North Brewing Company overhauls front and back-of-house operations with Zonal's tech stack
Introducing North Brewing Company
First site, North Bar, opened in 1997
Acknowledged as the first craft beer bar in the UK
The brewery, North Brewing Company, opened in 2015
11 pubs and bars in the north of England and one in Treviso, Italy
“The reason we needed to look for a new technology solution was just due to the mounting challenges that our industry faces at the moment.”Matt Gladman, Head of Systems & Continuous Improvement, North Brewing Company
The business challenge
Faced with an existing system that was unreliable and failing to meet the requirements of their expanding business, as well as the mounting challenges caused by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, North Brewing Company sought out a new technology partner to help streamline operations across their collection of taprooms and bars.
The North Brewing team knew they needed an established, fit-for-purpose system that already met their requirements without needing to wait for additional functionality to be implemented. The team also wanted a system that would provide them with robust, accurate data that would enable them to quickly and effectively make decisions and respond to trends.
Amidst a difficult trading environment, the team also wanted greater control over their stock management, helping to both save their teams time, as well as reduce costs and protect their GPs at each site.
Dedicated support was also key for the team at North Brewing, with their incumbent system frequently experiencing crashes and no available support to help, leading to trading downtime and sub-optimal experiences for their customers.
“If there are any operators out there that think they might not be big enough to switch to Zonal, I would say don’t be put off by the big names. Our experience was that Zonal tailored a package that was built just for us, was really specific to us, and was designed around our needs and our drive for great hospitality.”Matt Gladman, Head of Systems & Continuous Improvement, North Brewing Company
The solution
Aware of Zonal’s pedigree in the sector, the North Brewing team worked closely with the Zonal team to put together a package of connected solutions that would elevate their operations and deliver outstanding guest experiences across the business. Zonal’s extensive experience with multi-site estate rollouts meant that upgrading their system was a smooth process, with our dedicated onboarding teams supporting every step of the way, including on-site support on go-live day, resulting in minimal disruption to trading and a smooth transition for staff. The North Brewing team also benefit from unlimited ongoing access to Zonal’s industry-leading, UK-based support, meaning our team are always on hand to keep their sites up and running when needed.
By implementing a range of fully-integrated Zonal solutions, the team have also been able to streamline their operational processes and the way they serve their guests. Zonal’s handheld iServe ordering devices enable North Brewing’s teams to easily take guests’ orders at the tableside and send them through to the bar without the need for any re-keying; and their inventory management has been transformed with more efficient and accurate stock control facilitated by Zonal’s Mobile Stocks solution – providing significant time savings, as well as cutting down on paper usage.
Zonal’s ecosystem of technology also provides the team with centralised, real-time data and reporting, enabling North Brewing to quickly and easily analyse trends from across the business, resulting in more informed decision making to help drive the business forwards.
Since implementing Zonal’s technology across their estate, North Brewing have benefitted from:
- An established, fit-for-purpose enterprise EPoS solution, enabling greater control at both head office and site level
- Robust, feature-rich stock management solution included as standard – no extra costs or hidden functionality
- Handheld ordering devices for staff with no re-keying required, speeding up service times and reducing mistakes
- Mobile Stock management solution, fully integrated with the EPoS stock solution, eliminating the need for printed count sheets and manual count entries
- Centralised, real-time reporting, enabling North Brewing to better track and act upon trends from across the business
- Full integrations to Airship & Toggle, enabling them to track customer loyalty and drive additional revenue
“The customer support from Zonal has been fantastic, not only did we have everyone on-hand on the day, but after the installations we’ve been able to get in touch with people from head office. The helpline is so useful.”Stacey Godward, General Manager: North Taproom – Sovereign Street, North Brewing Company
Results
