scaled alongside them, providing stability for their expanding operations. The intuitive interface has been particularly valuable, allowing Laurence's team to manage the platform largely on their own. "When we took on Freshservice, we did it ourselves,” says Laurence. “We just set it up because my team are geeks. We love Freshservice, so we go in and play with the settings all the time."

This self-service approach extends to Freshworks' support model as well. "The support in Freshworks is great," enthuses Laurence. "They're just on it. If they can't answer it, they'll jump on a video call so you can show them how to do it. Whereas a lot of other suppliers, it's a game of them closing the ticket as soon as they can because they're based on SLAs of closing tickets, not helping the customer."

Impact

Freshservice has become a core operational platform for Bensons, enabling the company to maintain service quality through significant business transitions. From an initial IT team of five staff members to approximately 30 today, the platform has scaled to support the company's evolving needs—including during challenging periods like post-COVID administration and their current expansion to 180+ stores.