Everyman Cinema Club

"“Our chosen equipment had to be reliable, price-competitive and represent new product development. The J2 580 fits the bill perfectly.”"
Jesper Larsen, IT Manager for Everyman Media Group

The Client
In 2000, young entrepreneur Daniel Broch purchased a failing cinema, the Everyman in London’s Hampstead. Whilst Broch had no cinema background, he had an exceptional talent for spotting business opportunities and predicting consumer tastes. Mindful that success in the cinema business is largely about scale, his vision was to create a very different network of venues that would turn cinema-going on its head and become the jewel in the crown of his Everyman Media Group.

His vision accomplished, the Everyman Cinema Club (ECC) is all about ‘the destination, customers and service’ and, today, has eight venues including the Hampstead flagship. Each is a million miles away from the blockbuster and popcorn formula and from the passive experience offered by mainstream cinemas.

The concept is based upon creating an appealing and luxurious environment, then adding in ‘events’ such as live opera via satellite from the New York Met or a Q & A session with the director of a film being shown. Comfy armchairs and footstools add to the relaxing viewing experience and are complemented by the ECC’s bespoke range of food wine and beer which, in Hampstead, is waiter-served at small seat-side tables.

“Our chosen equipment had to be reliable, price-competitive and represent new product development. The J2 580 fits the bill perfectly.” Jesper Larsen, IT Manager for Everyman Media Group

The Solution

The Benefits
· Programming the tills is an intuitive process and can be done in minutes
· The J2 580s are straightforward to use
· Speed of use means that staff can deliver responsive, quality service
· Clever design and good engineering make the J2 580s reliable and easy for users to maintain
· The tills’ contemporary design and space efficiency make them at home in the stylish setting of the ECC’s cinemas.

The Process
Starting with Everyman Hampstead, each acquired cinema came either without computer equipment or with standard desktop machines only. IT Manager, Jesper Larsen, went out on the market to source a brand new EPoS solution.

To support its concept of exceptional service in a stimulating environment, Everyman was looking for latest technology that would look good and deliver both high performance and value for money.

Its eventual choice of software supplier was Vista Entertainment Solutions, a leading producer of ticketing and concessions software for the cinema industry worldwide. As part of its solution, Vista then recommended J2 as its preferred hardware partner.

The Results
The J2 580 is a new PC-based touchscreen system, launched in 2008. ECC now has 28 J2 580 units installed across the eight venues and has opted for the version with a 1.5GHz Celeron M processor. The business uses the units for both ticket sales and food & beverage sales.

Continues Larsen: “We’ve had positive feedback from customers, and from our staff who find them easy to use.”

Looking forward
Over the next couple of months, ECC plans to extend its technology by trialling handheld devices. Combining an order and sale pad in one and including Chip & PIN processing, these devices will be used by waiting staff to take seat-side orders. It is planned to link the units to the J2 580s to create an integrated sales system.

Looking to the future, this dynamic business has plans to develop new venues across the country until a chain of fifty has been created. Each cinema will be based around the concept pioneered in Hampstead.

Sector: Leisure (Cinema)