The fast growing, award-winning San Carlo Italian restaurant chain has selected a GS Systems EPOS solution to help give the business tighter controls over its front of house and back office operations.
The five-strong estate, owned and managed by Harnbury Holdings, includes one of the highest grossing restaurants outside of London, San Carlo in Manchester’s King Street West. Marcello Distefano, who runs the business with father Carlo, says weekly takings range between £140,000 and £170,000 – making it one of the busiest places to eat in the UK.
San Carlo asked GS Systems to recommend and implement a solution to give the restaurant management team tighter operational control throughout the business.
“Prior to asking us to get involved, it was clear San Carlo’s existing systems weren’t able to cope with the enormous demands being placed on them. When it is really busy, which is most of the time, too many mistakes were being made. Mixing up bills and lost drinks slips were typical daily occurrences they wanted to eliminate,” says GS Systems managing director and acknowledged EPOS industry expert, Niels Nielsen.
“Inevitably, the knock-on effects were untrustworthy stock account and stock control statistics and large discrepancies that could not be explained.”
“Our brief was twofold. First, to make sure they had an EPOS solution in place that was able to handle the pressure of a restaurant when it is at its most intense. Second, to ensure management and floor staff had total confidence in the system. This entailed earmarking several days training to give them the necessary skills to use it under even the most testing conditions.”
“At the same time, we’ve being tidying up the back office so they can exert greater control over the business. Stage one was liquor sales. The next stage is to do the same with the food operation,” said Niels.
“GS Systems has been a great boost to the way we run the restaurant. We did have problems with bills, which were genuine mistakes. Obviously, we don’t want customers to be disappointed with any aspect of the San Carlo experience. Fortunately, the team at GS Systems has been very understanding and taken a very softly, softly stance with us. They’ve not just sold us a system and left us to get on with it,” said Marcello.
“They have been part of the team and ensured a smooth transition from the old to the new system.”
Marcelo’s and Carlo’s Harnbury Holdings company currently has five San Carlo restaurants in Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Leicester and Manchester as well London’s prestigious Signor Sassi in Knightsbridge.
ENDS
Issued on behalf of GS Systems, 119/121 Buxton Road, Stockport, Cheshire, SK2 6LR (www.gs-systems.co.uk)
For further information or high resolution images please contact Andrew Field (m: 07850 933350 a.field@gs-systems.co.uk)
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