With this week’s news confirming that the 4th July will see pubs able to reopen across England, I thought it pertinent to update an article I wrote recently as an aid so we can open safely.
This is my story as a card payment expert come recent pub owner and how we’re approaching the “hopefully very soon” post lockdown situation and how card payments will play a clean part via our “cleanclicks” solution.
Not a lot of people will know that last September I became the co-owner a lovely rural pub in Lincolnshire and after extensive refurbishment, we opened in late December, just in time for hosting the village Xmas carol service. The Green Man is located in Scamblesby near Louth and just a mile from the Cadwell Park racing circuit and famous Viking Way which runs through the village. We’ve enjoyed every minute since we opened our doors in December and have loved being part of village life with our dedicated team. Little did we or anyone know that by Mid-March we would have had to close the doors, and they would remain closed for such a long time. I’ve been researching the options for how we can look to start trading again with a takeaway offering initially and I was staggered at the costs for using the “leading takeaway” ordering options like JustEat and to find out how much they take from the business, with costs of up to £4 for a £20.00 collection order. As a result, I set about researching what alternatives were available, for the benefit of my business and all those businesses who are referred to acceptcards by our extensive professional partner network.
For those of you that know me, I love nothing more than a challenge and being uniquely placed with my payments industry knowledge to find a solution, I quickly set about finding the right payment and software partners, with the right ethos to make this happen.
It wasn’t easy and has taken lots of long hours and a fair few late nights with lots of people all doing their bit to make it work, but the great news is that we have been able to create our CleanClicks campaign – a bespoke, safe, social distancing online ordering and payments solution that would mean that £20 takeaway order that was going to cost up to £4 (20%), could now cost just as little as 63p.
More importantly, it was being able to adapt this App to offer the order & pay at table options for when we are able to re-open The Green Man for full table service, and will be the difference between mine and many other pubs, restaurants or cafés surviving lock-down or sadly may never opening again.
Using the CleanClicks online link, customers can book a table, choose from our menu and, within a few clicks, order and pay for their food and drinks from their phone. Customers who drop in unannounced can be seated at a safe social distance from other diners either inside or in the beer garden and use the App to safely order their food and pay. All from their table, reducing the interactions needed with serving staff and increasing the speed of service which will result in reducing our costs!
I know that when people see pubs, restaurants and cafes are taking precautions to keep them safe, they will be more inclined to choose to visit those businesses.
I’m really proud that through collaborative working with our partners at Epos Ready and Sagepay we’ve been able to bring this technology to market, and I now feel optimistic about the future of my pub and I firmly believe this will help enable the hospitality sector to have a trusting, closer relationship with their customers in these most unprecedented of times.
If you’d like to learn more just contact me or head to CleanClicks.
Richard Bradley, CEO of acceptcards and PPO (Proud Pub Owner !!)
Mob: 07903 050089
