Epub: no frills EPoS is here
Punch transfer tenants taking over former Spirit managed houses have been rejecting the pub's existing EPoS for a new, cheaper 'no frills' system - despite claiming to have come under "pressure" from the pubco to keep the old tills.
Paul Roberts, managing director of Wirral-based EZ Touch, says he has sold his system to a number of licensees who have decided against the existing systems in the pubs.
"There are no licence fees to use our system and it does the same job," he says.
EZ Touch is a family firm that has sold traditional cash registers to pubs for 40 years. The no frills EPoS was launched last September after four years of research and development.
"We realised the traditional till business was dying," says Paul. "We knew we had to come up with something bigger and better."
Rather than follow the lead of the sophisticated EPoS favoured by pub chains, however, the firm sought to reproduce a basic cash register on a touchscreen till and target the independent licensee put off EPoS by its price and complexity.
"We approached it from our cash register background," Paul explains.
"We wanted an EPoS system everyone can understand. We've gone for simplicity. There's a big demand. As a concept, no frills is working. Other EPoS is fine for big restaurants but they have too much functionality for the standard pub."
Punch transfer lessee Gary Cody, who runs the Peacock in the City of London, was one of the first to snub his landlord and give the EZ Touch system a chance.
"I was pressured to keep the old EPoS System but just said 'no'," he says. "I looked at all the systems and was impressed by the simplicity of EZ Touch.
"It's going swimmingly well, it's doing everything it says on the tin," he adds. "It's simple to use and suits my purposes, makes life so easy. Stock control is brilliant and it's easy for staff to use."
Punch Taverns comments: "The pubs we're currently transferring to lease are some of the very best on the market and the vast majority have had the latest in EPoS system technology installed, in fact it is mandatory for our second and final phase outlets.
"We do have a favoured EPoS supplier although retailers are given the option of using a system of their own choice if preferred.
"In some cases we have had to temporarily leave the old systems in the pubs and any retailer in this situation is fully informed of the timescales involved, which is typically less than a week."
