"When you're operating at pace, you have to hit the ground running. The system has given us the foundation to do that."

Z is a place for families to play, eat, exercise and connect, and it uses Tabology’s cafe EPOS to help run multiple aspects of their business. Nestled in the village of Stockton Heath, co-founders Dan Ranns and Liv Greer built it to be the opposite of those play spaces that fill parents with dread – think chaos, noise, lukewarm coffee in a polystyrene cup. 

"We wanted to create a play space for kids that parents can enjoy rather than endure," says Dan. "Somewhere you'd go even if it weren't a play space – good coffee, good sandwiches, a nice environment. We want to be the antidote."

It's a simple idea with a surprisingly complex business underneath it. Open from 8am to catch the early risers, busiest between 10 and 12, with fitness for mums, sensory sessions for babies, and a childcare-led studio slot where parents can get a proper workout while their kids are entertained – Z is, as Dan puts it, "managing three or four businesses in one."

From financial services to flat whites

Dan spent 20 years in financial services before spotting a gap in his local village. His partner, Liv, who had also grown tired of a corporate career in recruitment, came on board too. They had experience with child-centred businesses after taking on a Cricket Tots franchise, but even that couldn’t prepare them fully for Z – a project that quickly grew beyond the original plan.

"It kind of spiralled," Dan admits. "We started with a studio, realised we needed somewhere for kids to play, then ended up with a full-blown café/restaurant. It was almost accidental."

Accidental or not, building something from scratch in a sector neither of them had worked in before brought its challenges. They were nervous about the food and beverage side, partnering with a local coffee firm to help bridge the knowledge gap, and hiring a new chef as the menu evolved. "It always feels like you're executing and learning at the same time," he says. "Constantly evolving, constantly developing."

The challenge: running three businesses under one roof

When it came to technology, Dan had assumed they'd need something simple. "At the start, we thought we just needed a little Shopify-style setup, with a basic terminal and card machine. It turned out that what we actually needed was a million miles away from that."

With orders needing to route across different areas of the venue – the cafe, the play space, the studio – they needed a system that could keep pace with the concept. Tabology came recommended by their accountant, and after speaking with the team, the decision wasn't a difficult one.

"Tabology’s Onboarding Experts were brilliant," Dan says. “Everything we needed, they were just able to set up for us, no problem.”

The solution: an all-in-one cafe POS system to keep a steady flow of customers

One of the things that sets Z apart from a typical drop-in play space is how deliberately the experience is managed. Customers book in advance, just as they would at a restaurant, which means the team always knows what's coming.