TISSL

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by TISSL's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from TISSL is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.tissl.co.uk

23TISSL |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018

Kevin Coetzee, founder and

owner

TISSL head office

At the turn of the century, information technology (IT)

suppliers had made a lot of money upgrading computer

systems off the back of Y2K fearmongering. This led to

widespread mistrust, especially within the hospitality industry, who

believed they had been forced into costly and unnecessary upgrades.

In 2003, I started TISSL Limited after having worked for 16 years in an IT company

supplying EPoS (electronic point of sale) solutions to pubs, clubs and restaurants.

Irealised that the industry needed to modernise and get its act together, to provide

solutions suitable for the environments in which they are being used and to make

available outstanding customer service.

IT had become an essential part of everyday life and yet the hospitality industry

lagged behind other sectors, finding it hard to embrace the benefits that tech can

yield. Even today, EPoS is seen as a necessary evil. It is perceived to be expensive,

unreliable and slow, and the vendors are seen as providing poor after-sales support.

Yet these same restaurateurs love the latest gadget and accept that, occasionally,

they may have poor signal during calls or that the internet is not reliable when

sitting down in a coffee shop. EPoS solutions are essential to hospitality and cannot

fail in this manner. It is the engine that powers the most successful businesses. It

also needs to withstand the harsh hospitality environment, which involves liquid

spillage, alcohol and the excessive heat of a busy kitchen.

Streamline business

So why is it so essential to have the perfect, most reliable EPoS solution for your

establishment? Because it is the tool that will help improve your efficiency and your

FACTS ABOUT

TISSL

»Founder and owner:

Kevin Coetzee

»Established in 2003

»Based in Milton Keynes

»Services: EPoS solutions for

hospitality and retail

»No. of employees: Around 50

»Serves clients across the globe

»www.tissl.co.uk

TISSL

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

24 | TISSL

customer journey. It ensures orders

are captured correctly, delivered to the

kitchens immediately and presented

to the customer in an aesthetically

pleasing, prepared and concise

manner. Then, when the meal is over,

the customer can pay quickly and

easily before moving on, content with

their restaurant experience.

But it shouldn’t just stop there. By

capturing customer details, you

can check if they enjoyed their

experience at the restaurant. They

can be made VIPs by inviting them

back with promotions and rewarding

theirloyalty.

With the emergence of cloud hosting,

it was only natural that EPoS began

to utilise this powerful tool. Business

intelligence (BI) data, powered by their

EPoS engines, is thrown up into the

cloud, meaning that valuable data

insights on products, locations and

staff can be accessed from anywhere

at any time.

Dining experience and EPoS

The upcoming generation of diners like

to photograph every aspect of their

lives and share these images across

social media – dining is no exception,

as the emergence of Instagram pages

dedicated to restaurant criticism and

de rigueur images of food on social

media platforms such as Twitter and

Facebook would suggest. They need

to be in control of their experience

and welcome the opportunity to know

more about the source ingredients

and other small details such as

recommendations on beverages, etc.

Ideally, they would access all this

information from their smartphones.

Today, smart EPoS solutions can satisfy

most restaurateurs’ and their diners’

needs. However, the perfect solution

will need to be continuallyevolving.

EPoS solutions must help engage

diners before they even get to the

restaurant, and involve them in how

and when they will want to dine.

The perfect EPoS solution will make

every diner a VIP and grow the brand

of a restaurant and the loyalty of its

customer base.

EPoS evolution

I have watched over the years as

the humble mobile phone – which

started its existence as a clunky,

expensive device – transformed into

a sophisticated handheld computer,

powerful enough to allow countless

other primary tasks and still be used as

a mobile phone.

This transformation has been

embraced by the new generation of

users, who demand that they are able

to utilise their smartphone or tablet

within hospitality. TISSL has been

developing our next generation of

software taking into account this shift

in consumer demand. We understand

that our solution must engage with

not only the restaurant clientele but its

employees, making for a harmonious

customer journey.

Changing TISSL

In order for TISSL to stay competitive,

I have had to change my own

beliefs on what a company of this

nature should feel and sound like.

TISSL handheld point

of sale

EPoS solutions

must help

engage diners

before they

even get to the

restaurant

“

25TISSL |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018

We have restructured the company

from a service-led environment to

sales-led. I have had to reshuffle the

senior positions to strengthen the

management team.

It’s important that we continue to

innovate to prevent the stagnation

previously seen in the industry.

In order to keep up with changes

in technology and consumer-led

IT products, I have had to contend

with the drop in our sales margins.

Employment costs have increased

with new members of staff joining us

and changes to pensions. The cost of

hardware and software development

has also increased, while selling prices

have dropped.

We reach out to our potential

customers online, engaging them at

every turn. We don’t just tell them

that TISSL is the best EPoS solution,

but inform them of the industry, the

pros and cons of choosing a solution

– a fundamental move in being a

thought leader. By the time it comes

to decide who to go with, clients are

informed and empowered to make

the right choice for them. Given the

hospitality industry’s slow uptake on

new technology, we cannot deny the

power of a traditional sales team.

Combining traditional and modern

approaches has been the cornerstone

of our success.

Our software has to be user-friendly,

intuitive, reliable and simple, but

comprehensive and, above all,

competitively priced. Our software

is not hardware dependent and will

operate across various platforms.

Looking towards the future, I know

that TISSL must take our own advice

and also innovate. The development of

new features and modules continues

to grow, and we are now ready to

move forward with groundbreaking

new solutions and services.

2018 is an exciting year for us with

the relaunch of a new, intuitive,

forward-thinking company and culture.

We cannot hold our rightful place

as an industry voice without setting

the example. With our new outlook,

diverse team and catalogue of new

modern products, the margin of our

successes will continue to develop

on a company-wide scale hitherto

unimaginable.

It’s important

that we

continue to

innovate to

prevent the

stagnation

previously

seen in the

industry

“

TISSL business analytics

www.tissl.co.uk

This article was sponsored by TISSL. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from The Rt Hon Theresa May MP.

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

This foreword from the then Prime Minister appeared in the 2018/19 Parliamentary Review.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review. For Her Majesty’s Government, our task in the year ahead is clear: to achieve the best Brexit deal for Britain and to carry on our work to build a more prosperous and united country – one that truly works for everyone.

The right Brexit deal will not be sufficient on its own to secure a more prosperous future for Britain. We also need to ensure that our economy is ready for what tomorrow will bring. Our Modern Industrial Strategy is our plan to do that. It means Government stepping up to secure the foundations of our productivity: providing an education system that delivers the skills our economy needs, improving school standards and transforming technical education; delivering infrastructure for growth; ensuring people have the homes they need in the places they want to live. It is all about taking action for the long-term that will pay dividends in the future.

But it also goes beyond that. Government, the private sector and academia working together as strategic partners achieve far more than we could separately. That is why we have set an ambitious goal of lifting UK public and private research and development investment to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. It is why we are developing four Grand Challenges, the big drivers of social and economic change in the world today: harnessing artificial intelligence and the data revolution; leading in changes to the future of mobility; meeting the challenges of our ageing society; and driving ahead the revolution in clean growth. By focusing our efforts on making the most of these areas of enormous potential, we can develop new exports, grow new industries and create more good jobs in every part of our country.

Years of hard work and sacrifice from the British people have got our deficit down by over three quarters. We are building on this success by taking a balanced approach to public spending. We are continuing to deal with our debts, so that our economy can remain strong and we can protect people’s jobs, and at the same time we are investing in vital public services, like our NHS. We have set out plans to increase NHS funding annually by an average by 3.4 percent in real terms: that is £394 million a week more. In return, the NHS will produce a ten-year plan, led by doctors and nurses, to eliminate waste and improve patient care.

I believe that Britain can look to the future with confidence. We are leaving the EU and setting a new course for prosperity as a global trading nation. We have a Modern Industrial Strategy that is strengthening the foundations of our economy and helping us to seize the opportunities of the future. We are investing in the public services we all rely on and helping them to grow and improve. Building on our country’s great strengths – our world-class universities and researchers, our excellent services sector, our cutting edge manufacturers, our vibrant creative industries, our dedicated public servants – we can look towards a new decade that is ripe with possibility. The government I lead is doing all it can to make that brighter future a reality for everyone in our country.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Prime Minister