AURES TECHNOLOGIES : A new universal business solution from Kobas and AURES to drive expansion at healthy fast-food brand, Pita Pit

PRESS RELEASE

A new universal business solution from Kobas and AURES to

drive expansion at healthy fast-food brand, Pita Pit

Runcorn, August 2015: Specialist cloud-based hospitality management system developer Kobas has revealed it has secured the business of healthy fast-casual business Pita Pit, which is at the beginning of a significant growth curve in the UK to match that it has generated in the US and Canada.

Pita Pit has just marked twenty years since it launched its fresh, healthy alternative to traditional high-fat, high- carb', high-calorie fast foods. Rapid growth in its native Canada, then in the US, was followed by entry to the UK market as a franchised operation.
Over recent months, James O'Sullivan, founder and CEO of Kobas, and his team have worked with Pita Pit's international franchise holder and one of its three UK franchisees. The retailer was already using Sangos from AURES as its point-of-sale hardware but was running an alternative EPoS solution.
A chance encounter between Kobas and Pita Pit resulted in the provider securing a contract to roll out a complete hospitality management system including EPoS to the six Pita Pit stores located within the M25.
Enthuses O'Sullivan: 'We walked into a Pita Pit store late last summer and explained how different we are from other suppliers. Six weeks later we had a deal! We are now in six new stores and will roll out in a further four in the coming months.'
He explains why Pita Pit was drawn to Kobas. 'Importantly for Pita Pit, given that it's growing a business with tens if not hundreds of stores in different geographies and needs complete real-time trading visibility and control, the Kobas solution is browser-accessed and cloud-based. This makes it universally available - at any time, from any device, anywhere in the world.'
'We don't sell ourselves as an EPoS company; we're a web technologies company with a hospitality management product that goes way beyond EPoS,' continues James O'Sullivan. 'We manage stock ordering and delivery, plus every aspect of staff operations from recruitment and induction to training and time & attendance. We also drive the relationship between our clients and their customers, not to mention restaurant reservations; so we can offer a large and rich function set.'
Continued/…

'As for EPoS hardware, Pita Pit was already using Sango terminals from AURES Technologies. The Sangos have been very reliable and are very striking to look at, so Pita Pit was keen to keep them to run our new software.' The retailer uses Sangos in a red colour-way to match its livery and runs them in conjunction with AURES ODP
333 thermal printers, black at the point-of-sale and white in the kitchens.
Adds O'Sullivan: 'Pita Pit's Canada-based international franchise director likes the way Kobas gives her trading data for all her UK operations. All data is locked down for different tiers of access. That means a single system can run across all franchisees, centralising data for head office at the same time as allowing each franchisee and manager to see just their own data.'
The retailer's UK plans include major cities such as Leeds and Manchester. London will continue to see very fast growth with a total of 80 stores planned within the next 4 years.
James O'Sullivan concludes: 'Kobas is able to use technologies that weren't around 5 years ago, and deliver them at an affordable price-point. To have the breadth of functionality that we provide, you would normally need lots of specialist apps' but with Kobas you get it all for a single fee. Because we do all our own development, we can make changes cost-effectively too. Being web-based, we can talk to anyone and share data - we don't require Kobas to be the source or the destination, just a conduit through which data can flow to make for a better business.'

For additional information, please contact: Simone Romain
PR Consultant
Romain Consulting
T: +44 (0)7836 550764
E: simone.romain@romainconsulting.co.uk
Yannick-Florence Waelly Communications & PR Manager AURES Group
T : +33(0)1 69 11 16 65
E : yannick.waelly@aures.com
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About AURES Technologies -www.aures.com
Founded in 1989 and listed on Euronext since 1999, the AURES Group manufactures EPOS systems and related peripherals. Its PC-based hardware and open-system equipment provides management and check-out functions to all points-of-sale and points-of-service including specialist food and non-food stores, retail outlets, superstores and catering and hospitality.
With corporate sales over €64 million for 2014, the AURES Group has global presence, with its head office in
France, subsidiaries in the UK, Germany, Australia and the USA - and a network of distributors and resellers in
50+ countries.
About Kobas -www.kobas.co.uk
Kobas is a cloud-based hospitality management service that enhances every facet of business operations. That means the client is in control from anywhere, at any time. Kobas helps manage teams, control assets and costs, and delight your customers.
Kobas provides everything a retailer needs to grow, train and monitor its team. It includes industry-leading time and attendance, holiday and rota systems (with payroll integration), stock control, ingredient usage, day-to-day management and much more. Trading benefits include:

• Easily manage and ultimately drive up margins.

• Remove the frustration of rotas, holidays and payroll.

• Streamline the opening and closing management tasks ensuring consistency and compliance.

• Manage marketing and social media all in one place.

• Check sales and margins with ease from home or mobile device.

• Manage all human resources responsibilities.

About Pita Pit -www.pitapit.co.uk
When Pita Pit began in 1995, in Ontario, today's trend toward healthier eating was still a long way off. The founders were ahead of the curve, convinced the time was right for a fresh, healthy alternative to traditional high-fat, high-carb', high-calorie fast foods. Their Mediterranean-style pita sandwiches packed with fresh vegetables, grilled meats and zesty sauces were an instant hit with the college crowd, especially since the store stayed open until the early hours of the morning.
Within two years, franchise stores had begun opening across Canada. Two years later, they were opening in the USA where the concept took off immediately with consumers of all ages. Today, there are more than 500 Pita Pit stores around the world. It's also moving up on the 'Future 50' list, Restaurant Business Magazine's ranking of the best and fastest-growing small chains. In 2009, it was ranked #1 in its category on the Franchise 500 list. In 2014 Pita Pit was also recognised as one of Foodservice and Hospitality's Top 100. Clearly, The Pita Pit's 'fresh thinking, healthy eating' motto is an idea whose time has come.

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