It’s the technology every hospitality business needs – restaurant EPOS streamlines your operations, reduces costs and makes great customer service simple.
The benefit to your bottom line is easy to see. But with many restaurant margins feeling the pinch, it’s important that you get rapid ROI.
So what’s the best way to finance restaurant EPOS?
Good EPOS providers will give you a number of options that suit your own restaurant finances.
For instance, you might have a new business with start-up capital available – or you could be running a long-established or expanding chain. The requirements of each are very different.
Chris Cartmell of NFS Technology says you need to keep two things top of your mind.
“Number 1 is making sure you get the restaurant EPOS system that does what you really need it to do,” he says.
“So select a provider with a consultative approach who looks at your requirements and works with you to make sure the system achieves everything you need.”
“The Number 2 thing to consider when selecting hospitality technology is to make sure you finance restaurant EPOS in the way that’s best for your business,” says Chris.
Your options to finance restaurant EPOS include:
Buying – you buy the hardware and the software
Leasing – you lease the hardware and the software
Combination – you buy the hardware and lease the software
Chris says: “Each option has benefits, and should be tailored to suit your situation.
“If you buy hardware and software you incur no further costs.
“However, leasing can be a convenient low-cost option where you pay a monthly fee.
Staying up to date
“If you lease with a maintenance contract, your supplier will provide you with software upgrades whenever they are issued, keeping your system completely up to date with innovations and improvements – the hardware also.
“Some businesses prefer to buy hardware and sign a lease contract for the software, which can provide a flexible and affordable option.”
Chris says: “SaaS (Software as a Service) is becoming an increasingly popular option for modern hospitality businesses.
“We’ll soon be launching a new bundling strategy which will see our most popular restaurant EPOS combined in a full-stack offering called Aloha Essentials. It will be a very cost-effective way to gain all the benefits.”
ROI – restaurant EPOS as a revenue generator:
“The Pulse App is an awesome tool that provides our Managers and Operations team with a competitive edge in terms of real time information across our global estate of craft beer bars that is critical to achieving our mission of making everyone as passionate about craft beer as we are.” – James Brown, Retail Director of BrewDog.
Chris Cartmell says: “As UK restaurants take advantage of new trends such as home delivery, voice ordering and online reservations, restaurant EPOS is becoming more and more essential.
“We believe success lies in installing systems that deliver exactly what each individual restaurant or group needs – and in providing the finance options that make implementation feasible and ROI quick and significant.”
How much are your diners making food choices based on their values in 2020? Probably more than ever before – and for your hospitality business to prosper, it’s vital to get behind them.
We’re used to the younger generations being ‘woke’, of course, but customers of all ages are now doing all they can to save the environment.
And from choosing ethically-sourced ingredients to aiming for sustainability and even building relationships, successful restaurants are keeping their diners engaged by staying ahead of the trends.
We’ve spotted 5 of the key values driving customer choices in hospitality – and we’ve identified how your restaurant or bar can harness their power to keep business – and the planet – healthy.
1. Zero waste
Customers eager to have as small an impact on the planet as possible voted zero waste one of their top ten trends. They also rate low waste production highly when choosing where to eat.
Waste food is obviously a biggie for the environment (and scandalous when part of the world hasn’t enough to eat). It causes overfarming and pesticide use, and the waste ends up in landfill producing climate-warming methane.
But waste is also a major problem for restaurants trying to keep an eye on the bottom line.
The savviest establishments are now using the stock control facilities provided by restaurant EPOS technology to remove badly-selling recipes from the menu. It also allows ordering to be more closely matched to demand – a real winner all round.
With around 600,000 vegans in the UK, we’re talking about plant-based ingredients – but we also mean responsibly-sourced local meats, in-season veg and well-sourced fish. These are all highly important to the woke diner.
Chefs designing dishes now have more control at ingredient level than ever before, thanks to technology such as the Kitchen CUT system partnered with Aloha restaurant EPOS by NFS.
In addition to costing each ingredient precisely, it warns of allergen risks – a factor that ethical chefs take extremely seriously.
In the Future Shock 6 report, UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls says: “Sustainability is arguably the key issue of our time. It will become more important and hospitality needs to lead efforts to promote sustainability yet further.”
Kate defines sustainability as the ability to maintain growth at a certain level without depleting natural resources. It’s a business goal that resonates perfectly with the demands of the value-driven consumer.
It covers sustainability of all kinds; reduced use of resources such as electricity, gas and water, sustainable food choices, and eco-friendly packaging on deliveries.
And it involves the whole supply chain, with restaurants using their EPOS reports to monitor usage, discover economies and monitor their suppliers.
4. Being available 24/7
Well, it’s come in for criticism recently because we’re all enslaved by our mobiles…
But when it comes to keeping customers happy, it’s now expected that your restaurant is available to them easily at all hours – even when you are shut.
We’ve already seen the arrival of online reservations via Open Table, linked to your restaurant EPOS system. These take bookings 24/7 without hands on by your staff.
The socially engaged consumer turns to Trip Advisor before making a booking, looking for reviews, and this is another area where EPOS can help. With the Pulse mobile management app, a restaurateur is warned about any negative posts so issues can be put right.
Customers are also making great use of voice ordering via Alexa, which links the customer directly with your restaurant, places the order, organises delivery and automatically takes the payment.
New revenue streams and no bother; for restaurants, 24/7 availability can be a dream come true…
What makes us return again and again to our favourite restaurant?
Good food, naturally, and maybe its location: but one of the biggest draws is always a great relationship – you may remember the Cheers slogan: “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name…”
In these suspicious days, when trust is hard won and precious, that quality is even more in demand.
Can a restaurant genuinely know ALL its customers? Technology says yes, thanks to the data captured by the restaurant EPOS system from browsing to bill payment.
Analysts Deloitte said recently that in 2020 the most successful restaurant brands:
“will be those that best understand their customers, capitalise on digital technology options and analytics and seize upon the opportunity to engage customers in a highly personalised way.”
Deloitte surveyed 4,500 diners, and found that while loyalty programmes are an important part of building customer relationships, almost 90% of people belong to fewer than three of them.
Restaurant EPOS allows a very deep analysis of customer preferences that allows you to create highly personalised offers. If payment info is included, you will even know where else your customers line to eat.
So your smile at reception and your lovely serving staff – while always important – are the icing on the cake; your trusted relationship with your diners stretches way beyond your restaurant walls.
2019 was tough one for hospitality. It saw the closure of many restaurants and groups including Jamie’s Italian, and industry-wide around 11,000 jobs were lost.
But according to Big Hospitality, companies shutting down with Company Voluntary Arrangements fell by 46% on 2018. In addition, smaller operators with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will see their business rates bill fall from 1 April this year.
It’s going to be a welcome boost. And for those restaurants who are responding to customers’ changing values with the help of technology, 2020 could be the most woke year yet in UK in hospitality. Hopefully the most successful, into the bargain.
Discover how to give better customer service with restaurant EPOS:
Did you know: according to the British Hospitality Association, the UK hospitality industry dishes up more than 8.3 billion meals every year.
Hotels are gaining a bigger and bigger slice of that lucrative market, with some now playing host to destination restaurants, and many growing F&B into a valuable revenue stream.
The most successful are using sophisticated hotel EPOS (electronic point of sale) systems to support and streamline their operations.
So if you don’t have it, chances are you probably want it – but in a competitive market where margins are always tight and ROI is crucial making the right choice can be confusing.
So we’ve compiled the 7 key questions every hotelier growing an F&B operation should be asking.
1. What’s the difference between hotel EPOS and hotel PMS?
A PMS is the backbone of hotel operations, managing all aspects of hotel business from reservations to guest billing and payments.
A hotel EPOS is a dedicated system which works wherever your guests spend money – for instance, in your restaurants and bars, on the dining terrace or in your spa.
It works throughout the customer journey, all the way from taking table reservations to making service more efficient and allocating the spend to the correct room.
It’s also used to boost customer loyalty and bring your F&B customers back again and again.
2. How does hotel EPOS streamline my guest experience?
EPOS is designed to focus on making your food and beverage operation as welcoming, seamless and efficient for guests as possible.
It enables them to make online reservations, and once they arrive, your staff use graphic table plans to make seating quick and improve table turn.
Serving staff use handheld devices ranging from dedicated devices to mobile phones to take orders at tableside and send them straight to the kitchen for swift and accurate delivery.
Payments can be taken at tableside too or the bill allocated to the correct guest room.
It all adds up to a luxuriously effortless experience for your guests, with no quibbling about incorrect dishes or billing.
3. Does hotel EPOS integrate with my other technology?
If you choose a restaurant ePOS software system with a flexible API, it will integrate effortlessly with your PMS system and also other back office systems such as accounting, providing perfect accuracy at all times even across multiple-location groups.
4. What benefits does hotel EPOS bring to my F&B stream?
Your hotel EPOS constantly captures guest data that identifies best selling dishes, reducing waste and improving stock control.
Other EPOS reports provide an immensely real-time view of areas including sales and labour. It allows you pinpoint control across the whole F&B operation that keeps costs at a minimum and drives up efficiency.
5. Can I improve my customer engagement with hotel EPOS?
EPOS data capture makes it simple to cater for guests’ preferences, helping to create the personalised customer experience that sets your hotel restaurant or bar apart from the competition.
EPOS also monitors your all-important social media reputation, alerting your managers if a hostile review is being posted from your restaurant so they can address issues on the spot before the customer leaves.
6. There are many hotel EPOS systems out there – how do I select the right one?
It’s important to select a consultative provider who works with you to understand what you REALLY want the system to achieve.
Don’t be dazzled by salespeople who want to make a quick sale and run – look for a supplier who will provide expert 24/7 backup and support after the installation is complete.
When it comes to EPOS and payment processing, do you source them from the same provider? For some hospitality businesses, doing that has been controversial – but done right, there are definitely upsides.
So what’s are the two sides of the argument about EPOS/payment bundling?
What to avoid:
Your credit card provider gives you ‘free’ restaurant EPOS software but bundles the contract. It means if you want to change the credit card payments provider, you have to change the point of sale into the bargain.
An unscrupulous provider holds you to high processing charges for every transaction – and you can’t escape without investing in new restaurant EPOS.
Some providers charge steep fees if you want to terminate your contract early.
Some providers love to sell – but not happy about providing after-sales support.
Not a great recipe for success is it?
We saw a recent example where a large New York restaurant group got its fingers burned on a 10-year EPOS agreement that saw processing rates rise to a massive 4% – and had no easy way out of the deal. See more.
But having said that, we wouldn’t want you to shy away from sourcing your restaurant EPOS and payments processing from the same provider – it’s just a matter of finding the right one.
1. When you deal with one reputable company for communications and billing support, your life is a lot easier.
In the daily rush of a restaurant business, who has time to call several providers if the system gets a glitch?
Having one point of contact – and a great relationship with that contact – makes sure issues are ironed out fast so your restaurant can go on making and taking money uninterrupted.
2. Because you are buying an integrated system, you can be sure the technology will work together, and be confident the PDQ machines will communicate with your restaurant EPOS.
This is vital for an uninterrupted business flow and for maintaining business continuity – so important in hospitality provision.
3. You gain access to payment data. This gives huge insight into your customers – you understand where they are located and which other places they spend their money (including with competitors).
Then you can build this into your customer relationship management (CRM) system to create well-targeted marketing campaigns that engage with what your customers really want and like.
4. Having integrated EPOS and payment capability streamlines your business operations, offering benefits such as ease of cashing up and good integration with your accounting system.
The 7 questions you should ask your potential supplier
Can I change my credit card payments provider if I want to?
What do you charge for processing payments – and will the charges stay the same?
If terminate the contract, is there a fee?
Is your restaurant EPOS technology supported by a technical helpdesk 24/7?
Will you give me one point of contact after the sale?
How can I be confident the technologies work together?
Will the technology you provide integrate with my other back end systems?
Don’t be persuaded by a hard sell from a rep who just wants to clean up and ship out. Instead, seek a genuine consultant who works with you to understand what your very individual business needs – both now and after installation.
And above all, don’t feel you need to rush into this decision. Remember, it’s one of the most important choices you can make for your business.
We’re already eating our way into 2020 – but what will the restaurant of tomorrow look like? We’ve been gazing into our hospitality crystal ball, and it will probably be something like this:
The customer has been chatting with Alexa, and the device asks if he wants to book a table at his favourite eating place. Instead, he decides to use Facebook Messenger to place an order to be delivered.
A customer arrives at the burger chain she uses all the time – she’s already pre-ordered and pre-paid for her meal using the restaurant’s app. The system has remembered her usual order, recalled that she doesn’t like relish, and the personalised order is ready to pick up as soon as she arrives. There’s no queueing, or delay.
Another customer takes a drive to collect a pre-ordered meal. As soon he enters the car park, his arrival is detected by the restaurant’s smart platform, and the kitchen is told he’s ready to pick it up.
Friends are having a chat on social media, and decide they want to go for a meal out together. They use the restaurant’s app separately to place their individual orders what they want to eat. Once they have eaten, they are automatically billed individually.
This could be tomorrow for many restaurants – but it’s actually what’s happening today for some of the most technologically advanced.
They use a restaurant POS system and other advanced technologies including virtual assistant based ordering and chatbot assistants, to deliver what today’s demanding diner wants – a very personalised experience, easily delivered.
In a hugely competitive market, it’s a real strategy for success. As analysts Deloitte say in a recent report:
“Winning restaurant brands will be those that best understand their customers, capitalise on digital technology options and analytics and seize upon the opportunity to engage customers in a highly personalised way.”
Restaurateurs will have a lot to think about as the digital transformation of the industry develops. And it’s not just about new gadgets coming onto the market.
It’s about how you use the amazing digital tools available to you, in what combination – and about the way your customers choose to respond to the technology.
At the heart of every clued-up and successful restaurant there is already a hugely capable restaurant POS system.
It’s at work in the background 24/7 carrying out valuable activities that improve operations and drive revenue, including:
Enabling online reservations and customer ordering
Reducing risks including staff fraud and allergens.
The restaurant POS system is also a major contributor to creating the customised guest experience, capturing data with each diner interaction.
For example, the restaurant of the future will offer each customer a personalised menu that caters to their known preferences from previous orders. Once you reject relish with your burger, you’ll never have to do it again.
That in-depth knowledge of diner preferences will go further than food and seating choices.
The coolest restaurants will examine the digital life of their customers; with so many communications channels at our disposal, people usually prefer one or two over others.
Restaurants will define how their customers interact with technologies. For example, are they Alexa fans – and is that the best way to reach them? Do they prefer Messenger?
Did you know:
Deloitte surveyed a total of 4,500 diners, and discovered that almost nine in ten of them belonged to fewer than three loyalty programmes.
You want to be one of those favoured three – so you need your loyalty programme to match their preference and lifestyle perfectly.
With the data captured by your restaurant POS system and insight into the way they like you to communicate with them, you can create targeted marketing campaigns providing offers guaranteed to be appreciated.
And that’s happening NOW, not in the future.
There will always be developments we just can’t predict – a decade ago, who would have imagined food delivery by drone?
But one thing’s for sure: digital transformation is here to stay in the hospitality industry – and the restaurants who on board in 2020 are the ones who are going to be around for a very long time.
Aloha by NFS, the leading EPOS software for restaurants, bars and hotels, is celebrating a busy year of growth in 2019 – and 2020 is looking even more positive.
The company has seen a number of existing clients expanding internationally, with new clients coming on board and additional technology partners being chosen to add further enhance the Aloha EPOS software mix.
So here is just a flavour of the big developments we’ve seen in 2019.
New partners
It’s vital to keep ahead of trends in the hospitality industry in these quick-changing times, and NFS constantly builds on Aloha’s capabilities to meet evolving demand.
Deliveroo: As home delivery continued to offer new revenue streams for restaurants, NFS added integration with Deliveroo to its capabilities this year.
Head of sales Chris Cartmell said: “Aloha now streamlines the process of fulfilling home orders.
“When a customer orders food via Deliveroo, Aloha’s takeout management system displays the order at on a tablet in the kitchen or prints it on the kitchen printer. Kitchen staff don’t need to re-key the order into their system.
“This saves time and ensures the order is ready for delivery with minimum admin.”
Alexa: Aloha’s new Voice Ordering service harnesses Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant to provide customers with an incredibly effortless link to your restaurant or bar.
The customer asks Alexa to open the app for a favourite eating place, and Alexa asks if they want their usual.
The customer says yes or no, making another selection if required, then agrees a delivery or collection time. The order goes instantly to the restaurant kitchen and payment is taken automatically.
Como: Aloha now partners with this top customer loyalty program, which helps hospitality businesses track their customers and their moves—then motivates them to make a return visit.
Kitchen CUT: NFS has consolidated its relationship with the software that helps chefs track potential allergens down to ingredient level, and also provides the ability to cost individual dishes and menus accurately.
Aloha customers
Aloha EPOS software is used by hospitality businesses across the world, including Hawksmoor and Dishoom, who appreciate its ability to streamline operations, control labour and stock, and reduce waste.
Several clients have made some particularly bold moves during 2019 with the help of the beyond-EPOS system, including:
BrewDog
The successful UK based craft beer brewing and bar company uses Aloha EPOS software across its estate – and recently stretched it all the way to Australia.
Chris Cartmell said: “BrewDog have successfully opened Brisbane DogTap, a brewery as well as bar, and asked for support from Aloha by NFS.
“We sent the technology all the way around the world, and it’s up and running perfectly for our ambitious, innovative customer.”
BrewDog have also opened a DogTap in Berlin, and are getting ready to open an Outpost in Dublin.
Coyote Ugly
The bar chain is continuing to grow across the UK – and it will soon be operating in Cologne in Germany and in Singapore.
New clients have also enjoyed Aloha by NFS through the year – one is the M Restaurant group, which has merged with long-standing Aloha customer, restaurant group Gaucho.
Aloha operates in the fine dining sector, too – in September, chef Ben Tish opened Norma at the Stafford on Charlotte Street in London, inspired by travels in the Southern Mediterranean.
9 reasons why restaurants choose Aloha by NFS
1. Handheld devices
Servers have handheld devices including tablets for taking customers’ orders and payments at the tableside – and managers can view operations in real time online via their mobile or laptop.
2. Speedy service
Orders go straight to the kitchen, where Aloha EPOS software integrates with kitchen automation screens or printers. After the meal, staff can take payment at tableside, splitting bills in an instant.
3. Loyal guests
Aloha captures important information about customers from the minute they book online. This includes info on their preferences so you can create targeted email offers they will enjoy.
4. Easier course management
Aloha means you can split courses to assist the kitchen, or make amendments such as a starter as a main course. In the kitchen, the printer or screen displays the right information to each station.
5. Improved menu management
With Aloha EPOS software, you manage the display for different times of day so staff do not have to deal with a huge menu. A screen layout appropriate to the job code of the staff member is displayed.
6. Flexible order management
The software provides flexible table maps so specific orders can be allocated to tables. You can transfer a whole ticket or part, and merge or split tables if diners move.
7. Better control of costs, waste and allergens
Aloha EPOS software provides useful control in areas ranging from costs to ingredient selection to allergen warnings.
It tracks menu items that are selling well, flags up trends and delivers comprehensive forecast reports so you can make sound procurement decisions and cut waste.
8. Improved cash management
Aloha EPOS software tracks transactions as they happen, so you can constantly view your cash position, online.
9. Skilled staff
Aloha is simple to learn and use, and staff can up and running on it within hours.
The festive season is in swing with restaurants and hotels like yours already jumping with celebrating customers – but are you placed to get the best out of this year’s jolly holly uplift?
We’ve come up with our guide to the 7 secrets of seasonal success – thanks to making the most of your restaurant EPOS software.
Christmas stocking
Labour – Christmas present?
Marketing – the gift that keeps on giving
Mobile ordering – in, out…
Party people – handling big groups
Voice/online ordering – is Alexa really Santa?
Fraud prevention – the one no-one wants to think about…
Christmas stocking
A silly pun but a very serious issue. No-one should be throwing away wasted stock or running out of useful ingredients. Reports from your EPOS system reveal best-sellers and predict what’s trending so your procurement matches your needs
Labour – who’s Christmas present?
It’s hard to get staffing levels right, particularly during the busiest festive periods. Restaurant EPOS software helps by capturing the data that pinpoints exactly when you are busiest and by making forecasts of how many staff you need present in any period.
Marketing – a gift that keeps on giving
You’re probably busy at Christmas, but there’s also a lot of competition. Take the chance to capture diners’ data so you can create targeted email offers for them that genuinely appeal to their preferences – now and for 2020.
Mobile ordering – in, out
There’s no need for your serving staff to do the hokey-cokey backwards and forwards to the kitchen with customer orders. Restaurant EPOS software gives them handheld devices so they can take orders at tableside and send them straight to the kitchen for swift delivery. Links to kitchen automation, too.
Party people – dealing with big groups
Forget problems dealing with the office outing; restaurant EPOS software means it’s much easier to get large groups seated, increasing your table turn, and it also makes splitting their bills and taking payment at the tableside a simple matter.
Voice/online ordering – could Alexa really be Santa Claus?
Well, if your guests can order food via their Alexa device or via your website, enabled by the EPOS system, a delivery is definitely on its way (even if it won’t drop down the chimney!)
Fraud prevention – the issue no-one wants to think about…
But because the festive season is always so busy, it can be a prime time for fraud by members of staff. Fortunately, your restaurant EPOS system records transactions so well it acts as a deterrent – and it even warns about suspicious behaviour patterns.
The even better good news is that the festive season benefits your EPOS system brings go on working throughout the year. And with a delicious menu, superb service and the best technology behind you, you hear jingle bells throughout 2020 – and that will from your till…
Have a happy hospitality holiday season, everybody!
Many hotels in the UK now provide fine dining, with celebrity chefs making an enormous impact – but even with less lofty ambitions, you can boost your hotel business with a good food and beverage offering.
The secrets of F&B success are the same whatever your business model: excellent food and great service, available when your potential guests want it.
But with a wide range of hotel EPOS software on offer, which should you choose?
EPOS provides an incredible boost to restaurants all over the UK – and nowAnd there’s a lot more to help you grow your restaurant business. hotels are examining the software choices in the hope of achieving the same results.
It’s true that some hotels PMS systems include limited F&B management; other hotel restaurants are still struggling with paper reservation books and note pads for orders.
But properly designed hotel EPOS software is the management solution that creates perfect control over your restaurant operations – and helps deliver customer experience so good that it encourages repeat business.
4 reasons you should choose Aloha by NFS for your hotel restaurant
For multi-site operations, Aloha by NFS is the proven enterprise-level EPOS. It’s great for multi-site management without duplicating head-office roles
Web reporting offers a real-time online view of hotel restaurant operations wherever you are – particularly useful for multi-site operations
Aloha provides powerful integrated stock management to reduce waste and keep costs down
Aloha’s flexible API integrates seamlessly with hotel PMS software, including leading systems such as Opera and Guestline.
Aloha means it’s effortless to charge F&B to guests’ rooms, so no items are missed. Guests find this handy and satisfying. It also integrates with the hotel’s revenue reporting platform to provide excellent accuracy and convenience.
Food and beverage continues to contribute increasingly to hotel growth in the UK, rising at 4.9% in 2017, and around 5% in 2018.
But competition from restaurants is unceasing. The hotels that win are those who box clever by offering a luxury guest experience to match their great food.
This prestigious establishment uses Aloha to manage its famous 2AA Rosette GB1 Restaurant, which has been developed by Executive Chef Alan White and his talented brigade, and also for its Terrace lounge and bar.
Aloha’s everyday functionality promotes the superb level of service offered in all of the Grand Hotel’s F&B outlets.
Serving staff at hotel restaurants using Aloha have handheld Pulse devices or tablets so they can send orders directly to the kitchen from the tableside. Food preparation can start immediately and human error is removed.
Accurate orders = satisfied diners + lower food waste.
Aloha also offers your staff automatic upselling prompts as they are taking the orders, which helps generate additional revenue on each order.
Analysts, PwC say UK hotels in 2019 will experience slower growth, thanks to Brexit uncertainty, a softer economy and demand trends, as well as the impact of many new hotel room additions.
So life is still challenging, and the revenue boost provided by F&B is a valuable one.
Aloha hotel EPOS software, with its rapid ROI, is providing hotels with the competitive edge to win diners, to keep control of their multi-site operations and costs, and to create stunning guest experiences.
And in today’s challenging market, that makes choosing to use hotel EPOS nothing less than intuitive.
The Restaurant Show, taking place 30 September – 2nd October 2019 at Olympia London, has become the ultimate destination for the hospitality industry to connect, celebrate and discover new products, services and suppliers and is the perfect opportunity for Kitchen CUT and NFS join together to showcase how their pioneering technology is leading the way in the future of hospitality.
Visitors to the show will be able to see Kitchen CUT’s ground-breaking platform, F+B Engine, in action. Members of the Kitchen CUT team will be available every day to give demonstrations, and visitors are also encouraged to use one of the tablets available and see for themselves just how intuitive it the system is.
F+B Engine has been designed specifically for the global hospitality sector, sitting at the heart of all hospitality enterprises, tracking and managing the ‘engine room’. Accessible anywhere, from any device, the system is there to support, engage, educate and transform the way teams operate every day.
The system is feature-rich and operates across all critical areas including purchase to pay, menu costing, inventory management, allergen tracking, nutritional analysis, waste analysis and online ordering. More recently the F+B Gateway has also been released, connecting operations directly to their vendors and offering instant connectivity and frictionless trading.
The Restaurant Show is also great opportunity for Kitchen CUT to work with one of their partners NFS. Speaking about the collaboration, Luis De Souza, CEO of NFS Technology said,
‘We’re excited to be attending this year’s Restaurant Show and to have Kitchen CUT joining us on our stand, GH11. Allergens are a hot topic in the industry at the moment, and visitors to the stand can find out how allergy worries can become a thing of the past. Aloha by NFS is supported by Kitchen CUT technology and this enables chefs to track allergens to individual ingredient level as menus and dishes are created.
We no longer speak about Aloha as ‘point of sale’. Instead, it’s the core foundation of restaurant technology, a world-class platform-of-sale, integrating with the different software providers who can connect guests easily to your restaurant.
We’re really looking forward to the Restaurant Show, and hope we’ll see you there: we’re ready to show how you can REALLY build the restaurant of the future.”
The Kitchen CUT team will be on hand to answer any questions and demonstrate the system’s extraordinary capabilities on Stand GH11. To book an appointment with one of the team, please email sales@kitchencut.com, call +44 (0) 330 113 0050 or visit www.kitchencut.com to find out more and sign up for a free trial. In order to get a head start on improving profits, Kitchen CUT have 5 top tips, created by Michelin starred chef, John Wood, available here.
Our offices have seen the arrival of waves of technology in recent years, including IT, video conferencing, AI and mobility. Work is no longer a place we go, but rather a thing we do in different places.
That means it’s time to ask some tough questions about the function our workplaces really fulfil.
In other words:
Today’s workplace: is it really an office – or is it a meeting venue instead?
Let’s just take a moment to think about that.
You definitely go there to do a particular thing
You visit the place to meet people
It has the equipment you need to achieve your targets
It’s fun being there (or should be) Well, that certainly sounds like a venue.
But there’s one other element that makes the office like a venue:
You book a place before you arrive.
After all, you would never just turn up at a gig hoping you could get in. Wandering around looking for somewhere to sit? That’s not very rock ‘n roll.
It doesn’t rock the new workplace, either. In recent years, we’ve done away with our formal boardrooms and fixed desks to create more flexible spaces that suit 21st century agile working.
We can do our jobs in many places – coffee shops, our own kitchen – but there’s still a huge need for the office to be the beating heart of our working lives.
The office is where we meet up, face-to-face or virtually via collaborative tools such as video conferencing and AV.
It’s where we drop in at a hot desk or breakout space to catch up with colleagues for some great collaboration.
There’s no doubt – we get better when we get together
One recent survey said:
“People working in teams innovate faster, achieve better results and report higher job satisfaction.”
I don’t suppose that comes as a surprise to many people.
People in the UK now spend 55% of their time working with others, according to a new survey – and but 71% says they’re still struggling to do it in traditional, formal rooms.
So the case is proven – we need offices that promote spontaneous collaboration and positive mental health.
Is that a generational issue?
We know Gen Z, in particular, like a friendly office get-together.
A high percentage – 92% – of these talented 18-24-year-olds say they don’t work best at home. In fact, a huge 81% consider social and communal areas to be important workspace facilities. There’s that venue aspect coming to the fore again.
But it’s not just Generation Z-ers – all generations are affected by their working environment to some degree.
So why not rethink your workspace as a venue?
Maybe you’ve never have looked at it that way before, but ask yourself these questions.
Can people easily easy book a space there?
Is it something they can do before they come in?
Is somewhere cool to meet colleagues?
Does it have the equipment they need?
Does the environment make them feel good?
These are all questions venues might ask – but today, you need your workplace environment to tick the boxes for all of these elements.
If you already use meeting room scheduling software, you’re probably feeling smug – you’ve answered yes to all of those questions.
If you don’t, you’d be astonished at the difference meeting room scheduling software makes to your operations.
Give them a hot ticket
Meeting room scheduling software kicks in at every stage of the working day. In your technology-supported workspace-as-a-venue, staff book their perfect hot desk or meeting space easily via an app on their mobile device.
It means they’ve got the hot ticket to your ‘gig’ before they even come in – remember point 5 above?
And because they’ve booked all the resources they need – from VC to AV and even catering – in the same single transaction, there are no delays to getting on with their work or their meeting.
Creating workspace meeting venues that rock
Your staff arrive, settle straight down, and get working or meeting. The meetingroom scheduling software also helps to reduce no-shows, because it automatically informs everyone involved if a room or meeting time changes.
There’s no hanging around, so your office becomes cool workspace where work flows seamlessly. That makes everyone feel good, not just Gen Z-ers, and that makes talent retention that little bit easier. Improved productivity and wellbeing are another natural result.
I like thinking about workspace as a venue. It put an attractive shine on our working lives that fits well with modern efforts to create a vibrant work-life balance and positive mental health.
So I believe it’s time for office owners like you to have get radical with meeting room scheduling software.
Get the right stuff, the technology that makes it all happen for you and your workforce.
Then get open the doors of your workspace venue open for some real business. That’s definitely my kind of gig.
