This year for the first time in 25 years, the UK is hosting Eurovision. If, like us, you failed to get tickets or didn’t fancy spending thousands on a hotel in Liverpool, then why not celebrate at home in the best way, with food. Maybe you’re planning a night in and fancy branching out from your usual burger? Or maybe you’re hosting a Eurovision party. Either way, it’s a good excuse to celebrate with great food that would be sure to get the judge’s top scores – no nul points here!
Slerp works with a huge range of partners that can deliver food from many of the countries you will watch on the night. Whether you plan to champion Spain, Sweden, Georgia…or even the UK, you will be guaranteed a tasty treat to accompany what is always some memorable performances.
And as Slerp powers direct online ordering – meaning restaurants, QSRs, bakeries and more directly benefit from their own ordering system, you know you will be doing your part to support a local business.
So here are our 9 top eats for the best Eurovision celebration this weekend:
Is there anything more French than cheese? Why not order some of their freshly baked bread too for the ultimate cheese board, perfect for a party.
Did you know that Khachapuri is the national dish of Georgia? That’s our top pick on this menu – it’s a delicious classic filled with a speciality cheese mix and finished off with an egg yolk.
Serving up modern Greek food, pick your favourite classic dish direct from OPSO, or branch out and try their grilled octopus with caramelised onion, sherry vinegar & black eyed beans.
You’ve likely heard of Ottolenghi, maybe you’ve tried one of his amazing recipes? But have you been to one of his restaurants? Here you’ll find a selection of food rooted in middle eastern and mediterranean tradition. Choose from a selection of delicious salads, small plates and cakes.
Whilst we’re aware pizza is a very familiar concept in the UK, have you tried Basilico? Traditional thin crust pizza topped with seasonal ingredients, they were actually London’s first wood fired pizza delivery company!
The perfect dessert, treat yourself and your mates to a party box and choose from 8 different flavours, ranging from classic to chocolate to fruit.
La Maritxu specialised in authentic Basque Cheesecake (originating from the Spanish coastal town of San Sebastian). They consist of burnt caramelised crust and a rich & creamy interior – need we say more?
Delicious, swedish, cinnamon buns to be enjoyed at any and all hours of the day. But you can also directly order all kinds of delicious pastries and breads.
Is there anything more British than pie and mash? Born in lockdown, Willy’s pies are some of the best you’ll ever have.
It’s no secret that the key to success for a business in any industry is in having a great team. Teamwork really does make the dream work, and hospitality businesses rely on their teams to deliver great customer service, something vital for a business to grow. As the saying goes, no man is an island, and no hospitality business can survive with just one employee! It’s the collective effort that gets a breakfast service out on time, or keeps up with a hectic lunch service.
However, the industry has always struggled when it comes to retaining their workforce with employees leaving hospitality roles at nearly double the rate of the U.K.’s national average. Furthermore, with an unprecedented amount of vacancies in hospitality today, retaining employees is becoming more difficult than ever – which makes keeping the team together a difficult task.
With employees more regularly missing shifts because of illnesses, having a contingency plan for absences is more important than ever. So, what can businesses do to keep hold of their team members for longer?
The easiest way to keep a team member on board is by keeping them happy – and what’s the easiest way to do this? Ask them what they want. Research tells us that companies and organisations that communicate effectively are 4.5x more likely to retain employees.
Key points of communication in hospitality businesses are in giving clear instructions, in expressing workplace standards and expectations, as well as organising working times – inaccurate rotas are the bane of any hospitality employee.
Nevertheless, these are all examples of communication coming from leadership positions to their employees. Effective communication works both ways, and many businesses would benefit by taking the time to talk and listen to their employees to see how they can make their work lives easier.
Something as simple as recognizing good work and giving positive appraisal can drastically improve an employee’s experience at work. Staff who feel listened to are much likelier to feel valued in the workplace, and businesses who can offer their employees opportunities to develop will massively boost their staff retention rates too: employees are always looking for opportunities to grow.
Employees who feel heard and valued are much more likely to feel content in their work.
An increased wage isn’t the only way to keep employees on the team. If businesses cannot afford to raise an employee’s pay rate, then they should consider what other incentives they can offer their employees.
For example, paid breaks, bonuses, or giving them extra time off at celebratory times of the year, such as an employee’s birthday. Get creative with accolades – pubs across the country have been in the news for offering bed and breakfasts to their staff for £1. Employees will appreciate you making an effort to make their lives easier – valued employees know how much you appreciate their hard work.
Aside from monetary incentives, surveys tell us that the most desired factor for workers in the hospitality sector is ‘more control over work life and shift patterns.’ In other words, they want more control, and flexibility. This can be a dealbreaker for employees struggling to juggle their work and home life, especially when it comes to childcare. Offering flexibility will allow businesses to keep hold of their team for longer, plus employees with more time will come to work well-rested and energised.
If permanent employees don’t want to work tricky shift patterns, then businesses can use Brigad to find professionals for both short-term and long-term support, without reducing the standard of their service.
Brigad’s support has enabled many businesses to stay open during tough times, such as Isabel Mayfair, a latin restaurant in the heart of London. Brigad’s self-employed professionals were brought in to provide ‘a much needed break’, whilst maintaining ‘exceptional, professional service.’ They were even able to open back up to regular service hours.
Using temporary solutions can mean your permanent staff are supported, without having to compromise on their plans. Using self-employed staff means businesses can save money by only bringing on board staff when it suits them best and avoiding disappointing employees with 0 hour contracts.
Not only will this allow businesses to save money on unnecessary staffing, but it will mean talents are only offered relevant shifts where they’re needed, without having to pay the costs or time to recruit and train someone new.
Brigad’s talented professionals are all self-employed, with years of industry experience. But their self-employment doesn’t mean you can’t connect with the same professional repeatedly. Businesses can add talents to their ‘favourites’ list, and they’ll be offered your posted missions as a priority. The professional keeps their freedom, and the business doesn’t have to reintroduce new team members each time they need some support. It’s possible to add additional information to ensure workers always arrive knowing everything they need to know, and looking the part too!
Businesses can use Brigad to help build their highly-skilled and professional team, or seek relief workers to support their permanent employees. Reach out to users through the platform, connect and communicate. With both the worker and the business being transparent about pay and availability – this is the basis of the perfect professional working relationship.
Brigad makes it easier than ever to connect with people in the industry, allowing self-employed professionals to connect to businesses, and for businesses to find highly-skilled professionals for both short and long-term support. Businesses can find employees when they need them most – a saviour in a time like the staff shortage.
We understand that choosing the right online ordering system for your business is not only an important decision but a difficult one too! It can be hard to see through some of the sales chat and identify the really important aspects.
The fact is though, if you’re not yet offering online ordering, you should be. Research undertaken by KPMG in the spring of 2021 found that over the past two years, Brits had increased their spending on takeaways by almost half (42%). Customers are used to and demand high speed, convenient online ordering systems.
But this is not a decision you want to commit to half heartedly. Because take it from us, it won’t work! Once you choose to have an up-to-date online ordering system, it needs to be a long-term commitment for your restaurant business. First things first though, you need to choose the right one for you. Here are some things we recommend considering.
If you’ve ordered online before you’ll know that buying something on a desktop can be a very different experience to your phone. The consumer is tired of having to waste time on a platform that is designed for a pc/laptop. We want to be able to order anywhere, anytime, with ease.
In response to this, many restaurants today have gone above and beyond just putting together a smartphone-optimised website, by having a complete branded iOS or Android app built. Such apps can make excellent use of the smaller screens of smartphones to give those ordering an intuitive and slick experience.
So, you might want to consider whether the online ordering system you’re considering includes the option of a tailored app… hint Slerp does!
Pre pandemic, about a fifth of customers in the country had used a ‘click and collect’ service for restaurant orders. So, it shouldn’t be revolutionary in 2022 to suggest that the online ordering system you invest in for your restaurant allows for this way of ordering.
The past few years have seen a definite shift from physical menus to digital menus. And with this came the emergence of ‘order at table’ technology. Again, this is something that your chosen online ordering system should allow for, so that your team can receive and process orders efficiently, minimise wait times, and turn tables quickly. Again…Slerp has you covered.
You also want to consider those customers who want their food to arrive directly to the comfort of their own home. You should be able to choose the delivery area, the delivery methods, and even the courier partners you work with. Slerp is well-integrated with trusted delivery partners that serve the local area, an entire city, or the whole of the UK.
No matter how impressive your chosen online ordering system may sound, you will want the company providing it to be constantly available to help you make the most of it.
Here at Slerp, for instance, our support team can be reached 7am to 11pm, seven days a week. We know you might not have the luxury of waiting until Monday to resolve unanticipated problems with your online ordering system and so we’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen.
To sum up, the best online ordering system provider shouldn’t dictate or micromanage everything. Instead, they should work alongside you or even simply operate in the background, giving you the resources and freedom to build your restaurant’s delivery services in the best way for you and your customers.
We may be a little biassed, but Slerp offers a fantastic online ordering system perfect for restaurants, for all of these reasons and more. So if you want to hear more about our system, and how it could support your restaurant, get in touch today!
