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New Agilysys EPoS technology for Beaulieu

New Agilysys EPoS technology for leading tourist venue, Beaulieu

Leith’s slashes catering queue times and improves customer service with an enterprise EPoS system, based upon InfoGenesis™ POS from Agilysys (Europe) Limited

Agilysys (Europe) Limited has installed a new solution in a leading UK tourist venue.  Beaulieu, set in the heart of the New Forest, is one of the South of England’s top day-visitor attractions.  An integral part of the experience is the quality catering in Beaulieu’s Brabazon restaurant and coffee bar provided by Leith’s, part of Compass Group UK and Ireland.  The Agilysys EPoS solution was installed in time for the start of the school holidays.

General Manager, Robert Freeman, came to Beaulieu a year ago. He observes: “In my first peak summer season at Beaulieu, a time of strong demand to get customers though the restaurant tills quickly, I noticed that our system was slow.  With our credit card machine having to dial out for every transaction, staff found it hard to operate the tills quickly.  We were getting real queue management problems and needed to speed up the customer flow.” 

To remedy these issues and support its expansion, Beaulieu decided to invest in technology that delivered new functionality and better service at its payment points.  It turned to Leith’s for guidance. 

Explains Jim Wilkinson, IT Product Manager at Compass. “When a requirement is identified, we advise on the appropriate solutions.  Having established the need for new tills with the Beaulieu Management team, Agilysys carried out the site survey and scoped the requirement. Beaulieu were keen to take advantage of our new web-based Zipthru EPoS programme. They are one of the first client sites to have gone live.”

“The implementation went very well,” agrees Robert Freeman.  “Agilysys were very efficient on timing, with any minor teething problems dealt with effectively.  Our new solution was up and running for the start of the summer season.”

Agilysys has supplied its InfoGenesis™ POS solution running on PC-based point-of-sale tills. Whereas card transactions had to be processed separately in the past, the new Agilysys solution offers integrated Chip & PIN processing with all point-of-sale transactions reconciled through the tills.  This has brought about a massive reduction in processing time, from 15 seconds to between 3 and 5 seconds, and has brought queuing times right down. 

Robert Freeman explains how faster throughput has resulted in a better-flowing food service, in more customers being served, and in higher sales.

“We have seen great benefits all round. In previous years, queuing and payment times could impact customer satisfaction.  With our new system in place this summer, queuing times have reduced, everything is flowing through beautifully and customer satisfaction has increased ten-fold.”

The new system also represents a cost saving over the previous PDQ system, which incurred higher transaction fees.

Freeman goes on to explain that staff satisfaction has increased too. “Our till staff find the tills easy and fast to use.  They are clearly happier and more confident in what they are doing so stress levels have reduced.  The improved system is all part of our corporate responsibility towards our staff.”

InfoGenesis has come with reports that are emailed automatically to Robert Freeman.  They enable him to easily identify sales by card and by cash.  Leith’s now has a lot more control on the layout and presentation of its new touchscreen till displays, which adds to the ease of use.

Another significant advantage is that Leith’s no longer needs to host its own back-office software.  All functions are now performed online, accessed as a web-based application.

Says Jim Wilkinson: “Our new Zipthru EPoS solution runs as a fully-hosted application.  Access is via a secure login process on our machines and provides a more efficient way of managing the business.”

Concludes Tina Stehle, Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Agilysys Hospitality Solutions Group: “From concert halls to sports stadia, and tourist attractions to fine dining restaurants, we are providing EPoS solutions to Compass Group UK and Ireland. We are very pleased to be working with one of the UK’s best-loved tourist venues, helping to provide a slicker hospitality service to their visitors.”