Syrve’s UK MD, Chris Teague recently sat down to chat with us about his professional background and offer his perspectives on emerging trends in the hospitality sector. It’s been quite a journey for Chris, and one shaped by years of experience across sales and hospitality technology. Here’s what he had to say.
When I came out of education, I had a choice between going to university and taking a job with an estate agency. It was a bit of a no-brainer in the end because being an estate agent meant I got the chance to drive a nice new car and look around people’s houses!
I then had a nine-year stint at Groupon, progressing from salesperson to leading the entire new business function for the UK and Ireland.
Later, I joined Sunday, a QR code payment platform for restaurants. Being one of the first UK employees and head of sales there, it was during that time where I fell in love with hospitality much more.
I really got the bug for hospitality at Sunday, which taught me what good tech can do for restaurant operators and the wider hospitality sector.
When the Syrve role became available, it was the same sector I had come to care deeply about, but I also knew that its POS platform could really help operators by adding real value and visibility into their business.
A winning combination of hospitality focus, clear customer value and growth potential meant it was simply a no-brainer for me. I’ve now been here for almost two years.
Our industry is under huge pressure from rising costs such as energy and staff, and you see venues sometimes closing faster than they’re opening. There is a really exciting opportunity to turn the tide with technology, however.
Only in the last few years have things like QR code payments and kiosks really started to change how restaurants operate. There’s room for innovation, and we’re all working together as one to ease the pressure on the sector and create positive change. And of course, at the end of the day, it’s about food. Who doesn’t love good food?
“QR code payments and kiosks have really started to change how restaurants operate.”
Operators know what it’s really like to run a restaurant day-to-day. They know that a five-second delay on a card payment feels like forever when a customer is stood right there waiting to complete a payment – it makes all the difference to the experience.
If you’ve not walked in the shoes of the people you’re providing a service to, it’s very difficult to solve their challenges. Tech companies should hire people who’ve worked in restaurants and get their teams on the restaurant floor - shadowing shifts, observing service and feeling the pressure in real time.
I would say AI and data-driven technology, but there is a big caveat to this. I’m seeing operators say they want it, but without knowing why. Personally, I want it to know the things that I don’t.
In hospitality, it needs to uncover insights that operators don’t know so they can make smarter decisions. It doesn’t have to be anything overly complex. It might be as simple as finding out that there are a lot of orders for a specific product.
There is also growing interest in automation such as robot waiters, but we need to be mindful of stripping the human experience out. Restaurants have to offer soul and give us a unique feeling when we go, otherwise I may as well cook at home.
We see this as well with menus. People still want paper menus because it keeps phones out of their hands and they’re having a conversation. Same with apps. People don’t want to flick through pages of apps on their phone to find a branded restaurant app.
Don’t do it! I’m only joking, but I won’t pretend that market conditions aren’t tough. Restaurateurs need to do thorough research, understand that failure is a possibility and build the business from day one to be efficient, scalable and financially disciplined.
The operators who thrive know their numbers early and design their model around sustainable margins, but they also go beyond food to create a distinctive experience and story that makes guests feel something.
Again, it’s about that soul and unique feeling we get when we take our seat at the table to enjoy our food. Memorable atmospheres should transport diners to a new world. That’s the key to success.