Anglian Country Inns is seeing a return on its investment with Zonal Retail Data Systems, since introducing EPoS into its six pubs 2.5 years ago.

Featuring a range of award winning pubs, from high end gastro to family friendly and high street venues in Norfolk and Hertfordshire, Anglian relies on its Aztec EPoS system to give clear, real-time visibility of its business.

Managing director James Nye said: “Despite being a small operator, we have an eclectic mix of pubs, with food at the heart of each business.  Despite these challenges, Zonal has worked with us to introduce an EPoS system that has the flexibility to work across each site.   We are already reaping the financial rewards of our investment with 2% increase on wet margin, tighter stock controls and costings and improved staff scheduling.”

The Aztec system sits as the centre of the business, from which Anglian is building an integrated single management system.  To date, the company uses Zonal’s back office systems such as purchasing and time and attendance.

Zonal’s Purchase to Pay solution, Acquire  gives multi-site businesses such as Anglian, tighter control of their stock control, ordering and the price they pay for goods.

With the Aztec module, Time and Attendance, it’s much easier to manage staff information and create rotas that meet the different needs of each site.  James explained: “We introduced Time and Attendance just over a year ago and it integrates really well with our labour management software S4. Rather than basing our decisions on a hunch, we now have accurate data to ensure that we have the correct numbers of staff at the right time, which ultimately improves the quality of service we give our customers and drives loyalty.

“The need for paperwork has been severely reduced and although there is more process for our managers to follow, it saves time and improves efficiency.  Because the data is more accurate, it helps them do a better a job, freeing them up to focus on our guests.”

So what’s next for Anglian?  Having reaped the benefits of an EPoS solution, Anglian is now working with Zonal to develop an integrated loyalty programme.  They are also looking at ways in which they can combine their training and HR, so that everything is synchronized.  “We see loyalty as a key motivator to drive business, as consumers increasingly expect to be rewarded with relevant and personal offers for their ongoing custom.  Having a single customer view, which EPoS gives us, enables us to tailor our deals to meet individual needs.

“Working with Zonal has been a rewarding experience and nothing is too much trouble.  Having the singular EPoS platform on which we can build is a very good solution.  Whatever your size, even if you’re just starting out, I would recommend investing in a quality EPoS system, as it’s the very heart of your business and you are more likely to succeed in the long-term than if you try to get by without one,”

Far from taking it easy, bar, café and restaurant group Loungers has been growing at quite a pace since its foundation 16 years ago.

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.

Operating four popular entertainment venues on the busy campus of The University of Hertfordshire, the Students’ Union decided it was time to seek an intelligent technology partner.

After a competitive pitch, Zonal was enrolled at the university that is home to over 25,000 students. The four venues located on the College Lane Campus include two nightclubs, a bar and pub and attract at least 8,000 students every week.

A Licensed Trade Manager at the University said: “Our existing till system was not delivering the data we required, so we needed to explore alternatives. We initially approached Zonal because of its reputation in the hospitality sector and the pedigree of its clients.

“We were impressed by Zonal’s EPoS solutions that included integrated chip & pin functionality as well as having a comprehensive support structure in place, giving us the confidence to move forward”

To date, Zonal has installed 22 Aztec controlled terminals with chip & pin card readers. The Students’ Union is now benefiting from accurate, real time business reporting that is proving invaluable in terms of making the business more efficient and profitable through the Aztec head office and site software installed by Zonal.

They added: “The Aztec EPoS system has provided us with central control and access to data rich sales analytics which is key to identifying our customers’ spending habits. It is early days, and we are still getting to grips with the stock taking system, but can already see that this will deliver dramatic efficiencies and therefore profitability for our businesses.”

The University of Hertfordshire Student Union has plans to extend the system to include loyalty, which is so important to an offers focused student population. Research by Zonal and CGA Peach supports this approach with almost 40% of 18 to 24 year olds visiting a bar or restaurant’s website before visiting to check out the latest deals. And 73% want loyalty schemes that reward them with offers tailored to their preferences.

“Loyalty was a key part of our brief and we were impressed by Zonal’s cost effective but impressive loyalty package. We will be adopting this across our estate when the new academic year starts this September”

Fully integrated with EPoS, Zonal’s Loyalty module gives hospitality outlets a powerful insight into customer data enabling them to operate tailored customer programmes around preferences, frequency of visits and products purchased.

Loyalty programmes can be created to incorporate schemes such as collecting points, accumulate cash back or receive bonus items or discounts.

“Overall we have been delighted with the service we have received from Zonal who have taken the trouble to get to know our business and specific needs. The support helpline is excellent and the training has been very thorough”

And with mobile savvy customers, the University of Hertfordshire will also be exploring Zonal’s mobile ordering app solution.

iOrder is a ‘virtual waiter’ that allows customers to browse, order and securely pay for food and drink from the comfort of their table. It is fully integrated with the Aztec EPoS system, which means there is no additional work for operators, and displays real time promotions, menu pricing and product availability whilst linking with other app functionality, including loyalty schemes.

However, what makes iOrder unique to other solutions is that it can be completely personalised to a company’s brand, a vital element to build customer loyalty and confidence in mobile ordering.

When premium holiday park company Haulfryn appointed Zonal to design an EPoS solution for its bars, restaurants and shops, it soon realised the technology could do far more to improve efficiency across the whole business and generate new revenue streams.

Haulfryn operates 34 exclusive holiday and residential parks throughout Wales and the South of England, many of which have won awards for the quality of their accommodation and service.
The company was looking for a front-of-house EPoS system to manage retail sales on its parks and share sales data easily with the company’s Microsoft NAV accounting package. But as well as making transactions and stock-taking easier, eliminating the need to double or triple-key sales information into head-office systems and improving the quality and timeliness of reporting information received by the parks’ food and beverage managers, the company is now using Zonal’s technology to underpin its long-term growth.

Steve Lattimore, Haulfryn’s IT Implementation Project Manager, explains: “We quickly saw that there was much more capability in Zonal’s system that we weren’t yet using; tools that would improve the way we worked and help us to understand our business in ways that could make a real difference to our bottom line.”

Merchandising and marketing

The company began using the system to analyse retail sales, in order to gauge which areas of its stocking and marketing strategy were working

“Zonal’s technology allows us to see exactly where our cash is coming from, so we can understand without any ambiguity which events, guest ales or new premium products work and which need to be removed, revised, or marketed more heavily,” says Steve.

“This level of control is great for our business because it allows us to make quick decisions that improve our business based on clear, accurate, up to the minute information.”

Leisure

Zonal’s system is also helping Haulfryn to manage its thriving leisure business, which offers customers a range of activities including white water rafting, canoeing and cycling as part of the Hoseasons Go Active scheme.

Haulfryn Group

“Our leisure business is set to benefit significantly from the technology,” explains Steve.

“Not only will it allow customers to book sessions and plan their trip from our website before they arrive, but it will also enable us to create staff rotas that reflect demand, so we’re never over or under-staffed, and that is great for cost-efficiency.”

“Zonal works for our business because of its ongoing investment in evolving its solutions and continual commitment to embrace modern technology to help companies like Haulfryn operate more efficiently and harness new revenue streams,” he adds.

When national restaurant operator Bistrot Pierre was looking for a technology partner to nurture its ambitious growth plans, Zonal was the natural fit.

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.”

Hollywood Bowl Group is the UK’s number 1 bowling venue, boasting 61 sites across the country. Hollywood Bowl Group sites combine bowling with amusement machines, licensed bars and snack bars to provide their customers with a whole evening of entertainment in a single venue.

Powerful reporting

Leisure and hospitality have always been a close partnership. Zonal bring that partnership closer together by supplying a management system that integrates fully with the Lane Management System used by Hollywood Bowl Group. The Food and Beverage Manager at Hollywood Bowl Group feels that the biggest failing of their previous EPoS system was the lack of reporting tools and the inability to analyse business performance. “Zonal’s Back Office software means that the manager now spends less time doing admin and more time doing other things, speeding up all business processes”. Indeed when managers spend less time in the office doing paperwork, they can concentrate on running the business and identifying ways to make more money!

Zonal’s Dimensions reporting tool is fully customisable allowing Hollywood Bowl Group to view detailed reports on all aspects of their business. As Hollywood Bowl Group’s business grows and changes, so too can Dimensions reporting. Dimensions had been configured to report on the issues that affect Hollywood Bowl Group today, but they were particularly impressed by having the power “to tailor this tool to their needs”.

Thorough user training

Training is a crucial part of modern computerised business. Zonal excel in this field and Hollywood Bowl Group were particularly impressed with the structure of the training courses and Zonal’s training facilities. Zonal’s training courses cover all aspects of installation, site setup and day-to-day tasks and each course has been written in such a way that it can be used both to learn about the system in a training environment and as reference material during live installations.

Detailed stock control

“Zonal has an excellent stock control system”. Hollywood Bowl Group is well aware of the importance of careful stock control and Zonal’s system is so powerful that they can obtain accurate stock reports in real-time – the back office PC produces reports that are accurate to within 5 seconds. Hollywood Bowl Group can also analyse stock movements to identify fastest selling lines and the responses of customers to promotions. This way if sales are moving slowly they can introduce extra promotions mid way through the trading period to boost sales.

Mobile EPoS handheld terminals

Handheld terminals come into their own in the bowling environment. Bowling is a group activity, so nobody wants to be the one to go to the bar. However, with handheld terminals your customers don’t need to go without a drink and you don’t have to miss a sale. Sales staff can take orders without taking anyone away from the action and waiting staff can deliver the drinks. Teamwork that can keep your customers happy and your business booming!

When leading independent brewer Hall & Woodhouse needed a highly dependable food and beverage management system which could cope with its pubs’ busiest trading days, it turned to Zonal’s Aztec management solution and its ultra-reliable Z500 series EPoS terminals.

Hall & Woodhouse has been a leading independent brewer for over 200 years and is renowned throughout the country for its award-winning Badger Ales. It remains an independent family company and is owned and run by the fifth generation of the Woodhouse family.

In addition to its brewing operations, the company operates pubs all over the south of England, from Somerset and Devon in the West Country to London and Sussex in the east. From modest roots in the 18th century, Hall & Woodhouse has grown into a successful modern business with over 1,500 employees and an annual turnover of almost £100 million.

The company required a food and beverage management system and a new EPoS system for their growing business and a decision was made to install a more sophisticated system. The company evaluated a small number of alternative systems and decided that Zonal would provide the best solution.

Robust and reliable

“I had used Zonal equipment before at previous companies, and had always found that both the software and the hardware were incredibly robust,” explains Hall & Woodhouse’s Financial Director.

“We carried out a trial and the Zonal system provided all we needed, and more. We knew we could rely on it to keep on working without any disruptions.”

At the beginning of the project, the company implemented Zonal systems in 40 of its pubs over a period of about three months. Each installation included new EPoS solutions with card payment capabilities in the bars and restaurant, a kitchen management system connecting waiting staff to the food preparation areas, and financial and stock management software in the back office. Each night, management data from the pubs is sent electronically to the Hall & Woodhouse head office for analysis in their proprietary management information system.

Harsh environments

They explained that because of the nature of Hall and Woodhouse’s food and beverage operations, the most important benefit of Zonal’s system is its rock solid reliability. “A large proportion of the business we do is concentrated on a comparatively small number of big days, Easter, the May bank holidays, and three months in the summer when we are tremendously busy.  We can’t afford to have the system crash in one of our pubs because if it did, it would cost us thousands of pounds every time”.

 “A bar environment is pretty harsh, but we’ve found the Zonal hardware to be very hard-wearing.”

Easy-to-Use

The company makes use of large numbers of seasonal staff during the busy periods, but thanks to the intuitive nature of Zonal’s software, new staff need only a minimal amount of training before they can use the system.

Increased efficiency

Zonal’s systems aren’t just dependable; they’ve helped Hall & Woodhouse improve the efficiency of the way its pubs are run in a number of ways. One example of this is the kitchen management system, which enables waiting staff to take orders and send them straight to the kitchens from terminals in the restaurants.

“Our staff don’t have to run up and down stairs to get orders which saves them time. They can instantly see from the terminals when particular items are running low or have run out”

Sound financial sense

They have no doubt that the investment will save Hall & Woodhouse money in a fairly short period of time. “The system will certainly give us a rapid payback, but more important to us is the fact that the system works.  The cost of the Zonal system pales into insignificance compared to the cost of a till system going down on a busy Sunday lunchtime.”

The advanced features of the system are proving valuable – and the company plans to exploit more of them in the future – but for Hall & Woodhouse it’s the fact that the company can use it as a solid foundation for trading that is all important.

“It’s impossible to stress too much how important it is to us that our systems work, and when we deal with Zonal we know we will get a system that does what is promised, delivered on time and on budget.”

Award winning group Whiting and Hammond realise the benefits of the Zonal solution

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.