The Institute of Directors reveals how technology helps drive profitable hospitality operations.

CREDITON, U.K. - July 23, 2013 - PRLog -- For the past 7 years, an EPoS solution from TISSL has helped drive the Institute of Directors’ profitable hospitality operations.  Today, as this venerable organisation looks to enhance internal processes and member communications, technology is very much on its agenda.

When Serge Pradier, an influential figure in international gastronomy circles, became general manager of the IoD’s hospitality operations in 2002, one of the first actions of his team was to bring catering inhouse.  Over successive years, he developed hospitality to the point where, today, it is one of the club’s three major sources of revenue generation and its most profitable.  Along the way, Pradier introduced younger, more creative chefs and higher standards of staff training.

By 2006, it became clear that the club’s EPoS provision would not support its growing hospitality offer and the ambitions that Pradier had for the club.  The solution in place lacked flexibility and technical support was poor.  Pradier went out to the market and evaluated options; the result was the selection of specialist hospitality EPoS software from TISSL running on contemporary PC-based touchscreen terminals.

“We liked the TISSL system because it is easy-to-use and also very flexible. The team worked with us to tailor the solution to our needs.”  

Today, IoD members enjoy a high-quality food and beverage service in the restaurant, cocktail bars, wine bar, brasserie and 123 café.  In each of these hospitality areas, TISSL is installed and automates the points-of-service and back-office operations from 17 terminals.  

Corporate events are a growing part of the hospitality mix; up to 40 events are held weekly.  TISSL is already used within banqueting, but there are now plans for staff to use the tills for cash bars and stock management.  The Business Centre area, which includes 29 rooms that members can use for meetings, also runs the EPoS solution.
“We do all our accounting with TISSL, from cashiering through to P&L.  Across every area, TISSL gives us the reports and information that we want.  Its weekly summary of sales by range is a very powerful document; we can analyse spend by cover, by activity and by area.”

TISSL EPoS integrates with the IoD’s stock management system from Fourth Hospitality, where Pradier has driven forward his agenda of automation.  “All our 2,500 food & beverage items are now on the system – it took 8 months to do this – but it means all our orders are electronic.”  

The EPoS terminals supplied by TISSL act as full PCs and support stock management and other third-party applications.  “We use fingerprint recognition to sign onto the tills for POS operations and for time & attendance.  We find the tills very solid; we’ve had little or no problems with them.”  

The system is easy to set up, with each dish and beverage item associated with a button.  “All our wines are colour-coded – red, pink, white – and displayed by region and in price order.  This makes it swift and easy for staff to operate the tills and place orders.”
Pradier says: “Member communications and engagement are key.  When it comes to hospitality, we have a great restaurant and bar.”  He is now leading the charge to make use of contemporary technology such as tablet PCs and smartphones to communicate with members and promote the IoD’s quality hospitality amenities.

Every day, the IoD can have up to 800 members working and holding meetings in its lounges, restaurants, bars and cafes. Each will use some element of the hospitality available, from a coffee to a full meal. Throughout the Pall Mall site, the TISSL EPoS system records thousands of daily transactions.

“In TISSL, we have a system we can completely rely on.  It runs quietly in the background, supporting all our operations.  It enables my team to run smoothly.”
As Pradier looks forward to incorporating new systems such as handheld POS devices and communicating with members via smartphone apps’, he is aware of the innovations that TISSL is bringing to market such as the ability to both order and pay by smartphone or tablet.

“These apps’ could be really useful for members who are running events.  They could contact banqueting staff via a ‘call steward/call waiter’ button on their smartphone and order refreshments or equipment as they arrive or during their events.”

For Serge Pradier and his hospitality operations team of 130 full-time and casual staff, TISSL provides a flexible, reliable and functional EPoS platform.  The solution - and the relationship between TISSL and the IoD – have both stood the test of time.

“Not only does TISSL act as a hub for our business operations today but it is there, ready to support our evolution to new technologies in the future,” Pradier concludes.