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Keyless access control system

Foyles is a renowned, award-wining independent bookstore, founded in 1903 by brothers William and Gilbert Foyle. There are six stores in the UK, as well as a website for online shopping and eBooks. Foyles acquired its new premises in 2012; the building was previously the historic home of Central St. Martin’s College of Art. They have spent the last two years sympathetically modernising the London store whilst maintaining the integrity of the site.

Foyles wanted a keyless security solution that would grow with the store and provide greater flexibility securing stock. Siôn Hamilton, retail operations director, says: “I was looking for a streamlined solution, at our previous site I had so many keys I felt like a jailer. We wanted a system that provided more flexibility and controlled the movement of staff.”

Paxton solution

Foyles chose installation company Lantec, CCTV, access control and intruder alarm specialists based in Reading. Steve Lane the managing director at Lantec was responsible for the installation, Lane says, “Foyles wanted an open platform that it could use to manage and monitor staff, secure stock rooms and complement its fire evacuation drill, so Net2 from Paxton suited it perfectly.”

Net2 is a user-friendly and flexible networked access control system, designed to make the management of any building straightforward. Easy to use and with a range of features, it moves beyond the basics of controlling the flow of people around a building, offering benefits such as building control and system integration. The Net2 system is easily scalable making it perfectly suited to a growing business like Foyles in a new retail unit that will potentially require further expansion.

Net2 can also be integrated with Net2 Entry, Paxton’s simple door entry solution. Lane installed Net2 Entry on the entrance to the directors’ and managers’ offices with three handset monitors in strategic locations to allow access.

A key requirement while renovating the building was that its new modern interior was carefully designed to remain sympathetic. Jannette Cross, store general manager, says, “The Paxton readers have fitted in perfectly, they are modern and attractive, but discreet.”

The store is currently running on the latest version of the Net2 software, with features such as temporary access permissions for staff visiting from other sites. Cross says, “It took Lantec just 30 minutes to teach us how to use Net2 and administer tokens with basic access permissions, after which we felt confident doing it ourselves. We have a lot of staff with varying levels of access permissions; I found it really simple, as the system is so intuitive.”

Foyles in partnership with Lantec have plans to expand the system by adding the shop lifts to Net2, to control access to certain floors. Cross says, “We want to be able to use the auditorium when the shop is closed for other events. This would mean that the lift wouldn’t stop on certain floors. We are still discovering the possibilities of Net2, there have been so many benefits. I know exactly who has what access and generally I feel safer.”

Statistics

Type of site: Retail and historic site

Location:

London, UK

Number of users/doors:

* 231 users

* 35 doors

Solution required:

* Keyless system

* Secure stock

* Varying access rights

* Discreet, attractive readers

Result:

* Temporary access permissions

* Scalable solution as the company grows

* Customer confidence using Net2

Paxton products used:

* Net2 plus controllers

* Net2 software

• P50 readers

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