About
The Royal Albert Hall is the world’s most famous stage. For 154 years, it has played host to legendary artists, from Giuseppe Verdi to Beyoncé.
The Challenge
With a high volume of time-sensitive activity supporting live events, ticketing systems, regulated environments, and staff onboarding, IT plays a central role in keeping the Royal Albert Hall operating day to day. Requests need to be handled quickly and accurately to avoid knock-on effects elsewhere in the organisation.
The team was using Spiceworks to manage requests, but it operated primarily as a shared queue rather than a structured intake process. Because requests came in through legacy channels like email, phone, and walk-ups, the tools lacked the ability to enforce consistent categorisation or mandate necessary details upfront. This meant the team had to spend valuable time manually triaging and tracking down missing information before work could begin.
Several key processes were also restricted by physical formats. New starter requests were paper-based and approvals required physical signatures. Because these processes relied on manual routing, IT could be delayed for days simply waiting for a physical sign-off, or forced into unavoidable back-and-forth conversations to gather complete information.
Unstructured requests extended beyond IT. System change requests from other teams were typically sent as emails—a format that inherently lacks the structure to capture critical details consistently. At the same time, the legacy setup offered no systematic way to measure service performance or user experience over time.
To address this, the Royal Albert Hall needed a platform that brought structure to how requests were captured, removed the bottlenecks of manual processes, and made it possible to measure service performance over time.
"Our previous system, Spiceworks, relied heavily on a basic shared queue and lacked automated routing capabilities. Because the tool couldn't support structured assignment workflows, our entire team—right up to the Head of IT—had to take an 'all-hands-on-deck' approach to manually pull tickets. While this high level of teamwork ensured we always got the job done, the platform's limitations ultimately kept us in a reactive state rather than allowing us to strategically manage the workload.”
– Spencer Trim-West, Service Desk Manager
The Solution
The focus was to introduce structure to how requests were raised and handled, while keeping the process straightforward for staff. A central portal was introduced to guide users to the right request type and capture the required information upfront, reducing reliance on emails, phone calls, and walk-ups as the primary entry point.
Manual processes were redesigned. New starter requests were moved from paper forms to structured digital submissions, with approval workflows built in. Requests could be routed automatically to the appropriate approver and progressed without IT needing to manually intervene, allowing work to begin as soon as approval was given.
Automation was used to reduce repetitive handling and improve consistency. Incoming emails were categorised automatically, and notifications for specific requirements were standardised so the right teams were informed every time.
As this approach proved effective, it was extended beyond IT to support other operational teams. For a live venue, this was particularly important for box office systems, where unstructured requests could directly affect ticketing and event operations. The box office function adopted structured request forms for common system related tasks, replacing ad-hoc emails with defined intake that captured the detail needed to act. Service feedback and reporting were also embedded into day-to-day operations, making it possible to understand experience and demand as part of running the service.
“It just takes away that workload for us. Once it’s set up, the approvals and notifications happen automatically, so we don’t even have to intervene”
– Spencer Trim-West, Service Desk Manager
The Results
These changes resulted in more consistent request handling, improved visibility, and measurable service performance.
- Service performance became visible and measurable, with quarterly reporting showing an average response time of 79 minutes and an average resolution time of 4 hours 20 minutes over the last three months.
- Customer satisfaction remained consistently high, with 97% of feedback rated “Excellent” in Q4 2025, supported by surveys sent on every ticket-related email.
- First-contact resolution reached 89%, reflecting the impact of structured request forms that capture the right information upfront and reduce unnecessary follow-up.
- Manual delays were removed from key operational processes, including new starter onboarding, where paper forms and physical signatures were replaced with automated approvals — allowing IT to begin setup work immediately once approval is given, in some cases within an hour.
- Structured request handling extended beyond IT into core operational teams, including the box office function, replacing unstructured emails with defined request forms and improving the quality and consistency of information submitted.
"Because we can see the data now, we can actually plan ahead instead of just reacting.”
– Spencer Trim-West, Service Desk Manager
With this foundation in place, the team is able to plan for upcoming changes and bring the same structured approach to other functions.