There’s uber excitement at TCB Bolton as they’ve been shortlisted for an award!
Hutech Robotics customer, TCB Unlimited Dining Experience in Bolton, entered The Build Back Bolton Business Awards, hosted by The Bolton News and they’ve been shortlisted down to the last three, making them FINALISTS in the BUSINESS INNOVATION category.
The 2020/21ockdowns were a difficult time for everyone, especially in business and hospitality was a sector hit harder than most, with many restaurant businesses failing to survive the extended periods unable to serve their customers.
But TCB Unlimited Dining Experience, one of Hutech’s first customers for service robots, made some huge changes to their operation, with innovative solutions that ensured the business would not only survive those difficult times but evolve into a modern, forward looking restaurant operation, with futuristic front of house service teams.
Two main innovations took place
Firstly an APP was developed in-house which meant that diners could browse the menu, order food and drinks and even pay for their meal without ever having to leave their seats, something that was an obvious bonus back then and meant that the restaurant could remain open, when many other ‘Buffet Style’ restaurants had to close.
And Secondly, they introduced Bellabot, from Hutech Robotics. Initially, two Bellas were integrated into each front of house team, meaning that food orders, having been ordered via the app, could be delivered directly from kitchen to table, making it a contactless operation, reducing the need for anyone to touch the plates after preparation, further safeguarding customers against the transmission of the much feared Coronavirus at the time.
Since then, as the restaurant and indeed the rest of society have returned to a closer to normal existence, the robots have provided another benefit to the business, plugging the gaps in staffing, arising from the much publicised staffing shortage in hospitality and offering huge benefits in supporting the ‘human’ staff in carrying out all the running, between servery and tables and doing the heavy lifting, which has been a great relief to the staff.
It’s fair to say that TCB have made huge strides in implementing innovation, creating a better working environment for staff and a fantastic customer experience for those customers lucky enough to have visited the restaurant and been served by the robots.
Paolo Hu, MD at TCB said…
“Introducing robot servers into our front-of-house operation has been the best business decision we’ve ever made, not only improving our operational effectiveness but also creating a customer attraction, with footfall having increased around 15% across all of our restaurants since the robots arrived, due to customer interest and people wanting to come to be served by them”.
TCB Unlimited Dining Experience now operates 14 robots across five restaurants with a newly refurbished restaurant in Bury about to open, which has been adapted to operate with probably six robots, including Bellabots, Holabots and Kettybots.
