The Best POS Systems for UK Franchises

Choosing the right point-of-sale (POS) system is key to the success of any franchise, especially in the competitive UK market. 

A well-designed POS system does far more than process transactions, it serves as the backbone for efficient operations, streamlining everything from inventory management and sales tracking to employee scheduling and customer engagement. 

For UK franchises, which need to maintain consistency and oversight across multiple locations, finding a POS system that can handle these unique demands is essential. 

In this article, we will explore the best POS systems for UK franchises, highlighting the key features that make each one a strong contender, and how they can help streamline operations, improve customer service, and drive growth.

What Makes a Good POS System for Franchises?

A good POS system for franchises must address the unique challenges of managing multiple locations while maintaining operational efficiency and growth. It should be scalable to accommodate expanding franchise networks and offer centralised control for overseeing sales, inventory, and reporting across all locations. 

Additionally, seamless integration with other business tools and ease of use are critical for simplifying daily operations and reducing staff training time.

Key features of a good POS system for franchises include:

• Scalability: Supports multiple locations and grows with the franchise.
• Centralised Control: Manages sales, inventory, and reporting across all franchise sites from one platform.
• Integration Capabilities: Integrates with accounting, inventory management, and CRM tools for smooth operations.
• Ease of Use: User-friendly interface to simplify staff training and daily tasks.

Top POS Systems for UK Franchises

Square for Franchises

The Square POS system is a reliable and easy-to-use platform designed to enhance the efficiency of front-of-house operations for businesses, particularly in the hospitality sector. 

Square is a versatile point-of-sale system that caters to quick-service restaurants (QSRs), cafés, bars, and small franchise restaurants. Its user-friendly interface and affordable pricing make it a popular choice for small to medium-sized hospitality businesses.

With its centralised dashboard, restaurant managers can oversee daily operations, track sales, and manage employees with ease. 

The cloud-based software keeps real-time access to data available from anywhere, while its offline mode provides reliability even during internet outages. Square's built-in redundancy keeps the service seamless, making it highly dependable in dynamic restaurant environments.

Square also offers a range of hardware options that are customisable to suit various POS setups. Options include compact countertop registers, mobile card readers, and self-service kiosks, providing flexibility for businesses of all sizes.

The software itself is designed to improve overall operational efficiency by offering features such as multi-location management, inventory tracking, and employee management. 

With these features, Square goes beyond just a payment processing system. It provides comprehensive business management tools, all within one platform. Square also integrates well with delivery services and online ordering platforms, making it a sound choice for restaurants looking to offer omnichannel experiences.

Square POS stands out as one of the best systems for small to medium-sized hospitality businesses in the UK. With its intuitive interface, wide range of hardware options, and powerful management tools, Square is a strong competitor in the restaurant's POS space.

Key Features of Square POS

• Central Menu and Inventory Management: Manage all menus and inventory in one place, including in-store and online sales.
• Multi-location Management: Easily manage multiple restaurant locations from a centralised system, with real-time data access.
• Omnichannel Ordering and Delivery Integration: Integrated with major delivery partners and online ordering platforms, allowing seamless management of in-house and delivery services.
• Performance and Sales Tracking: Monitor KPIs, track sales trends, and view employee performance to identify areas of improvement and optimise operations.
• Loyalty Programs: Boost customer retention with built-in loyalty programs and gift cards, allowing customers to earn rewards and redeem discounts across multiple locations.
• Multiple Payment Options  Accept payments via debit and credit cards, contactless methods, and mobile wallets, ensuring convenience for customers.
• Offline Mode: With Offline Mode, transactions can still process during internet interruptions, eliminating downtime during peak hours.
• Customisable Hardware Solutions: Choose from a variety of hardware setups, including countertop registers, mobile devices, and self-service kiosks.
• Employee Management: Track employee hours, manage shifts, and analyse staff performance from within the platform.
• Comprehensive Reporting and Analytics: Access back-office reports on sales, labour costs, and customer insights, offering valuable data for strategic decision-making.
• Security and Compliance: Maintain compliance with UK regulations and secure payment processing with end-to-end encryption and fraud detection tools.

In summary, Square POS is an excellent all-in-one solution for UK hospitality businesses looking to streamline operations, increase sales efficiency, and deliver a better customer experience. Its range of features and flexibility make it suitable for businesses of all sizes, from small cafés to growing franchise operations.

EPOS Now

The EPOS Now POS system is a versatile, easy-to-use platform designed to meet the needs of hospitality businesses in the UK, including restaurants, cafés, bars, and franchise chains. 

With a focus on simplicity and efficiency, EPOS Now provides restaurant owners with the tools they need to manage their operations effectively, streamline service, and improve customer satisfaction.

Whether operating a single location or a franchise with multiple outlets, the centralised dashboard allows seamless control over day-to-day operations. The system also offers offline functionality, ensuring that businesses can continue processing transactions even if the internet goes down.

EPOS Now provides a range of hardware options, including traditional countertop POS terminals, mobile devices, and self-service kiosks. 

Its flexibility in hardware choices makes it a suitable solution for businesses of all sizes, from small cafés to large franchise chains, allowing restaurant owners to tailor the system to their specific needs.

More than just a point-of-sale system, EPOS Now delivers a comprehensive suite of features, including multi-location management, inventory tracking, and employee performance monitoring. 

The platform integrates seamlessly with major accounting, payroll, and delivery services, providing an all-in-one solution for restaurants that want to simplify their operations and improve their efficiency.

EPOS Now also offers detailed reporting and analytics tools, giving restaurant managers valuable insights into sales performance, staff efficiency, and customer preferences. 

Overall, EPOS Now POS is one of the most reliable and adaptable POS systems available for UK hospitality businesses. Its wide range of features, combined with an intuitive design and scalability, make it a great choice for businesses looking to enhance their operations and grow.

Key Features of EPOS Now POS

• Centralised Cloud-Based Management: Manage sales, inventory, and staff performance from a centralised dashboard that offers real-time data access across all locations. The cloud-based system keeps data up-to-date and accessible from any device.
• Multi-location Management: EPOS Now allows restaurant owners to manage multiple sites from one platform, providing full visibility and control over operations across different locations.
• Customisable Hardware Solutions: EPOS Now offers a range of hardware options, including traditional POS terminals, mobile POS systems, and self-service kiosks, allowing businesses to choose the best setup for their needs.
• Advanced Inventory Management: Keep track of stock levels in real-time, set up low-stock alerts, and automatically reorder items when inventory runs low, helping to prevent waste and maintain optimal stock levels.
• Employee Management and Performance Tracking: Monitor employee performance, track hours worked, and manage shift scheduling with ease. EPOS Now’s built-in features help optimise labour costs and reward top-performing staff.
• Loyalty Programs and Gift Cards: Increase customer retention with built-in loyalty programs and gift cards, allowing businesses to offer rewards, discounts, and incentives to keep customers coming back.
• Omnichannel Integration: EPOS Now integrates with major online ordering and delivery platforms, allowing restaurants to manage in-house and online orders from one system.
• Multiple Payment Options: EPOS Now supports a wide range of payment methods, including debit and credit cards, contactless payments, and mobile wallets, offering customers flexibility at checkout.
• Offline Mode: Continue processing payments even if the internet goes down, ensuring that service remains uninterrupted during busy periods.
• Security and Compliance: Keep customer data secure with advanced encryption and that your business complies with UK data protection regulations.

EPOS Now is an excellent choice for UK hospitality businesses looking for a flexible, scalable, and reliable POS system. 

Whether you operate a single restaurant or a multi-location franchise, EPOS Now offers all the tools needed to manage operations efficiently, improve customer experience, and drive growth. 

Redcat POS 

The Redcat ePOS system is a reliable, user-friendly platform designed to improve the efficiency and accuracy of front-of-house operations. It’s a popular POS choice for quick-service restaurants (QSRs), cafés, bars, and franchise restaurants, providing a wide set of features tailored to the needs of hospitality businesses.

With its central management dashboard, restaurant owners and managers have complete visibility over daily operations while maintaining fast, seamless service. Users can operate Redcat either locally or via the cloud, with built-in redundancy to safeguard against internet outages or network issues, maintaining uninterrupted service.

Redcat also offers adaptable hardware with modular designs to suit various POS configurations. Options include foldable counter POS systems, retractable wall-mounted setups, and pole or wall-mounted touch POS systems, providing flexibility to match any restaurant’s unique layout.

The software is rich in features and designed to improve operational efficiency significantly. It goes beyond traditional point-of-sale functions by offering cloud-based multi-site management, performance tracking, and comprehensive delivery management tools. 

Redcat’s production monitors are ideal for fast-paced environments, tracking and displaying up to eight orders at once, complete with customisable notification sounds and order time recording, perfect for fast-casual restaurants.

Overall, Redcat ePOS is one of the leading POS systems for QSRs in the UK. Its intuitive design, specialised features for the restaurant industry, and broad integration capabilities make it a standout choice.

Key Features of Redcat ePOS:

• Central Menu Management: Manage all menus in one place, including POS systems, delivery partners, online platforms, and apps.
• Multi-site Functionality: Easily manage multiple restaurant locations with independent hardware setups, all from a central system.
• Whitelabel Delivery: A fixed-cost delivery solution integrated with Uber Direct and DoorDash Drive, providing fixed delivery costs, customer data ownership, and loyalty integration.
• Delivery Management: Add delivery instructions and manage delivery dockets seamlessly with built-in tools.
• Performance Tracking: Track KPIs and employee performance, helping identify areas for improvement and reward excellent service.
• Loyalty and Gift Cards: Boost customer retention through loyalty apps and cards, offering rewards, discounts, and vouchers.
• Omni-channel Loyalty: A loyalty program that spans all customer touchpoints, including POS, kiosks, online ordering, apps, delivery, QR codes, and drive-thru.
• Multiple Payment Options: Accept a variety of payment methods, including debit and credit cards, contactless payments, and more.
• Central Dashboard: Manage and oversee all operations from a single, streamlined dashboard for smoother management.
• Inventory Management Integration: Keep stock levels optimal and resolve inventory issues swiftly with integrated tools.
• Table Management Integration: Optimise your floor plan and table setup to enhance customer experience and maximise space.
• Reporting & Analytics: Access detailed back-office reports and analytics to drive informed decision-making.
• Security Tracking: Monitor security across your operations, quickly identifying and resolving any issues.

Redcat ePOS delivers a comprehensive solution that not only manages orders and payments but also boosts operational efficiency and customer satisfaction, making it an excellent choice for UK QSRs and hospitality businesses.

Toast POS 

The Toast POS system is a powerful and comprehensive platform built specifically for the hospitality industry, making it an ideal choice for restaurants, bars, cafés, and multi-location franchises in the UK. 

Known for its restaurant-focused features and robust functionality, Toast is designed to improve the efficiency of front-of-house operations while providing detailed insights into every aspect of the business. Its ease of use and scalability make it an attractive option for businesses of all sizes.

Toast is a cloud-based system that allows restaurant managers to monitor sales, track inventory, and manage staff performance in real time, from anywhere. Whether you’re managing a single location or overseeing multiple franchise outlets, Toast provides a centralised dashboard that gives you full control of daily operations. 

One of its standout features is its offline mode, which ensures that restaurants can continue processing orders and payments even if the internet connection drops, keeping service uninterrupted during busy times.

Toast offers a range of customisable hardware to suit different restaurant environments. Whether you need countertop terminals, handheld devices for table-side ordering, or self-service kiosks, Toast’s hardware optimises restaurant workflows and improves the overall guest experience. This flexibility makes Toast suitable for both small cafés and large, high-volume restaurants.

Overall, Toast POS is one of the most restaurant-centric systems available for UK hospitality businesses. 

Key Features of Toast POS

• Cloud-Based Management Dashboard: Toast’s centralised dashboard provides real-time access to sales, inventory, and employee performance, allowing managers to oversee operations from any location.
• Multi-Location Management: Easily manage multiple franchise locations with Toast’s unified system, giving full control over menus, pricing, and inventory across all sites.
• Customisable Hardware Solutions: Toast offers a wide range of hardware options, including countertop terminals, handheld devices for table-side ordering, and self-service kiosks, giving restaurants the flexibility to design the best setup for their needs.
• Advanced Inventory Management: Toast’s inventory tools track stock in real-time, offer low-stock alerts, and integrate with suppliers to streamline ordering processes and reduce food waste.
• Employee Management and Performance Tracking: Track employee hours, manage shifts, and monitor performance with Toast’s built-in labour management tools, helping restaurants optimise labour costs and boost productivity.
• Customer Loyalty and Gift Cards: Toast provides built-in loyalty programs and gift card options, allowing restaurants to reward repeat customers and encourage return visits with discounts and rewards.
• Omnichannel Ordering and Delivery Integration: Seamlessly manage in-house, takeaway, and delivery orders with Toast’s omnichannel capabilities. Toast integrates with major delivery platforms, making it easy to manage all orders from one system.
• Multiple Payment Options: Toast supports a wide range of payment methods, including credit and debit cards, contactless payments, mobile wallets, and split bills, offering convenience for customers at checkout.
• Offline Mode: Toast’s offline mode lets restaurants continue processing orders and payments even during internet outages, keeping service running smoothly during peak hours.
• Comprehensive Reporting and Analytics: Toast’s detailed reporting provides insights into sales trends, labour efficiency, and customer behaviour, helping restaurant owners make informed decisions to grow their business.
• Security and Compliance: Toast ensures secure transactions with end-to-end encryption and compliance with UK data protection regulations, helping restaurants safeguard customer information.

Toast POS is a top-tier system tailored specifically to the needs of UK restaurants and hospitality businesses. 

Whether managing a single location or a multi-site franchise, Toast offers the flexibility, scalability, and robust features required to optimise operations, improve customer service, and drive growth. 

With its powerful reporting tools, seamless integrations, and intuitive interface, Toast POS is a leading choice for hospitality businesses looking to elevate their point-of-sale systems.

Zettle by PayPal 

The Zettle POS system, by PayPal, is a simple, mobile-first platform designed to meet the needs of small to medium-sized hospitality businesses, including cafés, bars, restaurants, and food trucks. 

Zettle stands out for its affordability, ease of use, and seamless integration with PayPal’s payment processing system, making it an ideal choice for businesses looking for a cost-effective, flexible point-of-sale solution.

Zettle is a cloud-based system that allows restaurant owners and managers to monitor sales and track inventory in real time from any device. 

With a centralised dashboard, restaurant managers can access detailed insights and make quick decisions, whether on-site or remotely. Zettle’s intuitive design and mobile-first approach make it perfect for small businesses that require flexibility and simplicity in their POS system.

The hardware options offered by Zettle are compact and portable, including mobile card readers and countertop terminals. The portability of Zettle’s hardware makes it an excellent choice for businesses that need flexibility, such as pop-up cafés or mobile food trucks, while still being powerful enough for brick-and-mortar restaurants and bars.

Despite its simplicity, Zettle offers more than just basic POS functions. Its features include inventory tracking, multi-location management, and employee performance monitoring, all accessible via an easy-to-use interface. 

Zettle also integrates smoothly with various accounting platforms, delivery services, and PayPal for payment processing, making it a complete solution for small hospitality businesses.

Key Features of Zettle POS

• Cloud-Based Central Dashboard: Zettle’s cloud-based system allows restaurant owners to manage sales, inventory, and employee performance from a single, easy-to-navigate dashboard accessible from any device.
• Mobile and Countertop Hardware Options: Zettle offers a range of flexible hardware solutions, including mobile card readers and countertop terminals, perfect for small restaurants, cafés, and food trucks.
• Inventory Management: Track inventory in real time and set up low-stock alerts to ensure you’re always stocked with the right items. This helps reduce waste and keeps operations running smoothly.
• Employee Performance Monitoring: Keep track of employee sales and performance with Zettle’s built-in tools, helping managers optimise staff productivity and reward top performers.
• Multi-Location Management: Zettle allows business owners to manage multiple locations from one platform, making it easy to scale the POS system as your business grows.
• PayPal Integration: Seamlessly accept payments via PayPal, in addition to credit and debit cards, contactless payments, and mobile wallets. This integration provides customers with a wide range of payment options.
• Loyalty and Gift Cards: While Zettle does not have built-in loyalty programs, it easily integrates with third-party loyalty tools and supports gift card sales, helping businesses increase customer retention.
• Offline Mode: Zettle’s offline mode ensures that you can continue accepting payments even when internet service is unavailable, allowing your business to operate uninterrupted.
• Comprehensive Reporting: Zettle offers detailed reporting and analytics that provide insights into sales trends, customer preferences, and employee performance, enabling restaurant owners to make data-driven decisions.
• Affordable and Transparent Pricing: Zettle offers a straightforward, pay-as-you-go pricing model with no monthly fees, making it an affordable solution for small businesses looking to manage their costs effectively.
• Security and Compliance: As a PayPal product, Zettle offers industry-leading security with end-to-end encryption, ensuring that payment data is kept safe and that businesses comply with UK regulations.

SkyTab 

The SkyTab POS system is a robust and flexible point-of-sale platform designed specifically for the hospitality industry, making it an excellent choice for restaurants, bars, cafés, and multi-location franchises. 

SkyTab has gained recognition for its focus on enhancing customer service, streamlining operations, and boosting efficiency through a combination of mobile-friendly features and an intuitive interface. With its comprehensive set of tools, SkyTab is designed to improve both the front-of-house and back-of-house management for hospitality businesses in the UK.

SkyTab is a cloud-based system that allows managers and restaurant owners to access sales, inventory, and customer data in real time, from any location. 

With a centralised dashboard, you can monitor daily operations, track performance, and make informed decisions, all from an easy-to-use interface. The system is highly reliable, with built-in redundancy to ensure that service continues smoothly even in the event of internet outages.

This mobile-friendly solution makes SkyTab particularly useful for busy restaurants and bars, where efficient service is key to customer satisfaction. SkyTab also offers more traditional hardware, including countertop terminals and customer-facing kiosks, providing flexibility for businesses of all sizes.

SkyTab goes beyond basic POS functionality with features such as inventory management, multi-location management, and customer engagement tools. The system integrates seamlessly with major accounting and payroll platforms, as well as online ordering and delivery services, making it an all-in-one solution for hospitality businesses.

SkyTab’s reporting and analytics tools provide valuable insights into sales trends, labour costs, and customer preferences, helping restaurant owners make data-driven decisions to optimise operations and increase profitability.

Overall, SkyTab POS is a powerful solution for UK hospitality businesses looking to enhance customer service, streamline operations, and grow their business. Its mobile-first features, combined with comprehensive management tools and seamless integrations, make it a standout choice for restaurants and bars of all sizes.

Key Features of SkyTab POS

• Cloud-Based Management Dashboard: Manage sales, inventory, and customer data from anywhere with SkyTab’s cloud-based platform, providing real-time access to all critical business information.
• Mobile and Tableside Ordering: SkyTab’s mobile hardware includes handheld devices that allow staff to take orders and process payments directly at the table, improving service speed and enhancing the guest experience.
• Multi-Location Management: Manage multiple locations with ease from a single platform, giving restaurant owners full visibility over operations across all franchise locations.
• Customer Engagement Tools: SkyTab includes built-in loyalty programs, marketing features, and customer feedback collection tools, helping businesses improve customer retention and satisfaction.
• Advanced Inventory Management: SkyTab offers real-time inventory tracking, low-stock alerts, and automatic reordering, ensuring businesses can maintain optimal stock levels and reduce waste.
• Employee Performance Monitoring: Track employee performance and manage shifts with SkyTab’s labour management tools, helping restaurant owners optimise labour costs and reward top-performing staff.
• Multiple Payment Options: SkyTab supports a wide range of payment methods, including credit and debit cards, contactless payments, and mobile wallets, providing flexibility for customers.
• Offline Mode: SkyTab's offline functionality guaranteeing that payments and orders can continue to be processed even when internet connectivity is lost, minimising disruptions during peak hours.
• Comprehensive Reporting and Analytics: Access detailed reports on sales, customer behaviour, and employee performance to make data-driven decisions that drive profitability and operational efficiency.
• Security and Compliance: SkyTab offers secure payment processing with advanced encryption and maintains compliance with UK data protection regulations, safeguarding customer information.

SkyTab POS is an ideal choice for UK hospitality businesses looking for a powerful, mobile-friendly solution to enhance service efficiency and improve customer engagement. 

With its table-side ordering, cloud-based management, and comprehensive suite of tools for inventory, staff, and customer management, SkyTab is a highly flexible and scalable system. 

Whether you’re running a single restaurant or managing multiple franchise locations, SkyTab provides the tools needed to streamline operations, boost customer satisfaction, and grow your business.

Conclusion

In conclusion, choosing the right POS system is crucial for the smooth operation and growth of any franchise in the UK. 

The best POS systems not only provide robust features like multi-location management, real-time reporting, and seamless integrations, but they also offer flexibility, scalability, and ease of use. 

From handling sales and inventory to enhancing customer service and employee management, the right POS can significantly impact your franchise’s efficiency and profitability.

Among the top contenders, Redcat POS stands out as one of the best options for UK franchises. 

Its focus on the hospitality industry, combined with its advanced features like centralised menu management, multi-site functionality, and built-in loyalty programs, makes it an ideal solution for UK Restaurants.