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Milton Keynes, 23rd February 2006 – Leading analyst firm Gartner Inc. has rated WorkPlace Systems plc (WSI.L) as ‘Positive’ in its recent MarketScope for Retail Time and Labor Applications. The report was written by leading retail IT analysts Gale Daikoku and James Holincheck and published on January 20, 2006.

“We are very encouraged by this ‘Positive’ rating as it reflects our commitment and success in the Retail market” said Ian Lenagan, CEO of WorkPlace Systems plc. WorkPlace was able to satisfy all of the MarketScope’s Time and Labor categories comprising: Budgeting, Forecasting, Scheduling, Task Management, Time and Attendance, Reporting/Analytics and Employee Self Service. “Our Retail customers’ have large and complex workforce management challenges and by working closely with them, we help them realise the true benefits and value of Workforce Management by increasing customer service levels and optimising labour costs.” explains Lenagan.

WorkPlace Systems continues to invest in its retail business and has strengthened its UK Sales team in the Retail and Hospitality Sectors with 3 new additions, Andy Burgess from Aruna, Dick McDaniell from Vidus and Myles Rose from RightNow Technologies. This follows on from WorkPlaces’ recent acquisition of LSI Consulting, a leading US based labour management consultancy specialising in retail workforce management.

LSI help retailers to achieve best practices in this critical area of their business through a full set of strategic and tactical Workforce Management business improvement services and tools. “The retail market is very buoyant for us. In the last 9 months we have seen a significant increase in incremental business from our existing customers such as Argos, Next and Metro and a growing pipeline of new opportunities from leading retailers in both the European and US market. This proves our customers are realising true value from their investment in WorkPlace Systems solutions.” continues Lenagan.

Gartners’ MarketScope confirms that the interest in Retail Workforce Management is “expected to grow as web based solutions mature and leading retailers use technology optimised workforces to improve productivity and deliver a differentiated value proposition.” WorkPlace Systems continues to make a significant investment in research and development to meet and exceed the needs of its’ customers and bring new products and techniques to market. For example, the new WorkPlace ChangePlanner module, which provides retailers with a strategic scheduling tool to quickly optimise existing and new store labour schedules. “WorkPlace ChangePlanner has already made an impact with some of our customers and we are delighted that it has been nominated as a finalist in the Microsoft Retail Application Development (RAD) Awards” concluded Lenagan.

The MarketScope is copyrighted Jan. 20, 2006 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The MarketScope is an evaluation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the MarketScope, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest rating. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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