Digitise · Project
Restaurant and pub technology, without the sales pitch
EPOS, bookings, stock, rotas, and payments: chosen for how you work, set up properly, and connected, by someone with nothing to sell you.
Fixed-price projects from £2,950. A fixed quote after a free scoping call. No VAT added to your invoice.
How do you choose an EPOS and booking system without being sold to?
Start with how you work, not with the software. Write down your service style, your menu, how many tills you need, how bookings come in, how you count stock, and what has to connect: your accounts, your payroll, and your rota. Then compare systems against that list, on the full cost over three years: software, hardware, card fees, contract length, and the cost of leaving. Ask every supplier how your data comes out if you go. And take advice from someone who earns nothing from your choice.
Digitise is how I do that with you. It is Atelier Sawyer's fixed-price technology project for independent restaurants, pubs, bars, and cafés in the UK: an independent review of what you run, the right systems chosen for your operation, and the work of setting them up, connecting them, and training your team.
Independent means independent
I do not sell any system, and I have no preferred supplier. I will not take an exclusive arrangement with anyone, so the recommendation is always the one that suits your business, not mine. If a supplier ever pays me for an introduction, I will tell you before you choose, and it will never change what I recommend.
I also look at two things many suppliers never ask about: how comfortable your team is with technology, and where the business is going. Selling you more than you need is wrong. So is selling you something that suits today but will not cope with the second site you plan to open in six months.
Does this sound familiar?
- Your till, your bookings, and your stock system do not talk to each other.
- Cashing up and end-of-day reporting mean three spreadsheets and a late night.
- New staff take weeks to learn the till.
- You are paying for features you never use, and missing the ones you need.
- Tips and the tronc are worked out by hand, and you are not sure the records would stand up to a question.
- You want a second site, and your systems would not survive it.
How Digitise works
The project takes about six weeks from the scoping call to go-live, followed by three months of fine-tuning. It runs in five stages.
1. Review and selection
I look at what you run now, where it slows you down, how confident your team is with technology, and what you need now and over the next year or two. Then we choose the right tools for your operation: the till, bookings, stock, rota, and payments, compared on fit and on full cost, not on the sales pitch.
2. Connection
Your systems should share what they know. Sales should flow into your accounts; guest notes should be visible at the table; labour should be measured against takings as they happen.
3. Moving your data
Changing systems is where things go wrong. I plan and manage the move of your menus, guest lists, and history, so nothing you need is lost.
4. Go-live and training
A system is only as good as the people using it. I manage the switch-over, and train your managers and your team until they are confident, before the first service on the new set-up.
5. Fine-tuning
For three months after go-live, we adjust the set-up to how you actually use it, so the reports are right and the everyday tasks are quick. Three months takes your new reports through a full VAT quarter, so the figures are proven before you rely on them. If the software itself develops a fault, that goes to the supplier under your contract with them.
What is included
- A review of your current systems, costs, and contracts
- A written recommendation, with each option compared on fit and three-year cost
- Set-up and connection of the chosen systems
- Data migration, planned and checked
- Go-live support and training for managers and team
- Three months of fine-tuning after go-live
- WhatsApp and email throughout the project: replies within four hours between 07:00 and 20:00, email the same day, and an urgent call back within two hours
Why work with me
I have spent more than 30 years running restaurants, cafés, bars, pubs, and nightclubs. I have worked double shifts on tills that fought back, and I know what a system has to do at nine o'clock on a Saturday night, not just in a demonstration. I choose technology the way an operator does: by what it saves the team, not by what it promises.
What Digitise costs
From £2,950, fixed price. Every venue starts from a different place, so the final fee depends on what you need and what you already have. After a free scoping call, you get a fixed, written quote. No hourly billing, and no surprises. Half is paid when the project starts, and the balance at go-live.
Software, hardware, and card fees are paid to the suppliers you choose, so you always see exactly what they cost.
Prices are shown without VAT. Atelier Sawyer is based in Spain, so no VAT is added to your invoice. If your business is VAT-registered, you account for the VAT on your own return under the reverse charge.
Save British Pubs member? Your members' discount applies.
Digitise is not right for everyone
- If your systems work and the problem is how the business runs, start with the Health Check or Run. New technology will not fix an old process.
- If you need a website or a booking site built, that is a separate service.
- If you have already chosen a system and only need it installed, your supplier should do that as part of the contract.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a new EPOS, or am I using the one I have badly?
In my experience, it is often the one you have. Before you replace anything, check how it is set up: menu buttons in the order your team actually sells, modifiers that print clearly in the kitchen, reports you read, and staff trained beyond the basics. A badly set-up system looks like a bad system. If it still cannot do what you need after that, change it. A Digitise review tells you which.
What technology does a restaurant actually need?
Less than most suppliers suggest. A till that suits your service, a way to take bookings if you take them, a way to count stock, a rota, and a link to your accounts. Everything else should earn its place by saving time or money you can measure. Start with the list of what you need, then find the systems that fit it, not the other way round.
What is the best EPOS system?
There is no best one, only the right one for your operation: your service style, your menu, your number of tills, and the systems it has to work with. Compare the ones that fit on their full cost over three years, including card fees and the cost of leaving. Anyone who names a single answer without asking those questions is selling something.
How do I know if I am paying for technology I do not need?
List every system and subscription, what it costs each month, and when you last used each feature. You may well find something you could cancel or combine, or a contract that renews automatically at a higher price. A Digitise review does this with you, with the contracts in front of us, before anything new is chosen.
Can technology reduce how much the business depends on me?
Yes, if it is set up well. Reports that arrive without you building them, a rota that shows labour against takings as you plan it, and stock counts that do not need you in the cellar all give you time back. The aim is a business you can read from your phone, and a team that does not need you there to run it.
Not sure where to start?
Start with a conversation. We will look at what you run now, what is causing friction, and whether Digitise is the right level of help. If the wider picture is unclear, start with a Health Check instead.
In-person sessions are booked at least ten working days ahead.