In the fast-paced world of hospitality, businesses need payment solutions that can keep up with their growth and changing needs, says the Press Up group’s operations manager Luke Brock.
Press Up Hospitality Group, a rapidly expanding company with over 50 venues, found the perfect partner in BOIPA.
We met up with Luke Brock, Operations Manager at Press Up to explore how BOIPA helped Press Up to streamline their payment processes, overcome challenges, achieve significant savings and provide management oversight across the business.
“Their ability to keep pace with us and how we operate has been very impressive”
Press Up Hospitality Group has been operating for almost 15 years, with a diverse range of venues across Dublin, Ireland and the UK. With bars, restaurants, hotels, and cinemas, Press Up has grown organically and rapidly over the past decade.
As Ireland’s largest hospitality group, Press Up has a family of dynamic and creative hospitality and lifestyle brands to suit every occasion. The venues range from the likes of the Workman’s Club music venue, to the Vintage Cocktail Club, to restaurants like, Roberta’s and Angelina’s, and to casual dining experiences like Wowburger, Elephant & Castle, and Captain America’s.
Keeping pace with an industry influx
Before partnering with BOIPA, Press Up faced several issues with payment providers, such as multiple points of contact, slow response times, and inefficient back-end setup.
As the company grew, Press Up needed a robust payment solution that could keep up with their pace, streamline operations, and provide a single point of contact for all their payment needs. There was also a need for virtual terminals and payment links that could be sent to customers to complete payments themselves.
“I think one of the biggest hurdles we faced previously was having multiple points of contact because of the way our group is set up – we have a number of limited companies and so they all would have operated individually. Whereas now we’ve a sole point of contact in BOIPA that we deal with directly for managing the likes of replacing credit card terminals, arranging delivery of credit card terminals and for dealing with the setup of BOIPA Collect – where we now have a main point of contact where previously we hadn’t.”
The catalyst for change
The problems came to a head when the world went into lockdown during Covid. With the entire hospitality industry in crisis, a more reliable and flexible payment provider was needed, one that could keep up with the pace of change in an industry in flux.
“Covid was the kickoff of the changeover. There was a lot of change very, very quickly. When lockdown started kicking in, we weren’t 100% on how things were going to pan out. If we’d be staying open, or closing and so on. And so the decision to change payment providers was very much based around that and the fallout from lockdowns and what had happened. We needed a partner that could keep up with the pace of change in our industry.”
A flexible and scalable solution
Press Up chose BOIPA for several reasons, including cost-effectiveness, a dedicated group account manager, and a proven ability to keep up with the company’s rapid growth. BOIPA worked closely with Press Up to tailor a payment solution that catered to their specific requirements.
“One of the biggest issues we faced previously was the pace that we move at. Other providers had struggled to keep up with this. Things tend to happen very quickly, given the likes of licensing for example where decisions can impact opening dates etc. When dealing with BOIPA, it’s just been a lot more efficient and they’re also more readily available to work with us.”
Key features of BOIPA’s solution include:
- Consolidated Services – single point of contact for all payment-related services, eliminating the confusion of multiple account managers across the different limited companies.
- Streamlined Back-End – simplified back-end payment setup, enabling the group to efficiently manage transactions and consolidate reporting across all their venues.
- Seamless Integration – smooth transition by integrating their payment systems with Press Up’s existing point-of-sale (POS).
- Enhanced Security – use of state-of-the-art security measures to protect Press Up’s customer data and reduce the risk of fraud from over the phone interactions. “If we have a client looking to pay a deposit for something, we can just send them a link where they fill in all their details without having to give us details over the phone. So we’re not storing any information, it’s more secure.”
- Ongoing Support: Press Up received a dedicated group account manager, who provided personalised support and assistance whenever needed, ensuring smooth operations and quick resolutions to any issues.
“BOIPA’s ability to keep pace with us was extremely important. Particularly during lockdowns, when we went from being fully open with restaurants to having to set up food trucks, outside dining etc – there were a lot of things that we needed to turn around very, very quickly and they worked with us very well. Setting up the likes of food trucks outside venues in the middle of nowhere. Having the ability to have terminals on Wi-Fi, 3G etc. so you weren’t losing connections.”
Future-proofed hospitality
Since partnering with BOIPA, Press Up Hospitality Group has experienced several significant business benefits, including:
- Improved Operational Efficiency: Streamlined payment processes, consolidated services, and a single point of contact for all payment needs contributed to increased operational efficiency across the group. “In relation to the BOIPA Collect platform, it’s the first time we’ve had a full set of virtual terminals with the ability to allocate different users, with different permissions and rights within the system.”
- Scalability: BOIPA ability to adapt to the group’s rapid growth allowed Press Up to continue expanding. “I’ve dealt directly with a couple of the engineers myself e.g. on go-live dates with a lot of activity going on, trying to get hotels open and the guys just come in and set everything up themselves and work away. And usually within the day they would have everything set up, and for the likes of a hotel, you’re probably talking about 10-12 terminals across the building. It could be a lot to set up and get done in a day, but with BOIPA the experience has been seamless.”
- Cost Savings: Press Up achieved considerable savings on payment processing fees, allowing them to reinvest in their business and focus on expansion.
- Enhanced Customer Experience: With BOIPA’s seamless integration and advanced security measures, Press Up was able to provide their customers with a fast, secure, and hassle-free payment experience.
“The key thing is the interaction with their team and how responsive they are to requests, I don’t think I’ve ever waited over 24 hours for a response from the team in any way, shape or form. So you know they’re there to support you, from my direct contacts or their actual customer service team for the venues themselves. There’s never been an issue with customer support response or anything else. Their ability to keep pace with us and how we operate has been very impressive.”
