Ampersand

CH&Co chooses Lolly cloud based EPoS for Pop-Up Events

How do you make sure that 8,000 party goers get fed and watered at London’s largest summer time pop up event?
‍Ampersand a division of CH&Co prides itself on providing creative and unique hospitality at some of Britain’s most respected establishments and some of the more unusual venues. When the company started to plan its second year of the popular summer popup event at a historic London venue, providing the best customer service was at the top of its priority list.

‍The requirement
‍At previous events of this kind Ampersand had used basic cash registers but it soon became clear that a more comprehensive solution was required. The system would need to provide an efficient and reliable service and one that would cope with heavy usage while providing control over overheads and profit with accurate sales and stock data.

‍A cloud based rental solution
‍When John Ellis, Commercial Manager at Ampersand met Lolly at the end of 2013 he was immediately impressed with their technology and vision for the payments market. So to find that the ideal solution was also available to rent - being one of the only companies on the market who do – had the added advantage of no capital outlay and the flexibility to hire exactly what is required for an individual event. Peter Moore CEO at Lolly Systems explains:“We have a lot of experience developing integrated EpoS systems with the latest payment technology. We aim to provide a complete, cost effective solution at an affordable cost. For temporary events the rental market works very well. The Lolly Smart running CS POS software provides a cloud based stock management with full, real-time reporting capability available wherever you are.”

‍Technology Used:

• Lolly Smart EPoS System
• CS POS v3.2
• Integrated 57mm Thermal Printer
• Ingenico ICT250 Card Machine withintegrated 3g Router

Proven results
‍Lolly also carried out the installation which included the connectivity for seamless, simultaneous real-time reporting and card processing. They also supported each event which ran over nine weeks in the summer. An engineer was on-site to make running amendments to the reporting structure to ensure Ampersand got exactly the information it needed to ensure every event ran efficiently. John Ellis said: “The Lolly solution provided us with exactly what we are looking for. Every event ran very smoothly, and we were able to get all the information we needed to measure the success of the event and how to ensure future events were even more successful." He added: “The integrated system reduced errors and save staff time while the Smart proved to be a robust and easy to use piece of kit. It had to deal with 8,000 people taking over £70,000 across 24 till locations in just four hours so we were very impressed.”

‍Future developments
‍Ampersand have developed a good relationship with Lolly and continue to use the systems at other pop up events. John Ellis has been impressed with Lolly staff and products: John Ellis continues: “I really like the fact that Lolly are innovators in the market. They are always keen to extend their experience and develop new solutions to address new issues we face. In fact the additions we have discussed with them have been developed and already live at one of our locations." Lolly will continue to provide ongoing solutions and services to Ampersand.

About CH&Co and Ampersand Catering
‍CH&Co are an exciting group of specialist businesses designed especially to locate the ideal catering or service solution to suit your needs. Ampersand, a division of CH&Co, offer bespoke catering and impeccable service across a diverse range of esteemed British establishments and day visitor attractions, among them the Historic Royal Palaces, ZSL London Zoo, and the Law Society. The company prides itself on being entirely client-focussed and providing seamless service in any location. Ampersand can merge catering into customer settings or manage and design entirely new locations. With highly trained, dependable staff, the company delivers a complete customer experience.

About Lolly Systems
Lolly is a specialist in integrated EPoS systems and payment processing. The software and services company has a core focus on payment technology in the EPoS market, bringing innovative new services to the retail and hospitality markets. The company are ideally placed to provide efficient and cost effective solutions at the point of sale.