Room 305, Whitley Bay

Frankie Neale • 21 September 2022

“When, I first spoke to them, I could tell they were hospitality specialists. They understood what I needed, and tailored the system to our business.” Gill Hacioglu, Co-Owner - Room 305.

Located in the busy town centre of Whitley Bay on the Northumberland coast, Room 305 is popular restaurant and bar, serving freshly cooked Greek and Turkish dishes, as well a broad range of drinks including cocktails.

Having initially traded as a coffee shop when it opened five years ago, Room 305 upgraded its kitchen during the covid lockdown, enabling it to add a much more extensive menu, as well as expanding its popular cocktail offer.

When its existing EPOS system failed to cope with the needs of the expanded business, Room 305 switched to Tabology’s Restaurant EPOS system, making the choice based on a recommendation from an existing Tabology customer.

Co-owner Gill Hacioglu says: “We need something that would integrate with the Xero accounting system, as well as with our card provider. We also wanted a system that worked on iPads, which we already used. Tabology just fit the bill, it’s everything in one system. When, I first spoke to them, I could tell they were hospitality specialists. They understood what I needed, and tailored the system to our business.

“They took our menus and input them onto the system, so everything was just ready to go on the day we went live.”

The venue is open during the daytime from Monday to Thursday, with evening opening and more of a lively atmosphere on Friday and Saturday. “People will book for a meal, but they’ll stay and have a drink, and we also get some walk-in trade later in the evening.” Whitley Bay is a popular holiday destination, and Room 305’s town centre location means it appeals to both local customers and tourists. Summer 2022 saw a significant increase in seasonal trade, says Gill.

Front of house at Room 305, the EPOS system is used to take customer orders, run tabs and manage payments. Using the Table Plan ensures that orders are taken, drinks prepared, food orders printed to the kitchen, and delivered to the correct table. It can also be used to split bills and record tips.

“We also use the back office functions for stock management, and to calculate GP,” says Gill. “With food prices changing so frequently at the moment, it’s so useful to be able to enter your cost price, and use the GP calculator to see what the menu price needs to be.”

Gill also finds the staff sign-in very useful. “If there’s ever a query on a bill, I can see who handled it, who took the payment, whether it was a split bill, and so on. I can open the back office from wherever I am, and check what’s happened, and speak to the staff member involved. We also do some customer and staff discounts, and it’s useful to be able to check who’s putting those through.

“I don’t have to be on site to check something, I can keep an eye on the business in real time, as well as historically, from anywhere. That’s really useful.”

She adds: “Tabology’s customer service is far and away the best I’ve come across from any supplier. If you have a query, you can use the Telegram chat and they reply instantly.”

To find out more about our Restaurant 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.