Nimax Theatres is home to many of London’s iconic West End theatres: Apollo, Duchess, Lyric and Palace Theatre.

Despite the rich heritage of the theatres that date back to 1889, Nimax, which was established in 2005, has brought its technology bang up to date since teaming up with Zonal.

We all know that queuing for a drink during the interval can be time-consuming and was something Nimax was keen to resolve with an EPoS solution that could manage its 40,000 plus weekly footfall.

The search for a suitable EPoS partner was brought into sharp focus back in 2016 when The Palace was chosen to become the home of the award winning Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts 1 and 2.  To meet the unique demands of the play that runs over two performances and create a magical experience beyond the stage, the 1,400 seat theatre had to undergo a complete refurbishment from the stage to the bar areas.

“A total sell out, often with two performances in a day, meant we had to reimagine our bar areas to manage the unusually large number of people visiting both performances, so it was the ideal time to update our technology to optimise the trading opportunity,” explained Nimax’s customer experience manager, James Charlton.

Having asked contacts in the hospitality industry who they would recommend as their EPoS partner, Zonal’s name kept cropping up.

James added: “Zonal had that ‘star’ quality we were looking for and we’ve not been disappointed.  The levels of support, training and service we required have been surpassed, especially as we need to know that someone is there to help in the evenings, including weekends.”

Nimax has now installed 50 Aztec EPoS terminals into all six theatres, as well as its integrated card payment solution and digital signage system, AdMargin.  In terms of sales and customer experience the upturn has been immediate.  “As soon as we go live with Aztec in a theatre, the impact is tangible with a significant increase in sales highlighted in the weekly reports, which we can now access hassle-free.

“Everything has sped up and made us far more efficient from the real-time reporting we can access across the group in terms of trading trends, stock levels and tracking waste, to taking efficient contactless payments.  In the past our staff had to do the mental arithmetic and enter everything manually, now it’s managed through the EPoS, so they can spend the time preparing drinks and deliver a superior service.  The room for error has also been removed.”

In addition, AdMargin is proving to be an exciting addition to Nimax’s marketing, as the team can remotely manage promotions and advertise shows in other theatres by automatically streaming dynamic content, such as images and video, onto the digital signage system.

The system’s unique technology enables Nimax to tailor campaigns to respond to date, location and time of day for a truly personalised experience.

For James, Zonal technology has taken the ‘drama’ out of service and released the pressure on the interval drink, helping the group deliver memorable experiences (for all the right reasons) that match the quality of the shows it puts on.

Street food, drinks and events specialist, Boxpark, has appointed Zonal as its technology partner.

The first of its three sites to install Zonal’s award winning Aztec EPoS system is its latest venture at Wembley Park, spanning 50,000sq ft of modern street food and leisure space and attracting up to 10,000 people a day.  Established Boxpark sites in Shoreditch and Croydon are to follow later in the year.

With ambitious plans to open another 12 locations across the UK, Boxpark was looking for a technology provider that could flex and grow with the business, while providing a stable and secure solution that could cope with high levels of footfall.

“The installation of 13 Aztec EPoS systems has gone without a hitch.”

Ben McLaughlin, Boxpark’s operations manager

We are already serving more people at a faster rate, as we only accept card and contactless payments, helping us to build sales and customer satisfaction levels without having to increase our 50 strong staff.”

For Boxpark it was also important that Zonal could fulfil the Wembley contract within a short space of time while coordinating activity with onsite contractors and other third-party network and broadband providers.

“It has been exciting for the Zonal project team to work with such an innovative pop-up concept and hugely rewarding to see it come together on time and within budget.”

Tim Chapman, Zonal’s sales director

Historic Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, based at Trent Bridge, has brought its technology bang up to date with a £60,000 investment in Zonal’s EPoS system, which is set to give the venue payback within two years.

With more than 17,000 visitors through its doors at peak times, the Club was looking for an intelligent system to replace its old tills.

Hospitality is a key part of the Trent Bridge offer, from matchday food and drink to corporate hospitality and large event catering, but until now, the venue had 40 tills that were not networked, so sales reporting and keeping track of stock was cumbersome and difficult.

Since then, a total of 30 Aztec EPoS systems have been installed throughout the ground, hosting a collection of applications, ranging from finance and people management through to stock and promotions, that helps operators to run an efficient and profitable business.

General manager of catering at Trent Bridge, Jason Hollingworth, said:

“Our old system was no longer fit for purpose, but Zonal came forward with the solution with its Aztec EPoS and integrated business modules – and we haven’t been disappointed.

“The system is intuitive and, with the vast majority of our 225 full and part-time staff in the hospitality team familiar with Aztec, so minimal training has been required.

“The quality of the reporting is excellent, giving us detailed and timely reports, with up-to-the-minute performance data. As a result, we have made savings on better stock management, and menu changes and pricing have never been easier.

“Ultimately, the service we offer our visitors has improved, and that has to be a good thing.”

Trent Bridge’s solution includes Zonal’s payment system (ZPS), with integrated chip and pin and contactless functionality, including Apple Pay technology.

It simplifies the payment process and enables retailers to turn customers faster, streamline processes, reduce operating costs and maximise revenue potential.

Hollingworth added:

“Previously, we couldn’t even take card payments, but, being a top-flight sporting venue our customers were rightly demanding a speedier, better experience and now we are on trend.

“We are advertising the new service and expect that we will very soon be a 50:50 cash / card business, which is great news for everyone, as we can serve more people, quicker.”

Trent Bridge has been so impressed by Zonal’s technology that the ground is looking to build on its commitment by installing iServe, Zonal’s handheld order pad, and its kitchen management system, Kitchen iQ.

These additional modules, that fully integrate with Aztec, will form part of the ground’s £7million media broadcast facilities and hospitality catering suite that are under construction at the Radcliffe Road Stand end of the ground, due for completion in April.

“The new suite currently under construction promises to transform our hospitality offer at Trent Bridge and will include a high end, 70-seater restaurant,” said Hollingworth.

“We need to be able to offer a seamless service and Zonal’s technology, which is robust and reliable, will help us achieve that from taking the orders front of house, to fulfilling the orders in the kitchen, to payment and keeping track of sales and stock availability.”

When premium holiday park company Haulfryn appointed Zonal to design an EPoS solution for its bars, restaurants and shops, it soon realised the technology could do far more to improve efficiency across the whole business and generate new revenue streams.

Haulfryn operates 34 exclusive holiday and residential parks throughout Wales and the South of England, many of which have won awards for the quality of their accommodation and service.
The company was looking for a front-of-house EPoS system to manage retail sales on its parks and share sales data easily with the company’s Microsoft NAV accounting package. But as well as making transactions and stock-taking easier, eliminating the need to double or triple-key sales information into head-office systems and improving the quality and timeliness of reporting information received by the parks’ food and beverage managers, the company is now using Zonal’s technology to underpin its long-term growth.

Steve Lattimore, Haulfryn’s IT Implementation Project Manager, explains: “We quickly saw that there was much more capability in Zonal’s system that we weren’t yet using; tools that would improve the way we worked and help us to understand our business in ways that could make a real difference to our bottom line.”

Merchandising and marketing

The company began using the system to analyse retail sales, in order to gauge which areas of its stocking and marketing strategy were working

“Zonal’s technology allows us to see exactly where our cash is coming from, so we can understand without any ambiguity which events, guest ales or new premium products work and which need to be removed, revised, or marketed more heavily,” says Steve.

“This level of control is great for our business because it allows us to make quick decisions that improve our business based on clear, accurate, up to the minute information.”

Leisure

Zonal’s system is also helping Haulfryn to manage its thriving leisure business, which offers customers a range of activities including white water rafting, canoeing and cycling as part of the Hoseasons Go Active scheme.

Haulfryn Group

“Our leisure business is set to benefit significantly from the technology,” explains Steve.

“Not only will it allow customers to book sessions and plan their trip from our website before they arrive, but it will also enable us to create staff rotas that reflect demand, so we’re never over or under-staffed, and that is great for cost-efficiency.”

“Zonal works for our business because of its ongoing investment in evolving its solutions and continual commitment to embrace modern technology to help companies like Haulfryn operate more efficiently and harness new revenue streams,” he adds.

Hollywood Bowl Group is the UK’s number 1 bowling venue in the UK and boasts 61 sites across the UK. Hollywood Bowl Group sites combine bowling with amusement machines, licensed bars and snack bars to provide their customers with a whole evening of entertainment in a single venue.

Powerful reporting

Leisure and hospitality have always been a close partnership. Zonal bring that partnership closer together by supplying a management system that integrates fully with the Lane Management System used by Hollywood Bowl Group. Dave Smith, the Food and Beverage Manager at Hollywood Bowl Group feels that the biggest failing of their previous EPoS system was the lack of reporting tools and the inability to analyse business performance. “Zonal’s Back Office software means that the manager now spends less time doing admin and more time doing other things, speeding up all business processes”. Indeed when managers spend less time in the office doing paperwork, they can concentrate on running the business and identifying ways to make more money!

Zonal’s Dimensions reporting tool is fully customisable allowing Hollywood Bowl Group to view detailed reports on all aspects of their business. As Hollywood Bowl Group’s business grows and changes, so too can Dimensions reporting. Dimensions had been configured to report on the issues that affect Hollywood Bowl Group today, but Mr Smith was particularly impressed by having the power “to tailor this tool to his needs”.

Thorough user training

Training is a crucial part of modern computerised business. Zonal excel in this field and Dave Smith was particularly impressed with the structure of the training courses and Zonal’s training facilities. Zonal’s training courses cover all aspects of installation, site setup and day-to-day tasks and each course has been written in such a way that it can be used both to learn about the system in a training environment and as reference material during live installations.

Detailed stock control

“Zonal has an excellent stock control system”. Mr Smith is well aware of the importance of careful stock control and Zonal’s system is so powerful that he can obtain accurate stock reports in real-time – the back office PC produces reports that are accurate to within 5 seconds. Dave Smith can also analyse stock movements to identify fastest selling lines and the responses of customers to promotions. This way if sales are moving slowly he can introduce extra promotions mid way through the trading period to boost sales.

Mobile EPoS handheld terminals

Handheld terminals come into their own in the bowling environment. Bowling is a group activity, so nobody wants to be the one to go to the bar. However, with handheld terminals your customers don’t need to go without a drink and you don’t have to miss a sale. Sales staff can take orders without taking anyone away from the action and waiting staff can deliver the drinks. Teamwork that can keep your customers happy and your business booming!