Published on 02/08/2018

The Requirement:
The University of Leicester were reviewing the EPOS system in place at catering and retail outputs on the University's campus. The University wanted to run a further competition using the ESPO framework for both Lot 1 Online Payment and Engagement Solutions and Lot 2 Cashless Catering Systems. The project started with a further competition process in March 2016, which was closely followed by a contract award notice to Uniware Systems in April 2016 and the system launched in September 2016.


The Solution:
A variety of hardware, complemented with Upay, provided cashless payments, promotions & loyalty and in-app messaging. The University later added the shop module in phase 2, to allow staff and students to pre-order and pay for food to collect at a chosen time.

Stock control was also required by the University to be able to manage their stock items and recipes as well as interfacing with Saffron Stock and Book Solve. Further integrations will include SAP accounting, Sage, Laundry, Kinetics and Room Service which will be completed as and when the University is ready. The Uniware solution also includes multiple purses for meal plans/catered packages, hospitality accounts and scholarship funds.

All of this is managed via the Uniware Cloud back office where designated staff with different levels of permissions can have access to various areas. The reports in the Uniware Cloud are also highly used, allowing the University to view customer trends, best-selling products and uptake on promotions that are running.


The Results:
The University of Leicester now have a fully hosted cloud-based solution, across 24 outlets in multiple locations which include retail, grab and go, canteens, formal dining, mobile outlets and bars for over 20,000 students.

"The framework agreement enabled us to undertake a compliant procurement exercise, with access to a number of suppliers that could meet our requirements."

- University of Leicester

If you would like to find out more about ESPO framework 978, click here or contact our Managing Documents and IT team on resources@espo.org

To download a printable version of this case study, please click here.