Will my team lose tips if guests order and pay by phone?

No. Tip prompts sit inside the payment flow, and under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 tips and service charges must go to staff in full regardless of how the bill was settled. Order and pay changes how payment is taken, not who the tip belongs to.

My guests come here for table service, not an app.

Keep the table service. When guests can order from their seat, servers stop being order-runners and start hosting: checking back, recommending, clearing. The QR is there for the table that has been trying to catch an eye for ten minutes, not to replace the greeting at the door.

I do not want another tablet behind the bar.

There is nothing extra to run front of house. Guests use their own phones, tickets appear on any tablet or TV you already own, and it all works alongside the till you have today.

Solutions / Restaurants & pubs

Restaurants & pubs

One server short again, and table 12 gave up on the second round ten minutes ago.

Guests order and pay from the table the moment they decide, the ticket fires straight to the kitchen, and your floor staff host instead of running orders.

See it on your own menu in under 5 minutes Book a call

Ordering £19 a month flat · no per-order commission · screens included

Sound familiar?

Every rota has a hole in it, and the shift covers the gap by making guests wait.
Why it hurtsHospitality vacancies are still far above pre-pandemic levels, and every unfilled role turns into slower orders, slower bills and tables that turn one time fewer a night.
The table that wanted one more round could not catch anyone's eye, so they quietly closed the tab in their heads.
Why it hurtsDrinks carry the best gross margin in the building, typically 58-70%, so the round nobody could order is the highest-margin line on the menu leaking silently, table after table.
Rates, energy and payroll all went up at once, and none of them care how the week traded.
Why it hurts378 pubs closed for good in 2025, roughly one a day. The costs behind that are fixed ones, which makes revenue per staffed hour the one lever still in your hands.

A day with VenueDeck

Saturday, 8:40pm
Every table is full and both floor staff are stacked with plates. The group on table 12 finished their drinks ten minutes ago and have been trying to catch an eye since. They decide they have had enough for tonight and ask for the bill instead of another round.
What happens insteadGuests scan the table QR, order the round and pay from their seat. Nobody waits to catch an eye, the ticket goes straight through, and the table orders one more time instead of one time fewer.
The product behind it: Order & Pay at Table
Sunday, 1:15pm
Sunday service dumps orders on the kitchen in bursts: three tables seated at once, all wanting the same roasts, while the one server in that section is still taking orders two tables back. The kitchen is twenty minutes behind before anyone notices.
What happens insteadOrders arrive on the kitchen screen the moment each table decides, so the kitchen gets a steady stream instead of a spike, with every modifier readable at the pass and nothing lost under a pan.
The product behind it: Kitchen & Collection Screens
Friday, 7:55pm
The delivery tablet starts buzzing next to the till, in a different format from the table tickets and printed on a different machine, competing for the same pass. Something gets missed, and it is always on the busiest night.
What happens insteadEvery channel lands on one orders board: tables, walk-ins and delivery side by side, sequenced by the kitchen rather than by whichever tablet shouted loudest.
The product behind it: Orders Hub

The numbers

378

pubs closed permanently in 2025, roughly one a day, taking around 5,600 jobs with them

Source: BBPA, via Morning Advertiser

34%

of pub-goers prefer ordering food and drink from the table by app or website, and 55% prefer streamlined ordering over queueing

Source: NIQ / Zonal

orders a second at the 2024 Christmas peak through Wetherspoon's own app - their number, not ours, and proof that guests already order this way at scale

Source: wi-Q

What it costs for a restaurant or pub

Ordering is £19 a month flat, however busy service gets, with no commission per order. The kitchen and collection screens that run behind it are included, with no per-screen fees.

The consolidated orders board comes with Catalogue Pro, so table, walk-in and delivery orders share one screen - and everything works alongside the till you already run.

For scale: one recovered round a night more than covers the subscription, and Saturday is not getting cheaper to staff.

Ordering £19 a month flat · no per-order commission · screens included

See full pricing

Straight answers

Will my team lose tips if guests order and pay by phone?: No. Tip prompts sit inside the payment flow, and under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 tips and service charges must go to staff in full regardless of how the bill was settled. Order and pay changes how payment is taken, not who the tip belongs to.
My guests come here for table service, not an app.: Keep the table service. When guests can order from their seat, servers stop being order-runners and start hosting: checking back, recommending, clearing. The QR is there for the table that has been trying to catch an eye for ten minutes, not to replace the greeting at the door.
I do not want another tablet behind the bar.: There is nothing extra to run front of house. Guests use their own phones, tickets appear on any tablet or TV you already own, and it all works alongside the till you have today.

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