Press Release: Trail Raises £900k, Solving Headache For Hospitality Operators With Its Smart Checklist Tool

TrailApp.com makes it easier for hospitality operators to manage team activities in a sector where staff turnover is as high as 120%

Global Founders Capital, Seedcamp and private investors including Ex-Gondola CFO Nick Carter, have announced a £900k ‘Late Seed’ funding in TrailApp.com, a smart checklist tool, which helps hospitality operators streamline their daily processes.

The company, which includes Enterprise Inns and the Asian fast-service concept Itsu, among its customers, will use the investment to further develop their user-focused platform, increase their team and expand market share by targeting multi-site operators from coffee chains to restaurants and hotels.

The management team of Joe Cripps, Will Grace and Ian Fuller combine B2B and B2C specialisms, hospitality consulting and consumer app experience, to deliver a solution for operators which cuts through paperwork, whilst helping them manage day-to-day administrative tasks.

Joe Cripps, Managing Director, Trail commented: “We’re passionate about this industry and are on a mission to help the teams creating experiences for customers every day. Currently, operators are doing the best they can with the tools they have available in the marketplace, but to be honest, what is available was designed over 20 years ago. The hospitality sector is the UK’s fourth biggest industry in employment terms. However, operators are facing major challenges in today’s marketplace with high employment turnover often averaging 120%. New employees and growth bring challenges to Operations Managers, who rely on paper and email to manage tasks. We want to help hospitality operators streamline their businesses to ensure their teams work much smarter, whilst also being compliant.

He continues: “I have consulted in hospitality tech for many years and have seen the huge new wave of ePos, payment and loyalty apps being released. However, no-one was trying to work hand-in-hand with operators to assist them with the multitude of daily staff tasks. Teams were managing their days on paper — literally on Post-It notes! We found they were overwhelmed by complex processes, old software and scribbled reminders. With Trail, we can give teams back time in their day, whilst making their shifts that much easier to navigate, which means they ultimately provide a better service for customers!”

Vincent McKevitt, Founder of Tossed commented: “Trail helped us to get rid of paperwork, gave me visibility across a growing business and helped all our teams hit the same high standard.”

Trail’s app offers hospitality operators a simple checklist for teams, incorporating daily operational tasks, health & safety checks, audit and compliance management and integrated key data from third party systems to improve brand consistency and ultimately profits. The app also incorporates workflow and exception management to help Head Offices and Operations Managers effectively manage multiple locations.