Moonshine, Southsea

Frankie Neale • 20 December 2021

“Of the 15 staff that we have, there are only two with any real previous experience of working behind a bar. The plug-and-play nature of the Tabology system, as well as its intuitive layout, meant the on-boarding of new staff was very quick and easy." Alex Morris, General Manager.

Aiming to shake up the night life of Southsea in Portsmouth, the MoonShine nightclub opened at the end of October 2021. The main venue, with a 350 capacity and a focus on live music and DJs, has a high-volume bar trade. Downstairs is the Prohibition 60-seat speakeasy-style cocktail bar, with a bespoke cocktail menu, adding a very different second element to MoonShine’s offer.

The business was founded by three young local entrepreneurs, with General Manager Alex Morris recruited to bring venue management experience to MoonShine, After detailed research into the EPOS market by Alex, Tabology's bar EPOS was selected, with both aspects of the venue served by the single EPOS system.

“I was looking for a system that that would work for our busy, multi-use venue,” he says. “I’d looked at perhaps seven or eight EPOS systems in the run-up to opening, and a lot are tailored towards the restaurant sector and then simplified for bar use. Tabology’s EPOS has been tailored to how we run our business, and adapts to how we’re developing. Just in the time we’ve been open, the system has been updated twice, and both updates have been great.”

The main venue, which trades from about 7pm to 3.30am, runs with three EPOS, which will soon be updated to five to give staff even quicker access to the system. The cocktail bar, open from 6pm to midnight, has two further iPad EPOS.

The core order-at-the-bar offer in the main venue includes three draught beers, a draught cider and spirit-and-mixer serves. “The ability to make changes quickly has been one of the big benefits,” says Alex. “We aimed to be as accurate as we could, but at the start there are always going to be changes needed to descriptions and pricing.

“I could quickly log in, modify a product within seconds and have it synced to the EPOS. I was able to do that without crashing the system, which is something I’ve had to deal with on older EPOS systems. When you’re messing with the back office on a busy night and it crashes the whole system, you’re into a world of hurt.

“In addition, the industry as a whole is facing a staff shortage. Of the 15 staff that we have, there are only two with any real previous experience of working behind a bar. The plug-and-play nature of the Tabology system, as well as its intuitive layout, meant the on-boarding of new staff was very quick and easy.”

Tabology’s EPOS system is also ensuring that cocktail service, often a bottleneck for bars, runs smoothy and quickly. Most customers in the Prohibition bar order from their table, with a small number seated at bar stools.

"One of the great features of the system is the cocktail building feature within the EPOS. In the modifiers we can key in all the ingredients of each cocktail. That’s great for stock management, but staff can also click-and-hold on the cocktail they want, and bring up the ingredient list and a picture. Even when we’re busy, we’re still flying through the orders, as staff don’t have to keep coming to me to ask how to make a particular cocktail.”

Another advantage is giving the three owners access to real-time data. “I’ve been able to introduce them to the back office and reporting functions. Live sales reporting has been really useful, it means that the owners can be in their other businesses, or at home, and still log on and see live reports on how the night is going.”

Overall, says Alex, “the support we’ve had has been everything that Tabology said it would be. As soon as the system was online we were invited into a WhatsApp group. Whenever I’ve had any issue, I’ve had a reply on that group with a few minutes. If it’s something I’m not able to do myself, then it’s been sorted remotely.”

To find out more about our Bar EPOS, and how it could work in your venue, get in touch.

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a bartender makes a cocktail while two other barstaff and two guests watch

How to make sure your venue is ready for Christmas

by Matt Hall • 10 September 2025

There’s no such thing as ‘too early to think about Christmas’ when you work in hospitality. And after a bruising year that’s brought major challenges for the industry, December is more important than ever for many businesses. When it comes to crafting the perfect festive atmosphere, you’re the experts there – we’re simply here to show you how getting things like your tech systems, menus, staffing, and gift cards sorted now, means you’ll make the most of Christmas and manage your venue more effectively. Optimise your offerings and boost profit margins No doubt you’ll want to capture the spirit of the season with a festive menu. Roast meats and Christmas puddings are a must, but don’t forget a vegan option too. Whatever you choose, make sure your dishes balance popularity and profitability. Recipe management tools let you input ingredient costs and amounts, so you get precise costs for every item on your menu. It then automatically calculates GP so you can easily set the right prices both for individual items and festive set menus. This works really well for food, but also for cocktails, and festive drinks you might make on-site, such as mulled wine or cider. Using technology to manage bookings When it comes to Christmas bookings, balance is key. You want more bums on seats, but you don’t want to overwhelm your kitchen and Front-of-House staff – especially when bookings around Christmas tend to be larger. A flexible booking system helps you maintain control. Those office Christmas lunches often have ten or twenty guests, so it helps to keep them separate from your usual bookings. Asking for pre-orders and prepayments makes it much easier to manage those big complicated bookings. Email links go out to organisers so everything can be booked and paid for in advance. This guarantees your cash flow ahead of time and means your kitchen can prepare and ensure the right amount of stock. You can also create custom drink packages to upsell during the booking process.