The challenge
The multinational craft brewery and pub chain BrewDog has become a huge hit around the world in recent years – and its well-deserved reputation is built on providing the best in customer service.
When the company planned its biggest ever UK venue – a fantastic fun venue in Waterloo, London – it required an epos system up to the job of satisfying all the requirements of a huge number of highly demanding customers.
The solution
BrewDog turned once again to its longstanding partner NFS Technology, who stepped up to the challenge.
Chris Cartmell, Chief Operations Officer for restaurant technology at NFS, said: “We’ve partnered with BrewDog over many years and are delighted to have played our part in their amazing success.
Our Aloha epos technology supports 97 BrewDogs across the UK, India, Australia, Germany, Shanghai and Tokyo, so we were more than ready to provide everything the company needed for the amazing new Waterloo development.”
The bar epos software at the new BrewDog was one of the expert NFS team’s biggest installations to date.
Chris said: “The Waterloo bar has no fewer than 16 Aloha tills, and our team made sure everything was perfectly in place for the grand opening. It was a great job for a truly great client!”
The results
On its Waterloo website, BrewDog describes the new venue: “Two floors and 27,500ft of craft beer joy inside Waterloo station, next to the iconic London Southbank.
“With a restaurant, an on-site microbrewery and 60 taps of draft beer over two bars, we’re serving some of the freshest beer in London and some of the greatest food that’s ever graced the inside of a train station.
“But why stop there? With our Grind Cafe for your brunch and caffeinated needs, a cocktail hideaway, a co-working space, a podcast recording studio, duckpin bowling and AN ACTUAL SLIDE, there’s plenty to keep you occupied while they clear the leaves off the line.”
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Marugame Udon is the world’s largest udon noodle chain, with more 800 fast casual restaurants in Japan and 250 across Asia. It opened its first European restaurant in London in 2021 with a noticeably QSR-style low price point, with freshly-made noodles from £3.45.
Four further London sites were lined up before the first opened, with the restaurant in the O2 also now open, and the company has big plans for a speedy further expansion.
Marugame Udon has a global audience on social platforms ranging from Tiktok to Facebook and Instagram, and is leveraging this presence – and the power of the Muragame Loyalty Scheme – to extend brand awareness and position the offering perfectly in its new market.
Marugame Udon Chief Executive Keith Bird says: “It’s crucial to get the values and culture right.” Helping customers to feel part of the Marugame Udon community is crucial – for example, in the run-up to opening, visitors were invited to take pictures of themselves in front of a special screen to share worldwide on social media.
The innovative use of digital technology is helping Marugame Udon to establish and grow its community of enthusiasts across the UK and beyond. A unique level of integration is enabling the company to gain an extraordinarily deep insight into its customers, enabling better customer service and engagement.
The loyalty system, implemented via Aloha EPOS from NFS, is so well integrated that important customer information is automatically shared across all platforms ranging from the till to wifi and email marketing.
It means Marugame Udon has a 360 degree view of the customer’s requirements and preferences – what the company calls a ‘single point of truth’ – and it eliminates the need to repeatedly input data into different systems.
The integration makes the customer journey effortless. It enables Marugame Udon to send highly-targeted marketing emails that are sure to hit the mark – and when the customer pays, the till automatically applies any discounts. On opening, members who had already signed up to the loyalty programme were given popular offers including free noodles.
Further integration means customers are never disappointed when ordering. When a menu change is made on the till it is instantly reflected across all menu screens and collection screens, and the company is now working with NFS to extend this to delivery channels.
Customer safety is also a priority, and as well as providing allergen alerts, the Aloha EPOS system deployed by Marugame Udon offers diners the ability to input an allergen and see an online menu of dishes they can eat safely. Calorie counts are also updated through the system.
* Discover how Aloha EPOS can benefit your restaurant:
Döner Shack was born out of a desire the bring the best in Berlin street food to Britain, and opened its first UK franchised site – a 2,800 sq ft unit in Manchester Arndale Centre – in 2021. It has also run its own pioneering restaurant in Leeds’ Trinity Kitchen since 2019, and is now seeking to open a further 15 UK sites within 12 months.
The company is fuelled by the ambition to be the no 1 kebab franchise in the £2.8bn UK market and also worldwide. Their recipe for success is to offer unrivalled products with the service, convenience and speed that customers demand.
Döner Shack CEO Suj Legha says his business is changing the entire perception of the kebab, so they are becoming an option for everyday eating out. The group is achieving this by using the highest quality products from ethical sources, affordable and executed brilliantly with high grade meats and fresh ingredients.
Döner Shack offer more than 15 signature dishes with a German theme including Kebaps, Tellers and Currywurst, plus Germany’s top-selling soft drinks range Fritz Cola.
The restaurants are designed and developed with a unique contemporary look and feel that amply reflect and reinforce their cool branding.
They have implemented the latest Aloha EPOS from NFS providing rapid self-service ordering and payment, integrated with state-of-the-art kitchen operations to reduce preparation time, reduce food waste and the need for extensive staff training.
How are they utilizing new ways to cater to the consumer?
Döner Shack is an innovative and forward-thinking company when it comes to customer service. Technological advances are at the heart of its pursuit of customer satisfaction.
The company’s restaurants benefit from an extremely systemised operating structure developed over four years with the help of NFS. “What we’ve got is an operating system that is equivalent to a business with 1000 restaurants. We’ve invested an absolute fortune,” says Suj.
The system delivers excellent consistency in food preparation – serving guests on average in five minutes.
The operating structure does not need skilled chefs, making recruitment easier, and uses advanced robotic kebab cutters that slice meat finely and ensure consistency, while also keeping staff costs down. Wastage is also kept to a minimum.
Suj Legha says this operating system provided the perfect foundations for expansion, and as well as growing across the UK, Döner Shack is seeking site franchisees in the USA.
* Discover how Aloha EPOS can benefit your restaurant:
Following a stylish renovation, the Rose and Crown at Essendon in Hertfordshire is enjoying its reputation as a venue that offers local people London quality without having to travel into the capital.
With a new Head Chef with Michelin stars under his belt, the pub and restaurant has roared back from the pandemic with a fantastic offering for guests – and a new tablet EPOS system from NFS.
It’s all paying off brilliantly, according to General Manager Rebecca Starling.
“Our owners Debbie and Charles Davis found our Head Chef Alex Parker, who came out of Claude Bosi at Bibendum at Chelsea, and he has created a fabulous a la carte menu,” she said.
“We’ve completely revamped and stay true to the ideology of being a country pub. We have the pub side and the restaurant side, so we need an epos system that can handle both.”
NFS Tablet EPOS
A highly flexible and capable system was needed – and the answer came in the shape of the tablet EPOS from NFS, leading providers of hospitality technology across the UK.
Rebecca said: “Our heavy footfall means we need to be speedy on the till on the pub side when people want to come up to the bar and pay for a single drink.
“On the restaurant side, you need to be able to really hone things down if people are having a drink in a certain way or the food in a certain way.
“You need to be able to add different options – even in areas such as the coffee menu where we have three different coffees to choose from. So we’ve had to create almost two separate sites and two separate approaches.”
Stringent selection process
Debbie and Charles’ son Glenn, the company Director, decided on the NFS tablet EPOS after a stringent selection process.
“He didn’t want to go for a huge system, he wanted something that was a little smaller and more intimate,” said Rebecca. “We wanted one-on-one time with people, rather than just telephone helplines or a company based in America.
“The whole ethos of this place is growing more intimate relationships with businesses, and that’s one of the big reasons we chose NFS.
“We were also pleased with the option NFS offers to have 4G back-up in case our wi-fi goes down. I’ve worked in so many placed where the wi-fi packs up and the whole till system goes down – so the 4G offering really stood out for us.”
Next steps for the Rose and Crown
NFS swiftly carried out the deployment of the tablet EPOS system and trained up the Rose and Crown team to make the most of it. The new system is working well at the busy venue, and the leadership team are now considering further developments with the NFS tablet EPOS.
“We’re very pleased with the way everything has gone, and particularly with the direct support we’ve received from the NFS team – it’s been really good,” said Rebecca.
Executive summary
The famous Balans Soho Society group of restaurants and bars was about to open its seventh restaurant, in Ealing, London.
With a particularly demanding clientele – its slogan is: “A haven for the convivial” and the group numbers many celebrity guests – Balans decided to continue its relationship with NFS and deploy the Aloha restaurant management system that has already proved its worth at their other branches.
The deployment has paid off – and the group is particularly impressed with the loyalty programme it has been able to set up, with loyalty customers spending more than 40% more than non-loyalty guests.
At a glanceWho? Balans Soho Society’s new Ealing restaurant
Where? London
What? Aloha Table service EPOS software from NFS
Why? Operational efficiency and great customer service, loyalty
When? 2019 at the new Ealing branch
Balans Soho Society
Balans has always been ahead of trends. First started by business partners David Taylor and Prady Balan in the 1970s as a sandwich outlet, the group has become famous for hosting celebrity hangouts and delicious late-night dining.
Balans (now run by David Taylor) now has no fewer than seven restaurants across London and beyond, from Soho to Stratford City. Attracting the most up-to-date and savvy clientele, its menu is big on breath-taking brunches, quintessentially Balans mains and fabulous cocktails.
The challenge
Opening a new restaurant in Ealing – in the extraordinarily competitive London market – this famed group bills itself as a “haven for the convivial”.
So it knew it was crucial to deliver the same impeccable standards of operational efficiency and delicious customer service that have made its other six restaurants and bars such a celebrated three-decade success.
The results
The Ealing restaurant got off to a great start and is proving a real hit with customers with the help of its Aloha EPOS software.
“The system does exactly what we need – we find working with NFS very smooth thanks to having a key account person allocated.” – Kieran Crosby, Operations Director, Balans Soho Society
The benefits for Balans
As well as keeping operations streamlined and customer service moving effortlessly, Balans has had great success using its Aloha EPOS software to create targeted loyalty schemes and offer gift cards to enhance the customer experience.
The company believes the restaurant management software has created a big uplift – loyalty customers on average spend up to 42% more than non-loyalty customers.
“We’ve created an online loyalty programme where our customers are in control of how they use it, and that’s really helping to drive repeat visits,” says Kieran.
Balan’s staff also use Aloha Mobile to take customer orders and payments at tableside, using iPads. It means orders go directly to the kitchen for swift delivery, without any chance of human error.
Aloha EPOS software can integrate with kitchen automation to streamline food production, and the intuitive interface means it’s simple to get staff up and running on the system.
“Our FOH staff find Aloha very easy to use – the system is common in the restaurant industry and many have used it before, so they have familiarity with it.” – Kieran Crosby
Aloha has moved well beyond simple EPOS, and now creates a better-connected workflow within the restaurant and throughout the customer journey from online reservations through seating, dining, paying and loyalty – it even monitors social media reputation.
Like other users of Aloha, Balans also benefits from the business insight provided by the system. For restaurant groups, it gives an unprecedented end-to-end view of operations, with comprehensive reports including sales, labour and stock control, and accurate forecasting.
Why NFS?
NFS has a long-standing relationship with this prestigious restaurant chain, which made Aloha a natural choice when Balans was getting ready to open the new Ealing branch.
“We chose NFS because Aloha is working well in the rest of our estate,” says Kieran.
“Aloha does exactly what it needs to do – and we find it very reliable. We’d recommend it.”
What’s next?
Balans anticipates that using Aloha Mobile will increase efficiency, table turn and revenue during the coming summer months.
* Find out more about Aloha epos software
Coyote Ugly General Manager Chris Young
After a highly-successful first UK opening in Cardiff, Coyote Ugly has just opened its first bar in England in Liverpool. With venues across the US from Las Vegas to New Orleans, the bar’s eyecatching saloon concept is based on the real New York bar made famous by the movie of the same name.
Customer service is naturally high on Coyote Ugly’s agenda, and the company is using restaurant technology including the Aloha EPOS management system from UK-based NFS Technology to keep operations at peak efficiency.
Coyote Ugly General Manager Chris Young, said: “EPOS is vital for everything from stock control, employee performance, incentive monitoring and cost control.
“We like the way live data gives us an overview of multiple sites with up-to-the-minute analysis of sales, wages, like-for-like data versus last week and last year. It helps streamline the business by using data.”
NFS Technology is an international provider of software including EPOS management systems and hotel PMS. It’s currently Gold Sponsor of the Restaurant Association’s 50th birthday celebrations.
Coyote Ugly finds Aloha EPOS has helped them improve speed of service, keeping customers happy, and NFS’s 24-hour support desk is crucial for a late-night operator.
“The flexibility of the software, which has with tabs / tables service functions, allows us to provide a better customer experience,” said Chris.
And Coyote Ugly also uses its Aloha EPOS management system to encourage customers to come back again and again.
“We’ve an excellent loyalty card scheme in place via the integrated EPOS software that encourages repeat business,” said Chris.
“There’s huge flexibility to run bespoke offers for loyalty card holders – and the excellent data capture by the system gives me the opportunity to direct market effectively to my regular customers.”
Luis De Souza, CEO of NFS Technology, said Coyote Ugly is not alone in discovering great benefits from using an EPOS management system.
“In a highly competitive and challenging trading environment, the bars and restaurants who have the edge are those that make great use of the advanced technology at their disposal to make operations seamless,” he said.
“Coyote Ugly has a fantastic reputation for customer service, and we’re proud that Aloha from NFS is helping them with their expansion in the UK.”
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Dishoom, the exclusive Bombay café in London has chosen NFS Technology’s specialist Aloha POS software as its management system of choice to enable a smooth running service at all its prestigious London locations.
London based Dishoom, with café sites in Shoreditch, Kings Cross and Covent Garden, draws upon the heritage and tradition of old cafés with all-day menus paying homage to the food of Bombay.
As the business is growing, its management team looked to adopt a software system to enable tighter control and mobility alongside organising staff and maintaining a positive guest experience to ensure each café was running at optimum capability.
NFS’s Aloha system was selected due to its all-encompassing nature to enable full management, including measurements and reporting capability in real time. Aloha has also allowed Dishoom to monitor social media activity and customer engagement to ensure any comments are acknowledged and responded to as quickly as possible.
Says Brian Trollip, Dishoom’s Head of Operations: “Dishoom’s philosophy is steeped in the traditional values of Bombay, bringing the culture, vibe and eating styles to London and we are really thrilled with how it has been received, leading us to grow and establish a further two cafes with more in the pipeline.
“However, with growth, we have to be careful not to lose this essence, which takes intensive management control and focused mobility.
Aloha has proven to be a powerful standalone POS software solution that provides all the information and more to ensure the smooth running of our cafes. We especially like the link of social media so we can see all the feedback from our loyal customer base.”
Aloha from NFS is proven to optimise real time restaurant management and actively increases revenues. With NFS Aloha Orderman, Dishoom can optimise hand held devices specifically designed to deliver orders straight from the table to the kitchen.
In addition, using, Dishoom is using NFS specialist hosted solutions including Restaurant Guard, Gift Card, Loyalty and Insight alongside specialists CFC software to enable management of all three Café locations from just the one unique system.
Luis de Souza, CEO of NFS Technology Concludes:
“Dishoom is a unique dining concept that has paid particular attention to recreate a Bombay café experience in London. With such a specific formula to follow, the focus must be on creating the right vibe to remain successful using a combination of highly reliable technology to run the restaurant operation and great customer facing solutions such as mobile ordering integrated credit cards and social media which deliver a total experience for both the restaurant operator and the guest.”
If there’s one thing that’s appreciated at Luigi Malones, it’s a loyal customer. And with a new loyalty programme provided by Aloha EPOS from NFS Hospitality, the customers are returning in droves – and enjoying a range of rewards as well.
The Irish chain has restaurants in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. Named after an imaginary Italian who loved spaghetti, Luigi Malones is a very popular family-style restaurant.
To build business, a loyalty programme was set up a few years ago, but there was no link to the chain’s in-house till system. As a result, customer transactions and points were sometimes lost. So in April 2006, Aloha Enterprise was installed on a hosted basis, saving the chain any new investment in IT and assuring complete reliability.
The Hosted Solution
According to Luis DeSouza, Managing Director of NFS, the hosted solution represents a major trend in hospitality software: outsourcing of head office IT. “This solution allows any client to link its loyalty programme to its EPOS. The client saves significant money as no investment in IT is required. It also saves on administration time at head office and, as Aloha Enterprise is an online system, it provides access to information from any point in the world,” he comments.
Peter Darragh, Day Manager at the Temple Bar restaurant in Dublin, says the linked system has exceeded his expectations. He also appreciates Aloha’s flexibility. “It’s completely configurable,” he says. “If we want to link it to a particular printer for the use of waiting staff, it’s no problem. It’s also easy to make any seasonal changes to our menu.”
“I used to work for a hospitality software company so I know POS systems,” continues Peter. “Installing Aloha was the smoothest transition I have ever seen – it took only two days. And as it’s a hosted system designed for head office use, we get an overview of all three restaurants without having to contact them separately. This saves a lot of admin time.”
The Customer Royalty Card – for Rewards and Promotions
Luigi Malones’ new programme is called the ‘Customer Royalty Card’, with customers accumulating ‘royalty points’ each time they pay their bill. The card automatically tracks and updates expenditure and customers may use the cards at all three restaurants.
In just a few months, the Temple Bar restaurant alone attracted more than 500 customers to its loyalty programme. “We have a good clientele and they can see the benefits,” Peter says. “With the loyalty card they know exactly how many points they accrue with each visit as it’s right on the bill. They don’t have to wait for the statement.”
For the chain, the biggest benefit is that all the data capture is done by Aloha. “The loyalty programme does not increase our workload at all,” notes Peter. “It’s a totally streamlined system.”
In addition, Luigi Malones runs a lunch promotion: the 10th lunch is free – and it’s shown automatically on the card.”The customers are really happy and we’re happy as well. Not only are we getting lots of new and return business but the system is great for training purposes. Aloha is very intuitive so it takes only fifteen minutes to train a new employee. It really is user-friendly.”
Peter stresses how much he likes the support he gets from NFS. “The tech team really know their stuff,” he says.
Next Step – Corporate Loyalty?
Going forward, Luigi Malones is considering the introduction of a Corporate Royalty Card. “We’re starting to look at it,” says Peter. “We’re already making a list of companies and we plan to start tasting evenings soon. As the customer loyalty card works so well, we believe that companies will also be interested. And we know we can rely on Aloha Enterprise to handle all the new business we can generate.”
What kind of service do you expect in a fine dining restaurant that prides itself on its timeless elegance? A waiter taking your order with a quill pen on parchment maybe? Well, no. This is the 21st Century and waiters today are more likely to be at your table with a hand-held digital device. Which, if it is not handled well, can present a problem.
The challenge for restaurateurs is how to use the latest technology to enhance the customer experience without it becoming intrusive.
It’s a delicate balance that Quilon, London’s only Michelin starred south Indian restaurant, has met and resolved with the help of Aloha Point of Sale software from NFS Technology.
Quilon prides itself on creating experimental Indian dishes, complemented by fine speciality beers and an exceptional wine list that has won the Wine Spectator’s prestigious Award of Excellence. The restaurant has retained its Michelin Star five years running.
To optimise restaurant and bar management, Quilon uses Aloha for seamless integration between stock control, labour management, loyalty and gift cards, head office management, table reservations, guest management, tableside ordering and mobile payment systems.
When the restaurant was refurbished, it was decided to take the mobility route coupling Aloha with Partner Tech’s EM-220 hand-held terminal to take orders and relay them wirelessly to the kitchen.
Executive Chef and Director of Operations Sriram Aylur admits that, in some ways, it was a risk. “The Quilon is characterised by a colonial-style air of timeless elegance,” he says. “It was important that the technology did not get in the way of the customers fine dining experience.”
“Maybe five years ago it would have been different. Diners might have felt a restaurant such as ours should include waiters who took orders in the traditional way with a pen and paper. But today, customers are more familiar with technology and, in fact, are just as likely to be using their own smart phones in the restaurant.”
“The important thing for us is that the technology must be subtle and not come between the customer and the waiter.”
So for Quilon customers, mobile technology has proved no barrier to good service. For the restaurant staff, it has also proved to be a winner too. Waiters and kitchen staff are all comfortable with the system, which has proved very easy to use.
“In the past, when a waiter took a written order, it was open to mistakes,” says Sriram. “A misunderstanding between the waiter and the kitchen might have resulted in having to take the order twice. That wasted time, affected customer satisfaction and ultimately impacted on revenue.”
“The way we work now, waiters take orders quickly and accurately, then send them straight through to the kitchen, eliminating the chance of error. The ease with which the system works ensures that the interaction between waiter and diner is not affected.”
“It’s a win-win situation for both customers and restaurant staff.”
