Written by: JJ Tan, Founder, Jelly | Last updated: 22 June 2026
Key Takeaways for UK Pub Groups
- UK pub groups with 2–10 sites lose up to 8% of revenue to waste and admin errors that spreadsheets cannot fix quickly enough.
- Automated invoice capture and live dish costing update every recipe margin the moment supplier prices change.
- Daily Flash GP reports from POS integration replace weeks-old data with actionable, site-by-site visibility.
- Jelly delivers full multi-site functionality in one week at a flat £129 per site, outperforming enterprise tools on speed and cost for this segment.
- Book a demo with Jelly to start cutting leakage and lifting GP within days.
How Jelly Runs from Invoice to Real-Time GP
The core of Jelly’s workflow is automated invoice capture that removes manual data entry. Jelly digitises every line item, including quantity, SKU, price and tax, from photo or email and feeds ingredient costs straight into live dish costing. When a supplier adjusts a price, Jelly updates every affected recipe and GP margin instantly. The Price Alert feature flags each increase or decrease by supplier, so chefs and operations managers can negotiate credits or switch suppliers in the same week.
The Flash Report then matches cost data from invoices with sales data pulled from integrated POS systems, including Square, EPOS Now, Lightspeed and Toast. This produces a daily, weekly or monthly GP view across all sites. The Sales Mix report adds dish-level popularity and profitability, which supports clear menu decisions. Producer input prices rose by 0.8% in the year to December 2025 per ONS data, so real-time visibility now acts as a commercial necessity rather than a convenience. With that context in place, the next step is choosing which platform delivers this visibility at the right cost and speed for mid-sized pub groups.
Fourth, Supy, MarketMan and Jelly: Side-by-Side Comparison
The table below compares the four platforms most commonly evaluated by UK pub groups. All pricing and onboarding data points are cited inline. Where direct comparison is not possible on a shared metric, the difference is explained in prose.
| Platform | Best For | Wet-Stock Handling | Onboarding Time | Pricing Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jelly | 2–10 site pub groups and growing independents seeking fast time-to-value | Real-time price alerts, keg-level costing via invoice automation, variance tracking through POS integration | Value delivered within one week, POS connection in under five minutes | £129 flat per site per month, no per-user fees |
| Fourth | Large managed pub and restaurant groups with dedicated operations teams | Enterprise-grade stock and labour modules, feature depth suited to 20+ site operators | Typically days, accelerates hiring by 90% with AI-powered applicant tracking and onboarding. | Custom enterprise pricing, not publicly listed |
| Supy | Multi-site F&B groups in the Middle East and UK seeking centralised procurement | Supplier management and variance reporting, onboarding support required | Weeks, guided onboarding with account management | Subscription-based, custom quotes per group size |
| MarketMan (via Square) | Operators already on Square POS seeking ingredient-level costing and multi-location visibility | Tracks complex recipes and modifiers, compares theoretical vs actual usage | Typically 2–4 weeks | MarketMan via Square starts at $199 per month per location (Starter plan) with no requirement for Square Plus or Premium plans. |
Fourth suits large managed groups but brings enterprise complexity and cost that feel disproportionate for operators running fewer than ten sites. Supy and MarketMan provide strong feature sets but involve longer onboarding periods and variable pricing structures. Jelly’s flat-rate model and one-week onboarding keep the cost-to-value calculation clear for the 2–10 site segment.
See how these features work in your specific setup by booking a 15-minute walkthrough to compare Jelly against your current process.
Software Shortlist by Pub Group Size
1–2 sites: Operators at this stage gain the most from invoice automation and price alerts. The priority is cutting spreadsheet admin and gaining live dish costs. Jelly’s one-week onboarding and £129 flat rate keep the commitment low while still delivering meaningful control.
2–10 sites (Jelly’s core segment): Multi-site GP reporting, centralised invoice capture and cross-site Flash reporting become operationally critical in this range. Manual spreadsheet merging across sites can take days. Centralised dashboards replace this with consolidated real-time reporting across all venues. Jelly is purpose-built for this band of operators.
10+ sites: Groups at this scale usually need enterprise procurement workflows, dedicated account management and custom integrations. Fourth and similar enterprise platforms fit better here. The transition from Jelly remains straightforward because Jelly builds a clean, structured data foundation.
Wet-Stock, Kegs and Optics in Practice
Wet-stock management behaves very differently from dry-goods inventory and needs its own controls. Target pour costs must be monitored for spirits, draught beer and wine, and hitting those targets requires software that tracks theoretical versus actual GP with live supplier pricing.
UK pubs using government-stamped optics must dispense spirits in 25ml or 35ml measures, and inventory software must track these measured pours for compliance and variance analysis. Keg yield monitoring calculates the number of saleable pints from each keg and identifies issues with pour management, line efficiency or faulty equipment. Draught beer waste from line cleaning must also be logged to produce realistic beverage cost calculations.
Jelly handles wet-stock through invoice automation and Price Alerts that capture every keg delivery at line-item level and flag price changes immediately. POS integration feeds sales data into theoretical usage calculations. Variance analysis between theoretical and actual consumption then surfaces over-pouring, waste or recording errors across all sites.
Trade-Offs Pub Operators Need to Weigh
Cost versus control: Enterprise platforms offer deeper feature sets but carry implementation costs and timelines that reduce ROI for smaller groups. Jelly’s £129 flat rate per site removes pricing unpredictability and keeps budgeting simple.
Onboarding speed versus feature depth: Longer onboarding delays value. Jelly generates price alert and spending insights within 24 hours of the first invoice being photographed or emailed, even before POS integration connects.
Spreadsheets versus automated workflows: Food waste alone costs the UK hospitality sector an estimated £3.2 billion annually, with around 75% considered avoidable. Spreadsheets cannot surface the real-time variance data needed to cut that leakage. Jelly automates the flow from invoice capture to dish costing and typically saves 10–20 hours of admin per month.
Readiness Checklist for Switching Systems
Operators should confirm a few basics before selecting any platform, starting with data foundations and moving through to integrations.
- Data quality: Supplier invoices should be consistent in format. Jelly accepts both photo and email, so format variation is handled automatically. This reduces the manual reconciliation work the team is trying to remove.
- Supplier invoice formats: Once invoices are usable, identify whether suppliers send PDFs, paper invoices or EDI files. Jelly’s scanning handles all three, and knowing the mix helps set realistic onboarding expectations.
- POS integration access: With invoice capture sorted, the next step is connecting sales data. Ensure admin-level credentials are available for the POS system. Jelly flags this requirement upfront, and connecting any supported POS takes approximately five minutes.
- Team tech comfort: Jelly’s interface is designed for the least tech-savvy kitchen team member. No prior software experience is required, which supports consistent adoption.
- Accounting software: Jelly integrates directly with Xero for one-click invoice push, and Sage integration is in development. This connection reduces double entry between systems.
Three-Week Implementation Plan
Week one — Invoice automation: Connect supplier email addresses or begin photographing invoices. Price alerts and spending insights go live within 24 hours. The team uses this week to build confidence with the dashboard.
Week two — POS linking: Connect the POS system via the five-minute integration flow and then map POS items to Jelly dishes. Flash GP reporting activates as soon as mapping is complete.
Week three — Margin review: Run the first cross-site Flash Report and identify dishes with red GP margins. Review Price Alert history for supplier negotiations and set a weekly review cadence with the operations and finance team.
Want to see how this three-week timeline maps to your sites? Schedule a walkthrough and build your implementation plan alongside the Jelly team.
Common Pitfalls and Traits of Strong Inventory Setups
Inconsistent data capture: Missed invoices break the cost chain and hide margin erosion. Jelly’s email forwarding address reduces this risk by capturing invoices automatically as they arrive from suppliers.
Delayed reporting: Monthly GP reports from accountants arrive too late to react to price changes. Daily Flash Reports close this timing gap and support faster decisions.
Poor adoption: Complex systems with long learning curves often fail in busy kitchens. Jelly’s stripped-back interface keeps the workflow simple so even non-technical team members use it consistently.
Effective inventory management for pub groups relies on simplicity with minimal manual input, daily rather than monthly visibility, cross-site consolidated reporting and a repeatable workflow the whole team follows without prompting.
Real UK Pub Results: Amber and Cairn Lodge Hotel
Amber, a Mediterranean restaurant in East London run by Chef-Owner Murat Kilic, saves £3,000–£4,000 per month using Jelly, which equates to roughly 68 times the platform cost. Volatile supplier pricing had been eroding margins. Jelly’s invoice automation and Price Alert feature enabled same-week responses to price changes, supplier switches and credit note claims. “Jelly keeps my business alive,” Murat says.
At Cairn Lodge Hotel, Head Chef Stuart Noble faced a similar problem with price hikes arriving without warning and no real-time visibility into dish-level margins. “Price hikes were crushing our margins, I felt helpless. With Jelly, every dish cost is up-to-date at my fingertips. We slashed food costs by 5% in a month.”
Across Jelly’s customer base, operators see an average GP improvement of 2 percentage points within the first three months.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Jelly cost for a multi-site pub group?
Jelly charges a flat rate of £129 per site per month. There are no per-user fees, no variable charges for additional features and no setup fees. A three-site pub group pays £387 per month in total. Pricing stays transparent and predictable, which helps when evaluating ROI against margin improvements.
How long does onboarding take, and when does value start?
Jelly generates initial value within 24 hours of the first invoice being submitted, either by photo or by forwarding supplier emails to a dedicated Jelly address. Price alerts and spending insights go live immediately. POS integration with any of the supported systems takes approximately five minutes and activates Flash GP reporting. Full multi-site visibility is typically operational within one week.
How does Jelly handle wet-stock, kegs and optics?
Jelly captures every keg and spirits delivery at line-item level through invoice automation. Price Alert flags any change in wet-stock costs immediately, which enables fast supplier negotiations. POS integration feeds sales data into theoretical usage calculations, and variance analysis between theoretical and actual consumption identifies over-pouring, waste or recording errors. Keg-level costing stays current as new invoices update ingredient prices across all recipes and drink items.
Does Jelly integrate with Xero?
Yes. Jelly integrates directly with Xero and enables a one-click push of all digitised invoices into the accounting platform. This reduces bookkeeping time by approximately 90% and removes manual data re-entry between systems. Sage integration is currently in development and will be available to customers in a future release.
How quickly can a pub group expect to see GP improvement?
Jelly customers see an average gross profit improvement of 2 percentage points within the first three months. This uplift comes from faster responses to supplier price increases, tighter dish costing and the removal of spreadsheet lag that previously hid margin erosion. Individual results vary, and Stuart Noble at Cairn Lodge Hotel reduced food costs by 5% within one month, but the 2-percentage-point benchmark remains consistent across the customer base.
Conclusion: Moving from Spreadsheets to Control
For UK pub groups running two to ten sites, the gap between spreadsheet-based management and automated real-time visibility is measured in margin points and management hours. Jelly closes that gap with the one-week onboarding and flat per-site pricing detailed earlier, delivering automated invoice capture, live dish costing, wet-stock price alerts and POS-integrated Flash GP reporting. Customers consistently achieve the GP uplift detailed in the case studies above within three months, and operators like Murat Kilic at Amber show what sustained use looks like at scale.
The tools exist, the implementation timeline is short and the cost structure stays fixed.
See how Jelly fits your pub group’s sites, POS systems and margin targets and start with a quick demo.