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 Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng.

Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng

This year’s Parliamentary Review reflects on a tumultuous and extraordinary year, globally and nationally. As well as being an MP, I am a keen student of history, and I am conscious that 2020 would mark the end of an era. It will be remembered as the year in which we concluded Brexit negotiations and finally left the European Union. Above all, it will be remembered as the year of Covid-19.

In our fight against the pandemic, I am delighted that our vaccination programme is beginning to turn the tide – and I pay tribute to the British businesses, scientists and all those who have helped us to achieve this. But the virus has dealt enormous damage, and we now have a duty to rebuild our economy.

We must ensure that businesses are protected. We have made more than £350 billion available to that end, with grants, business rates relief and our furlough scheme supporting more than 11 million people and jobs in every corner of the country, maintaining livelihoods while easing the pressure on employers. The next step is to work with business to build back better and greener, putting the net zero carbon challenge at the heart of our recovery. This is a complex undertaking, but one which I hope will be recognised as a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Through the prime minister’s ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, we can level up every region of the UK, supporting 250,000 green jobs while we accelerate our progress towards net zero carbon emissions.

With our commitment to raise R&D spending to 2.4% of GDP and the creation of the Advanced Research & Invention Agency, we are empowering our fantastic researchers to take on groundbreaking research, delivering funding with flexibility and speed. With this approach, innovators will be able to work with our traditional industrial heartlands to explore new technologies, and design and manufacture the products on which the future will be built – ready for export around the globe.

And I believe trade will flourish. We are a leading nation in the fight against climate change. As the host of COP26 this year, we have an incredible opportunity to market our low-carbon products and expertise. Our departure from the EU gives us the chance to be a champion of truly global free trade; we have already signed trade deals with more than 60 countries around the world.

As we turn the page and leave 2020 behind, I am excited about the new chapter which Britain is now writing for itself, and for the opportunities which lie ahead of us.

Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy