2009+
Began working within NHS workforce systems, workforce planning, reporting and operational management, developing experience in large-scale workforce processes, automation and operational technology.
Why we built Planellio
Why We Built Planellio From Real Event Industry Experience
Planellio was not created by a software company looking for a market. It was created because a real event business outgrew the limits of spreadsheets, manual workarounds and traditional booking CRM software, and needed a better operational system for selling, staffing and delivering events.
From Cramer Events and BoothBook growth challenges to NHS workforce systems, Mandatrax, security deposits, rostering and automation
Timeline
A quick timeline of why Planellio exists
Before visitors read the full story, this makes the journey clear. Planellio comes from long-term operational experience, not a generic software trend.
2010+
Alongside NHS roles, began providing mobile DJ entertainment and event services, building practical experience in bookings, client management, venue relationships and live event delivery.
2016 - 2019
Worked for a major workforce management software provider supporting public sector organisations, gaining insight into software implementation, workforce planning, rostering, integrations, reporting and how large organisations use technology to manage complex operational challenges.
2018
Cramer Events Ltd was incorporated, creating a dedicated business focused on professional event entertainment, DJs, dancefloors and venue partnerships.
2019
Expanded into photo booths and experiential event services, introducing new operational challenges around inventory management, staffing, logistics, client communication and asset protection.
2024
Development of Mandatrax began, focusing on workforce data automation, system integrations and reducing manual administration across NHS workforce systems through better data quality and workflow design.
2025
Experience gained through both Mandatrax and Cramer Events highlighted an opportunity to bring together event operations, workforce planning, automation, reporting and business management into a single platform, and development of Planellio began.
2026
Following successful implementation within a live event business, Planellio fully replaced previous systems, with venue portals, staff portals, rostering, automation workflows, security deposit pre-authorisations, asset protection and operational reporting becoming core elements of the platform.
Where it started
Planellio began with a real event business, not a theoretical market gap
Planellio started because a growing event business needed a better way to manage the real work of selling and delivering events. Like many companies in the events industry, the early setup relied on spreadsheets, emails, calendars and manual processes. That worked for a while, but growth made it harder to keep everything under control.
Enquiries were coming through multiple channels. Paperwork was being handled in different places. Operational details were often spread across several systems. This is a very common stage for event businesses, especially when growth happens across multiple services rather than one simple offering.
BoothBook helped solve many of those early problems. It introduced structure around bookings, enquiries and client communication and was a meaningful improvement over the manual setup that came before it. For a period of time, it was exactly what the business needed.
The early platform story
- Cramer Events was growing across multiple event sectors
- BoothBook improved structure and booking control
- Manual processes were reduced, but not removed fully
- New growth brought new operational needs
The turning point
Growth exposed the difference between a booking CRM and an event operations platform
The challenge was never that BoothBook was a bad platform. The challenge was that the business grew into requirements that sat outside what a traditional booking CRM was designed to handle. The more the operation expanded across DJs, photo booths, selfie mirrors, 360 video booths, audio guestbooks, dancefloors, venue partnerships, brand activations and multi-staff event delivery, the clearer those gaps became.
Venue relationships became more important, yet there was no dedicated venue portal for venue teams to access information, create bookings or collaborate directly through the platform. Staff management became more complex as more contractors and team members joined the business, creating a need for staff portals, availability workflows, job assignment visibility and clearer schedule management.
Operational workflows also became harder to manage. Winning a booking is only the start of the process. After confirmation, the real work begins: staff assignments, asset allocation, venue coordination, event preparation, internal handovers and task management. Those are event operations problems, not just booking problems.
What was missing
The specific challenges that pushed Planellio into existence
The missing functionality was not hypothetical. It came from real pain points that kept appearing as the event business grew.
Venue relationships
The business needed a dedicated venue portal where venue teams could access information, create bookings, manage relationships and collaborate more directly.
Staff management
More staff and contractors meant the business needed staff portals, job visibility, availability submissions, updates and schedule control.
Operational workflows
Bookings needed to connect to staff assignments, asset allocation, handovers and preparation workflows rather than stop at confirmation.
Asset protection
Growing inventory created a need for asset availability control, equipment dependencies, operational conflict reduction and security deposit logic.
Automation
Reminders, status updates, information collection and operational coordination were still taking too much manual effort.
Reporting
The business needed deeper answers around profitability, venues, lead sources, deferred revenue, asset usage, staff workload and operational effort.
More than events
NHS workforce systems experience shaped the platform just as much as event industry experience
Cramer Events gave first-hand event industry experience, but it was not the only influence behind Planellio. Alongside that event background came years of work in large and complex NHS environments, including senior roles responsible for workforce systems, workforce planning, rostering, reporting, automation and systems integration.
Those environments deal with thousands of employees, hundreds of daily activities and vast amounts of operational data. Success depends on reliable systems, scalable workflows and processes that reduce unnecessary administration rather than add to it. That experience fundamentally changed the way the platform was designed.
Many event software tools focus mainly on the booking itself. NHS workforce systems teach a different lesson: the booking, appointment or job is only one part of a larger operational process. Staffing, scheduling, reporting, automation and system integration are what make the wider machine work. The same principle applies to growing event businesses.
Why this matters
- Rostering principles translate directly into staff scheduling software
- Automation experience improves event workflow software design
- Systems integration experience supports cleaner platform thinking
- Large-scale reporting experience creates stronger business visibility
Security deposits
Asset protection and security deposits were real operational problems, not feature ideas
One recurring challenge in the event industry was protecting valuable equipment. Photo booths, selfie mirrors, audio guestbooks, dancefloors, lighting and specialist event assets all represent significant investment. Security deposits were often required, but they were usually handled through separate systems, manual administration and fragmented processes.
From Manual Security Deposits To Automated Protection
Before Planellio, security deposits were often managed using separate third-party applications and manual administration. Team members needed to remember when deposits should be authorised, captured or released, which created extra admin and introduced unnecessary risk.
Planellio transformed that process by integrating security deposit pre-authorisation directly into the booking workflow. Through the automation engine, deposits can be automatically authorised before an event, held during the booking lifecycle and then released or captured based on configurable business rules.
This is what makes the feature more than a payment tool. It is a genuine business process improvement that helps protect valuable assets, reduces manual follow-up and creates a smoother customer experience at the same time.
Lessons from delivery
What We Learned Running Thousands Of Real Events
Planellio was not shaped by theory alone. It was shaped by the repeated realities of delivering real bookings, managing expectations, protecting equipment and keeping teams aligned under pressure. Those lessons are why the platform now connects sales, operations and delivery instead of treating them as separate problems.
Every event business eventually discovers that winning the booking is only one part of the challenge. The harder work often happens in the days and weeks around the event itself, when communication, logistics, timing and accountability all need to work together without constant manual chasing.
That is why Planellio was designed to support the full operating picture: client communication, venue coordination, staff handovers, asset visibility, deposits, balances, automation and reporting. The platform reflects what actually causes stress in event businesses, not just what looks good on a feature list.
Operational lessons that shaped Planellio
- Venue relationships matter because trusted venues influence repeat work, smoother delivery and stronger supplier positioning
- Equipment logistics matter because availability, transport, setup and dependencies can all affect the success of an event
- Last-minute changes matter because timings, access, staffing and customer requirements rarely stay static
- Staff coordination matters because contractors and team members need clear assignments, visibility and handovers
- Client communication matters because forms, updates, requests and reminders shape the customer experience
- Asset protection matters because specialist equipment is expensive and needs proper booking controls and security deposits
- Deposits and balances matter because cash flow, payment timing and financial protection are part of daily operations
Rostering and automation
Workforce planning and rostering principles directly influenced Planellio
In healthcare, the right people have to be in the right place at the right time with the right skills. The same operational reality exists in a growing event business. As more bookings are secured and more staff become involved, coordination becomes harder. That is why staff rostering software, contractor scheduling and operational planning became central to the platform rather than nice extras.
Planellio applies enterprise workforce management thinking to the event industry. That includes staff availability management, assignment workflows, resource allocation, workload visibility, operational scheduling, automated communications and reporting. Instead of relying on spreadsheets, group chats and scattered reminders, the business can work from a stronger operational structure.
The development of Mandatrax played an important role in the creation of Planellio. Whilst Mandatrax was built for workforce data automation and integration within healthcare organisations, many of the underlying principles were directly transferable to event businesses. Data quality, automation, reporting, workflow design and system integration all became important foundations that later influenced the design of Planellio. Rather than starting from scratch, Planellio benefited from experience gained through building a successful software platform designed to solve real operational problems.
Automation and systems integration thinking also came through Mandatrax, a platform designed to automate workforce data processing and integration between NHS systems. Building Mandatrax deepened the experience behind data transformation, workflow optimisation, exception reporting, automation design and business intelligence. That same mindset can now be seen throughout Planellio.
Planellio applies this thinking to
- Staff availability and assignments
- Venue coordination and operational handovers
- Workflow automation and reminders
- Reporting and finance visibility
- Data imports and integration-led thinking
- Multi-user event business operations
What Planellio became
Planellio was built to be event business software, not just another booking system
Eventually the decision became clear. Rather than continuing to add workarounds, spreadsheets and extra systems, the only sensible path was to build the platform that the business wished already existed. That platform became Planellio.
The goal was never simply to build another booking system. The goal was to create a complete event business management platform that could connect the whole operation. Today that includes CRM, booking management, quote management, proposal builder workflows, client portals, venue portals, staff portals, contracts and e-signatures, payments, invoicing, security deposit pre-authorisations, asset management, staff rostering, automation workflows, reporting, project management, venue management, integrations, booking imports, asset imports, client imports and multi-user operations.
That is also why Planellio fits searches around event business software, event management software, event operations software, event CRM, photo booth software, DJ software, venue management software and staff rostering software. It was built from those operational needs outward.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did you build Planellio?
Planellio was built because a growing event business needed more than a traditional booking CRM. It needed stronger support for venues, staffing, operations, assets, automation and reporting.
Was BoothBook part of the journey?
Yes. BoothBook solved many early challenges and helped create more structure, but later growth exposed wider operational needs that influenced Planellio's direction.
What is Cramer Events?
Cramer Events is the event business experience behind the founder story, covering DJs, photo booths, selfie mirrors, 360 video booths, audio guestbooks, dancefloors, venue partnerships and multi-staff event delivery.
How did NHS experience influence Planellio?
NHS workforce systems experience brought deep knowledge of workforce planning, rostering, automation, reporting, integration and large-scale operational thinking into the platform.
What is Mandatrax?
Mandatrax is a workforce data and integration platform built around NHS systems. It contributed important experience in automation, data transformation and workflow design.
Why does Planellio focus on security deposits?
Because equipment-heavy event businesses often need better asset protection and more reliable deposit handling. Planellio was built to manage this inside the booking workflow.
Why does staff rostering matter so much?
As event businesses grow, staffing, scheduling and handover become major operational challenges. Applying workforce rostering principles makes the platform more useful beyond simple booking management.
Is this page mainly for trust or SEO?
It serves both. It explains the founder story in a human way while also supporting search visibility around the categories Planellio genuinely fits.
Where should I go next?
Start with event business software, explore the main features, compare pricing, or review the BoothBook alternative page.