11-12-06 Zonal equip entire 300+ Orchid Estate in under 50 days

The newly formed Orchid Pub company needed to replace the EPoS equipment in all its 305 UK sites in double-quick time. Having acquired 290 pubs from Punch Taverns and 15 from Noble House Leisure, Orchid decided to bring them all up-to-date with a state of the art EPoS solution. Having looked closely at several hospitality EPoS suppliers, Zonal's Aztec Management System was chosen as the clear leader in every key area of Orchid's business.

Since Orchid was investing more than £4.3 million in over 1200 EPoS terminals, they expected to receive the best quality service coupled with rapid site installations. Zonal has delivered all this and more, installing up to ten sites per day and delivering training on and off-site to every Site Manager, Area Manager, Auditor and Training Support Manager. In total over 1800 people have been trained in over 800 separate courses during the period of the roll-out.

Originally set for completion in December 2006, the whole roll-out including hardware installation, training and go-live support was completed in approximately 50 days, two weeks ahead of schedule.

Orchid wanted an automated system that maximised business efficiency and minimised their need for office staff. The Aztec software solution chosen by Orchid gave them those features. Orchid’s solution is a fully integrated system that allows both food and wet stock to be analysed in the finest detail in real-time and allows employee details and timesheet data to be transferred automatically into a third-party payroll application. The Aztec Finance application transfers performance data into their existing accounting application, ensuring data transfer is fast and 100% accurate. In the Orchid sites that also offer accommodation, Aztec communicates with Orchid’s hotel system to enable products and services ordered on-site to be automatically charged to that customer’s room.

Along with the Z500 EPoS terminals and Aztec Management System software, Zonal has installed its Automated Purchase Order System (APOS). APOS automates the whole stock ordering process to free up significant management staff time at all outlets and the head office. The system stores all sales data to ensure each outlet only orders (suggested automatically) the right amount of stock to suit its sales performance, a key factor in reducing stock and maximising sales of fast moving lines.

Orchid’s Finance Director Charles Freeman said: “This is a significant investment for the company. It is vital that our managers have the most effective technology to enable them to run their pubs smoothly and Zonal’s EPoS terminals will enable them to do just that. The system provides excellent control and management information to our individual pub managers as well as business analysis for our head office.”

“Choosing Zonal’s EPoS solution highlights our commitment to improving both service and efficiency within our pubs and we believe it will be a key factor in supporting the company’s future growth.”

 

Zonal Managing Director Stuart McLean said: “The Orchid Pub Company is now one of the largest managed pub estates in the UK and I am proud that Zonal will be a key part of their success. The fact that Orchid chose Zonal is a huge endorsement of Aztec’s features and the dedication of Zonal staff to the success of the Orchid implementation.”

 

Project Summary:

Project investment:	£4.3 million
Number of sites:	305
Installation timescale:	44 days to-date
EPoS Terminals installed:	1262
Rate of site installation:	up to 10 per day
Training sessions:	800
Staff numbers trained:	1800