Key Takeaways from Propel Multi-Club “Prospering in the new reality”
In March, we proudly sponsored Propel’s Multi-Club “Prospering in the new reality” event in London. It was a fantastic day, bringing together industry leaders from established brands and exciting up-and-comers to explore how hospitality businesses can thrive.
Naturally, we wanted to understand what role payment tech had in supporting this ever-evolving sector. Here are our key takeaways from the day.
Multi-Site Expansion and Franchising
The ambitious expansion plans shared by Shamil Thakrar, Co-Founder of the award-winning Dishoom, and Francesco Arcadio, Managing Director of dessert brand Kaspa’s, highlighted the industry’s confidence in continued growth.
With Kaspa’s targeting a whopping 500 UK locations and Dishoom taking its first steps internationally after 15 years of domestic success, it’s clear that multi-site and international expansion remains a key strategy for successful hospitality brands.
But where do payments fit in? Growing businesses must consider payment solutions that integrate seamlessly across multiple locations and offer consistent performance across geographical locations.
Real-time reporting and analytics can also not be overstated. Comprehensive payments data across all locations will allow businesses like Kaspa’s and Dishoom to identify high-performing sites, spot and understand emerging trends and make decisions about where to continue expanding.
Loyalty Schemes and Data-Driven Marketing
Thomas Heier, CEO of Wagamama, and Chris Sherriff, CEO of Wingstop UK, both discussed how they are leveraging loyalty schemes and data-driven marketing to engage consumers.
Wingstop’s success in tapping into the needs of Gen Z consumers and Wagamama’s evolution of its loyalty program demonstrate how data-driven engagement is becoming a key competitive advantage in hospitality.
Payments play a key role here. Modern payment solutions can seamlessly integrate with loyalty programs and capture valuable data that drives personalised offers.
Imagine a customer visiting a restaurant chain like Wagamama several times a month. Through integrated payment and loyalty systems, the restaurant collects transaction data like visiting patterns, offering preferences, and spending habits. This data can allow Wagamama to create highly personalised offers for that customer.
Competitive Socialising Sector
The brilliant panel discussion featuring founders and leaders from Lane7, Clays, We Do Play, Edition Capital, and Red Engine, as well as Elizabeth Stanway’s insights on Treetop Golf’s success, revealed the ongoing growth of the competitive socialising sector.
These venues typically combine food, drink, and activities to create experiences that appeal to consumers. Looking ahead, the panel explored international expansion plans, and the ways they can evolve the concepts further to become more engaging.
But these businesses also rely on ultra-fast transactions to avoid bottlenecks at the bar or check-in desk. After all, payment efficiency is not just about processing transactions, it’s about preserving the quality of the customer experience. Slow or unreliable payments will lead to lost revenue and unhappy customers.
Where is the growth in the UK market?
Insights throughout the day shone an interesting light on the Quick Service Restaurant sector. As home workers slowly begin to return, offices are busy again, driving demand for morning essentials like coffee and sandwiches. With breakfast typically being more functional and cheaper, we’re seeing chains compete aggressively during morning hours, with frequent promotions and cost-saving deals targeting breakfast customers.
The chicken shop is also showing remarkable resilience and growth. While year-on-year traffic has seen some declines, investment in new restaurant openings continues to rise impressively. Despite the presence of the massive international chicken eateries, there is increasing growth in demand for local chicken shops. Store numbers have increased by 6% (Q4 2024 vs Q4 2023) with total traffic up by 1.1% over the same period. Even more striking, the number of chicken restaurants has increased by almost 30% over the last four years.
Market conditions overall appear favourable for consumer confidence and spending in hospitality. With inflation now matching wage increases, we’re returning to 2022 conditions where people have more confidence to spend. Although restaurant spending suffered in 2024, improving disposable income has translated into more stable demand conditions. Site numbers have also stabilised following the closures during COVID.
Looking ahead
A common theme throughout the day was how businesses plan to offset National Insurance and National Minimum Wage increases. Speakers consistently emphasised the importance of examining costs and finding efficiencies without sacrificing quality or passing increases onto consumers.
This is precisely where payment solutions can make a significant difference. At FEP PAY, our solutions not only streamline operations but can significantly reduce payment fees while unlocking new revenue streams – a cost-saving opportunity that many businesses overlook (see how you can lower payment rates before the cost increase in April).
FEP PAY is committed to supporting this evolution through payment solutions. To learn more about how our solutions can support your business growth, contact our team today.
Dawn Beeby, Commercial Director
