Explains Royal Opera House’s Chief Technology Officer, Rob Greig: “Company of Cooks inherited a hospitality EPoS system that we’d had been in place for some time but which was causing us support concerns. The caterer recommended we replace this with a full, modern software and hardware solution, better able to support our expansion plans.”
A market-wide systems evaluation took place and included specialist software house, Mission Integrated Systems, the preferred EPoS supplier of Company of Cooks. Observes Ian Jones, managing director of Mission: “Company of Cooks like the fact that we are what you see. We own and develop our software, rather than resell someone else’s. We work together in a number of high-profile corporate catering operations, and Company of Cooks were keen to have the comfort of running with a tried-and-tested solution and partner.”
Continues Greig: “We have taken the full Mission solution, including point-of-sale, back-office accounting and web reporting. Plus we had some bespoke development carried out.”
Once appointed, Mission approached its preferred hardware manufacturer, J2 Retail Systems. Observes Jones: “We like the consistency of the J2 offer. It’s a solid, reliable product. For this client, we recommended J2 615 touchscreen tills. They’re easy to use, quiet, look good, and have a small footprint, so we felt they were ideal for the Royal Opera House with its fine dining spaces.”
“At Mission, we focus on low cost of ownership, and that’s something that resonates very much with J2. Their hardware represents easy maintenance, a very low failure rate and cost-effectiveness,”
Mission carried out the implementation and system training, and 40 J2 615 units running Mission software are now in use across the building. This includes both of the principal restaurants and their bars, the Champagne Bar, the Crush Room, the Conservatory and Private Dining Rooms, the coffee shops, as well as the areas allocated to staff and artists’ catering and catered events. “Staff are happy with the new solution, and can do their own price and menu changes,” comments Ian Jones.
The Mission-J2 partnership has experience in providing combined EPoS solutions to leading entertainment venues. For example, its hardware and software have been used for the past two years by The Royal Festival Hall.
J2 RETAIL SYSTEMS
J2 Retail Systems is a specialist manufacturer of PC-based touchscreens, LCD touchscreen monitors and point-of-sale hardware to the retail, hospitality and leisure industries. With 90,000+ units installed worldwide, its clients include hospitality and leisure operators including several cinema chains, hundreds of hotels, clubs, pubs and restaurants, plus leading-brand retailers.
By controlling its design and manufacture, J2 has built a reputation for innovation, exceptional reliability and cost-effectiveness. J2 uses emergent technologies wherever possible to reduce the cost of hardware ownership. In a recent market coup, J2 launched the first EPoS to contain Solid State storage drives as standard. By so doing, it reset the benchmark for EPoS performance, reliability and cost of ownership.
MISSION INTEGRATED SYSTEMS www.missionis.com
Mission was founded in 2000 with a single aim in mind: to create an affordable, powerful and easy-to-use POS system for the hospitality market. The company dedicates itself solely to this activity. All software is created inhouse, which results in flexible and configurable solutions that are supported with passion, are easy to use and are cost-effective to acquire.
The mission series provides a complete EPoS and management solution including point-of-sale, Chip & PIN, EFTPOS, analysis and reporting, time and attendance, loyalty and membership, Onlook restaurant reservations, web and remote access, and head office management.
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE
The Royal Opera House, a landmark in Covent Garden, is home to The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Known throughout the world for excellence in opera and ballet, the Royal Opera House presents both the classic and traditional productions alongside world premiere performances by some of the most remarkable composers and choreographers working today.
In addition to the 300 performances on the mainstage each year, there is a wealth of other activity including backstage tours, free lunchtime recitals, tea dances and schools’ and community projects.
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