Future looking better for pubs but don’t forget the technology behind the bar

I was delighted to read last week that the future is looking brighter for Britain’s pubs as figures published by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) reveal the rate of pub closures are slowing, writes GS Systems business development manager Mike Chung.

According to CAMRA figures, the net number of pubs closing per week fell from 27 to 21 in the last six months.

As most of us working in the hospitality sector know, pubs have had a tough time as the restaurant sector has boomed at their expense.

Pub closures down to 21 per week over the last six months.

The British Beer and Pub Association says the number of pubs have fallen by 3,000 since 2010 to less than 48,000.

At the same time finance provider LDF says turnover in the restaurant sector says turnover reached £21.6bn in 2014 compared to £15.5bn in 2010.

CAMRA calling for people to support their local pub 

CAMRA, quite rightly, is now calling on people all over the UK to help the effort to continue to drive pub closure figures down further by supporting their local pubs. I know many of us at GS happily spend at least a few hours every week enjoying a pint and a friendly chat in our local.

From my perspective as an EPOS expert, I would also encourage pubs to embrace EPOS-based technology.

The reasons are straightforward.

Most top end EPOS solutions give pub owners access to watertight cash management, stock control, staff management, instant real-time reporting and additional revenue generators such as gift cards and online ordering.

Use technology to control staff wages 

Staff wages represent the highest variable cost.

Again, pub owners can minimise these by using EPOS-based technology to monitor, manage and forecast existing and future staffing requirements.

The GS Max Suite includes modules to monitor and control staff wages, a pub’s highest variable cost

Our solution, for example, has a staff management and planning module where operators simply enter staff and shift details together with rates of pay and the system automatically recommends shift patterns.

Gift cards can add revenues at little extra cost 

Posting this data to electronic business sheets feeds the cost forecasting module which provides pub owners with time reductions and precise staff management information.

Unclaimed got cards give retailers a 6% windfall 

Similarly, an idea as simple as gift cards can add an extra revenue stream to a pub at little extra cost.

You can read all about gift cards here but one figure really stands out.

Industry statistics reveal that £250m spent on cards in the UK is unredeemed, the equivalent of a 6% windfall for retailers.

Instant reports without accessing your system

The impact of better staff management and innovations like gift cards can be analysed via Automated End of Day and Automated Weekly Summary reports automatically sent to pub operators.

The key here, as in all aspects of a pub operation, is to give yourself the ability to measure and manage what you are doing across your business.