Strada has four sites with big ambitions of growth for the coming three years, and wants to ensure that its’ technical infrastructure is up to the challenge.

Strada’s CFO said: “We had an outdated till system that wasn’t giving us the live data that we needed to operate efficiently and meet the demands of modern day diners in terms of booking, speed of service and ease of payment.  Zonal’s integrated Aztec EPoS system gives us the foundations on which we can build a fully integrated hospitality IT package that supports our teams and enhances our customer experience.”

For Strada, having the confidence to work with a business that continuously invests in innovation, offers a partnership approach, comprehensive training and hands on support together with the capacity to scale was key.  Zonal ticked all the boxes and the Strada team has been impressed with the service it’s received to date.

Each Strada venue, stretching from Edinburgh to Portsmouth, has installed an Aztec EPoS solution, with iServe and Zonal’s Card Payment System (ZCPS).

iServe is Zonal’s handheld EPoS Solution, which offers access to Aztec functionality on an iPod or iPad. iServe allows orders to be processed faster and tables turned around quicker with staff visits to the till reduced.

“iServe has been a hit with our front of house teams, especially those sites with large outdoor areas, it gives them greater control and they spend less time running backwards and forwards to the till, freeing them up to serve customers and better manage tables.”

With consumers demanding a faster finish, payment has also become a crucial part of the customer service journey. Research shows customers’ time is the most precious commodity of all and they expect a speedy reliable seamless payment solution.

Fully integrated with Aztec, ZCPS offers improved speed of service eliminating the need to re-key amounts, providing an overall quicker processing time.

 “We have definitely seen the benefits of providing our customers with a speedy and flexible payment process. It simplifies settling bills, especially if groups of customers wish to split the total cost and only pay for what they have individually ordered,”

As for the future, Strada values the input of Zonal’s new product development team who have the knowledge and skills to bring genuine added value to the group’s expansion plans.  “We are a tight team at Strada and to employ dedicated technical development specialists isn’t an option, so to be able to tap into this responsive resource is invaluable,” they explained.

Having embedded the new technology, Strada is now considering its next move with Zonal.  The management team is considering introducing Tables and Kitchen iQ to further improve the customer experience.

Zonal’s Tables system, manages and optimises seating and reservations, which is tightly integrated with Aztec and the customer database, providing key information such as visit history and loyalty as part of the booking and check-in process.  It helps operators, such as Strada, plan staffing rotas, maximise table turnarounds and ultimately enhance the customer journey.

And Kitchen iQ is designed to help improve speed, quality and accuracy of service and transform the overall dining out experience.  It provides a comprehensive kitchen and service management solution that delivers visible real-time information to both kitchen and service staff. The versatile system can be tailored to the needs of any operation and, as it’s also fully integrated with Aztec software, it completes Zonal’s unique service tool chain.

“We are taking one step at a time and making sure we have embedded the first stage of our Zonal solutions. We plan to build on this as our business grows and functionality becomes available or becomes right for us to implement”

Demand for its laid back winning formula of providing great food and drink in relaxed, comfortable surroundings, has seen Loungers extend its reach beyond its Bristol heartland to more than 120 venues nationwide under its Lounge and Cosy Club brands.  A further 25 sites have been earmarked for this year.

With such ambitious expansion plans, Loungers required a technology partner focused on the hospitality sector that could respond to the needs of an increasingly complex business. So, in stepped Zonal.

Loungers Central Operations Manager, Alex Marsh, said:

“We have a very simple formula, where orders are taken at the bar, but with our rapid growth we needed to take more control of our operating costs and reporting systems.

“The Zonal team not only had relevant sector experience, but their Aztec EPoS system gave us the integrated solution we were seeking.  It offers a range of modules, giving us detailed and timely reports, with up to the minute performance data for each site.”

One of the key modules that Loungers opted for is Zonal’s Acquire, an intuitive end-to-end online purchasing management system which fully integrates with Zonal’s stock solution, giving powerful real-time stock info at the point of order.  Furthermore, Acquire helps achieve efficiencies in every part of the business.  Head office benefits from central control over suppliers, product catalogues and availability, reporting and invoice reconciliation.   Site teams benefit from more efficient, accurate ordering and stock control, with the convenience of being able to order online 24/7 from any mobile technology. And for suppliers, full integration offers massive order processing efficiencies.

Initially, alongside Acquire, Loungers opted to implement their wet products into the stock module within Aztec, but since the autumn of 2017 the business has implemented food too.

Alex explained:

“The wet side was easy to implement and almost immediately we saw a several percentage point uplift in our wet sales gross margins, so it has more than paid for itself.

“The food element has taken time, as the devil’s in the detail.  The more accurate the data you input from the outset, the better the picture you paint of your business.”

For Alex and his project team, they put in the groundwork by covering all aspects of the food business from yield to recipes.  “I’m not going to lie, it was a painstaking task, but the effort has paid off,” added Alex.

Zonal provides a solution for each step of the eating and drinking journey, find out how we can help your business by contacting us on the below form.

Founded in 1994 by Robert Beacham and John Whitehead, Bistrot Pierre has grown rapidly from its original roots in Nottingham to nationwide Bistrots from Harrogate to Plymouth.

Firmly focused on great value French dining and freshly cooked food, the business has strong brand recognition and has carved out a niche in the premium casual dining sector of the eating out market.

Bistrot Pierre’s Finance Director told us: “With our unique brand proposition we wanted to make sure that we offered our customers the very best service and food standards possible.”

“Technology was a key enabler and we quickly realised that Zonal had a grip on the critical issues that could impact and enable our growing business.”

“Zonal’s management team is very hands on and they have dealt with issues that we have come across and are able to suggest suitable solutions” they added.  The ability to easily access and crunch data has been invaluable to the team. Bistrot Pierre’s own customer insight has been enhanced with Zonal’s own data.

For example, recent research by Zonal and CGA Peach showed that restaurant guests dislike waiting when ordering, paying and in particular waiting for their food to arrive. The use of mobile devices is seen as a good way to overcome these frustrations and Le Bistrot Pierre is in the process of introducing Zonal’s iServe into all of its outlets.

“Zonal’s experienced team worked closely with us to develop a solution to help us to facilitate this growth.”

“The extremely reliable Aztec EPoS system gave us good central control and access to sales data, key to identifying our customers’ wants and needs. We were able to feed the data easily into our accounting system, streamlining the process and improving efficiency.”

Throughout its expansion, the ability to tap into industry expertise was really important to the Bistrot team.

“As a growing business, It’s always good to work with like-minded people who really understand what you are talking about and your business needs.”

iServe, is a cost-effective replacement to the traditional order pad, which can be installed on any iPod touch to create a versatile handheld EPoS terminal. Team members can take orders, print and process payments from anywhere in the venue, providing a superior customer experience.

With iServe orders are processed faster and tables turned around quicker whilst staff visits to the bar and kitchen are reduced, giving the team more time to focus on delivering a great customer experience.

“We know that technology is the key to unlocking our future potential and solutions like iServe give us a real competitive edge. It responds to consumer concerns over waiting times, which we know is one of the biggest factors to consider when eating or drinking out and makes things much simpler for our team”

Whilst decreasing transaction time, iServe can also drive spend per head through upsell prompts and link with Zonal’s Tables and Loyalty systems to deliver a truly integrated solution.

Stuart McLean, Zonal’s chief executive said: “Our research shows that operators like Bistrot Pierre who adopt technology will achieve a real competitive advantage. It’s all about using the data and systems to give customers what they want, an efficient, personal and enjoyable experience.”

Whiting and Hammond have been customers of Zonal since June 2010 and took the decision to implement Zonal’s end-to-end solution across all sites to improve management control as the business expanded from four to seven sites.

Similar to most R200 member companies, the challenge when expanding a business from one outlet to multiple sites is retaining a consistent level of control over costs, margins and standards, in addition to analysing sales and cost trends.

The company, based in Kent, was founded in 2003, and has now grown to seven sites including a unique joint venture with K College where a group of students run ‘The View’ Restaurant at the Tonbridge campus.

Zonal’s Aztec Enterprise and site EPoS software in all sites has enabled Brian Whiting, the company’s founder, to retain complete control and maintain real-time visibility of the key performance indicators.

It is the simplicity and rich functionality of Aztec that delivers real benefits to the Whiting and Hammond business. At head office, the latest sales data is updated every 30 minutes, and the management team make full use of the promotions module creating bespoke offers quickly and easily that are sent automatically to each outlet.

“Since installing Zonal’s EPoS solution, the food and drink GPs have increased by 1.5 % across the business” says Brian. “Zonal’s state-of-the-art hardware and Aztec software has definitely helped us to become more efficient and streamline our operation.”

The key to ensuring that the benefits have been delivered is the partnership between Whiting and Hammond and the Zonal team. As the business has evolved, the way Brian and his team utilise Aztec has been customised to ensure that the benefits of the solution continue to be realised.

The Whiting and Hammond team manage all of their own data at head office and Zonal provided interfaces to their finance package, labour scheduling and forecasting software. In addition, the suggested order functionality is being trialled in one site prior to a full roll out across the estate managing stock levels and improving compliance using authorised suppliers. Custom-designed reports that provide simple headline sales and cover numbers to keep Brian and his team in close control over the hourly performance of the business.

Following the success of the group’s loyalty card, developed by Zonal, Whiting and Hammond launched the new Christmas gift card in 2014, which allows visitors to share their love of the company with friends and family. Customers can gift a monetary value to loved ones not just for Christmas but for any occasion throughout the year in a stylish gift card wallet.

Investing in the right technology to manage a growing business is a key decision for any entrepreneur. In selecting Zonal as Whiting and Hammonds EPoS partner, the expanding business has access to the resource and experience that Zonal has gained over 35 years in the hospitality industry, providing robust technology that handles over 4 million meals per week through systems installed in over 8000 outlets throughout the UK.