What Makes the Best EPOS System for Restaurants and Hospitality in the UK?

The hospitality industry is no guessing game. Time equals money, and each sale needs to be processed quickly. If you are running a high-end restaurant in London, a busy pub in Manchester, or a small independent hotel in Edinburgh, your hospitality EPOS system is what will make or break how smooth your operation runs during peak times, manages stock, and serves customers.

 

But what do you search for when searching for the best hospitality POS system, and how do next-gen systems like Clever Till address such practical necessities?

 

The Challenges of Hospitality Operations in the UK

 

Hospitality businesses must steer a strange combination of customer service, inventory management, staff management, and regulatory compliance. In the UK, there are additional challenges: coping with variable VAT rates, staying on top of food safety regulations, and including delivery platforms like Deliveroo or Just Eat.

 

A generic retail POS system will get you through basic transactions, but it won't handle split bills, kitchen printing, table configuration, or time-sensitive menu items. That's why you need a specialist hospitality EPOS system.

 

Top Features of the Best Restaurant EPOS System

 

Let's cut through marketing jargon and focus on what matters most when evaluating EPOS systems for the UK restaurant and hospitality sector:

 

1. Table Management and Order Routing

A good EPOS for restaurants must reflect how your floor is structured. Solutions like Clever Till offer drag-and-drop table maps, which enable staff to assign and keep track of orders in real-time. Sending orders to kitchen printers or display systems (KDS) ensures that each department only gets the relevant info.

 

2. Flexible Payment Options

The ideal restaurant EPOS system should have the ability to handle split bills, multiple tenders, contactless, mobile wallets, and even "pay at table" options. With Apple Pay and other digital forms increasingly being used by UK diners, flexibility is not something that can be ignored anymore.

 

3. Staff Management and Shift Tracking

In hospitality, your employees are constantly changing. Clever Till is role-based login, timesheet tracking, and even simple payroll reports—enabling managers to reduce wage drift and simplify rotas based on actual trading habits.

 

4. Cloud-Based Real-Time Reporting and Access

Most UK restaurateurs operate multiple sites or must keep track of daily takings on the move. Cloud-based hospitality EPOS gives real-time access to sales, stock, and staff activity—via any device.

 

5. Menu Engineering and Modifier Management

Menus are in a state of flux in hospitals, and EPOS must adapt. From providing personalisable meals, seasonal menus, or promotions, the ability to build complex modifiers (like "extra cheese", "no nuts") ensures accurate orders.

 

Outside the Till: Integration with Delivery, Reservations, and Inventory

 

A well-functioning EPOS is never an island. It integrates with your wider technology stack. For UK hospitality businesses, that typically implies:

• Online ordering platforms: Clever Till integrates with Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and the like.

• Table management: Integrates with table management software such as OpenTable or ResDiary.

• Stock control: Tracks real-time stock, reduces wastage, and automates reordering.

This integration creates one cohesive back-of-house and front-of-house experience — something generic systems can't create.

 

Hospitality VAT and Reporting Needs in the UK

 

The UK hospitality VAT regime can be complex, especially with recent innovations given COVID-era relief schemes. A hospitality EPOS system should allow for multiple VAT rates on products, management of service charges, and HMRC-reporting compliant end-of-day reporting.

 

Clever Till allows customers to define tax by product category and generates Z reports and detailed breakdowns needed for quarterly VAT returns.

 

Why the "Best POS System for Hospitality" Varies Based on Business Type

 

Although many articles throw around best POS system for hospitality, the truth is: it varies based on business type.

 

• Quick-service restaurants need fast order-taking, self-service kiosk integrations, and speed-optimized processes.

• Fine dining restaurants need strong table service functionality, wine pairing functionality, and kitchen talk-back.

• Hotel restaurants and bars need multi-department sales tracking and room billing integrations.

 

We have designed Clever Till with modular functionality so you can customize it to how you want it — whatever type of bistro you have as a single site or whatever the size of your chain of venues in the UK.

 

Cost Factors Influencing UK Hospitality Businesses

 

Most businesses ask themselves: Is it worth spending money on an EPOS system? Let's do some swift sums.

 

• Human error on orders costs the average UK restaurant £3,000–£5,000 a year.

• Poor stock control will increase food wastage by 10–15%.

• Limited visibility of sales patterns often leads to the wrong staff decisions.

 

Most efficient restaurant EPOS system quickly earns its keep. Clever Till's pricing is transparent and geared for small to medium-sized hospitality companies — no surprise fees or muddled contracts.

 

Conclusion

 

Britain's hospitality industry is competitive, pace-setting, and merciless. Running on outdated systems — or worse, none — not only wastes time, it's also unsustainable.

Choosing a purpose-built, cloud-based hospitality EPOS system like Clever Till gives your business more than just a till. It gives you:

 

• Data to drive decisions

• Tools to delight guests

• Technology to scale smartly

 

 

So if you’re searching for the best EPOS system for restaurants or looking to upgrade to the best POS system for hospitality in the UK, look beyond the surface. Choose a system designed for the realities of your industry.