Getting to grips with EPoS at the Cross Keys

Pub: The Cross Keys​

Landlord: Mark White​

Technology: 1 x J2 520 touchscreen till with standard cash drawer​

2 printers: 1 x Epson TM-U230E and 1 x Epson TM-T88IV

Mission software​

The Cross Keys is a rural country pub in Henley, a village outside of Ipswich. Whilst its location on a main road brings passing trade, it has to work particularly hard because it's not in the village centre. When owner Mark White purchased The Cross Keys two years ago, it had already closed down. After lots of hard work, the pub is now doing well and is facing a more confident future.

This was Mark's first venture as a pub landlord, and he's invested a lot of himself into making a success of the opportunity. "I'd been with a wholesale company for all my working life, and felt it was time to do something different and for myself. I wanted to be able to make my own decisions."

Part of the challenge has been to address the costs of the business, to make it more profitable. "We've worked hard to create a successful business," comments Mark.

He was starting to look at EPoS when the 'Sell More, Save More' project came along. With it came the Mission software and J2 Retail Systems hardware, which have provided a springboard for growth.

The business came with a basic Sharp cash register, which was difficult to use. "It had the functionality to capture 1,200 PLUs but this all sat behind very small buttons and it was hard to find what you wanted. It wasn't an ideal situation," Mark explains. Sales reporting was only available daily, on a line-by-line basis, so it was a challenge to understand trends over a 3- or 6-month period.

The new system has been a step forward, albeit not without its challenges too. "We tried to do too much at one time, says Mark. "Programming the tills, doing the training and running the pub at the same time was tough."

Now the system is up and running, Mark praises its reliability. "My only criticism is that it could be quicker," he comments. "When we are extremely busy, as we were recently on Fireworks' Night with 250 people in the pub, it's difficult for four staff to use one till as fast as we needed to."

In the longer term, Mark concedes that one till is going to be an issue so he'll be looking at acquiring a second unit to cope with peak trading.

Ease of use as such is not an issue "the system is quite simple and a touchscreen is so much easier to use," but Mark has experienced difficulties in coping with his range of menus. His 'early bird' menu takes lines off the main menu and includes a dessert for a lower price. "I have to be reliant on staff doing manual adjustments, and that opens you up to errors. I know that other systems can set up rules for automatic adjustments so I'll be talking to Mission about bringing that online."

When it comes to looks and space-efficiency of the new units, Mark is satisfied. The unit is on the back of bar and takes up no more room than the old one.

The back-office functions with the new system are far superior to what the Cross Keys had before. Mark has to balance being very hands-on with every aspect of the pub with finding time to tailor the system more to what he needs but adds: "As time goes on, I'm going to be able to pull off some very specific reports off, to reveal true profitability and the cost efficiencies of each menu item."

Anticipating the growth in his business, Mark can see that the Mission software includes many of the elements he's going to need, such as staff management and a loyalty scheme.

His ambitions for the future include adding more restaurant space at The Cross Keys "food is working well and it's even more important in a problem market to offer good value for money," and doing the same in the second pub he has just taken on. "I want to continue to expand, to make my pubs the thriving centre of villages and communities."

As for a final comment on his new system: "There are some issues to be ironed out and challenges to resolve but I couldn't see myself living without EPoS in the future."