However, it’s not just small to medium sized businesses who will suffer. Large chains are forecasting increases of up to 67% in national insurance contributions, with a £60m increase in taxes and business costs for 2025.
The BII has reacted to the budget announcements, saying: “The new costs of employment and increases in business rates will render 80% unprofitable, leading to at least 1-in-4 pubs closing. The budget is devastating for our members, their teams, their pubs and their communities.”
The stark reality of the situation next year is that hospitality businesses need to adjust and adapt to stay afloat, which is where a robust EPoS solution can come in to help reduce costs.
Steve Alton, CEO of BII has stated: “We are calling on the Chancellor to reverse the planned increases of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and change in threshold for part-time workers, alongside reinstating the business rates relief at 75% until full reform has been delivered.”
ICRTouch has been supporting the hospitality industry for decades, working alongside pub and bar owners across the country (over 50% of independent pubs utilise ICRTouch software), to ease the pressures, implement more efficient processes, and strengthen the robustness of their businesses.
ICRTouch CEO, Colin Ringer says: “We’ve already seen a huge decline in the number of pubs and bars across the country off the back of the pandemic and although the industry has been levelling out, owners need to look to the future and explore new opportunities to remain competitive and profitable. Implementing efficient solutions, designed to help work smarter, may just be the saving grace for many.”
Can EPoS solutions really help shoulder the burden?
The right EPoS setup will offer a whole suite of solutions to improve efficiency, increase revenue and keep costs to a minimum. Self ordering has seen a significant increase in demand since the pandemic and it’s expected to be the way forward for more hospitality businesses in the coming year.
Thousands of pubs and bars will be looking at keeping staffing costs to a minimum, with many reluctant to take on additional team members as their businesses expand, and we’re already seeing owners opt for cheaper, digital options that reduce the reliance on high staff numbers.
Reduce reliance on staff with self service kiosks
Solutions like SelfService kiosks have skyrocketed in popularity, especially in QSRs, resulting in a huge reduction in staff requirements and costs. The solution doesn’t just reduce staffing costs, but also increases customer order totals by over 40%! Customers can fully consider choices and not be rushed into making a decision, often resulting in them ordering higher quantities of high-profit margin items.
With customisable screensavers, the SelfService kiosks can also provide an additional advertising space, attracting more customers and allowing the boosting of revenue by upselling latest deals and promotion.
Encourage customers to order remotely
We’ve all become much more accustomed to using self order apps like ByTable, where orders can be placed from personal devices. In venues where the use of kiosks may be impractical, customers can effortlessly place orders from their devices without assistance from staff, allowing them to focus on other important tasks like accelerating order preparation and delivery.
Alongside quicker service, and unlike other self-order options, ICRTouch’s ByTable charges 0% commission on every order, meaning owners and operators can afford more competitive pricing whilst ensuring profit levels. With a self-ordering solution in place, businesses can benefit from increased revenue by completing more covers without need for additional staff.
Benefit from versatile, lightweight solutions
Furthermore, pubs and bars are increasingly requiring EPoS solutions with versatile implementations like a lightweight EPoS option that provides flexibility. ICRTouch’s latest product release, TouchPoint lite, gives hospitality businesses adaptability to cover multiple areas from a single device. TouchPoint lite essentially offers a reliable EPoS option from a single device, making it the perfect tool for keeping staffing costs to a minimum and letting the software handle the responsibility.
Take advantage of the power of data
Intelligent business reporting has always been an essential requirement, but moving into 2025, pub and bar management teams will be relying on it even heavier to track costs, profit margins and staff performance. Identifying cost saving opportunities is going to be a vital part of planning so the ability to drill down to specific data, even in the realms of staff time and attendance, will provide businesses with useful insights that’ll ultimately help keep costs to a minimum.
Reducing mistakes ultimately reduces costs
Reducing the number of staff isn’t always the preferred option, so making those staff more efficient is a useful alternative. Digital order taking solutions like PocketTouch have completely revolutionised the hospitality industry, by speeding up service and eliminating the traditional pen and paper order taking process. Staff can send orders directly to order management systems at the click of a button, which speeds up service by reducing back and forth trips to the till.
With live stock updates and clear, unified options, the solution reduces mistakes and miscommunication, ensuring no orders are placed for something that’s not available, saving you time and money.
There’s no denying that 2025 is going to bring a whole new set of challenges to our industry, meaning pubs and bars are going to be forced to consider new opportunities and alternative options. Assessing your technology solutions and EPoS operations is a great place to start.
