How is Stonegate Group’s Digital Journey Reshaping UK Pubs?
The hospitality industry stands at a digital crossroads. Long considered something of a technological laggard compared to sectors like retail and financial services, pubs and restaurants are now experiencing rapid digital transformation, a process which was only accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
For traditional hospitality businesses, this shift presents both significant challenges and extraordinary opportunities. Digital solutions must enhance rather than detract from the warmth and personal connection that define great hospitality experiences. Yet the potential benefits – improved operational efficiency, deeper customer insights and enhanced guest experiences – make digital transformation an imperative.
The UK pub sector faces particular complexities. Balancing technological innovation with the cherished traditions of British pub culture requires careful navigation and strategic vision.
“It’s a really exciting time to be in technology, more so in hospitality, because there's so much to go after and that gap with retail is closing so rapidly,” says Ashlie Thurston, Head of IT and Digital Transformation at Stonegate Group.
As the largest pub company in the UK, Stonegate Group faces unique challenges in implementing technology across its diverse estate. The company has undergone significant growth, expanding from around 500 sites when Ashlie joined nine years ago following multiple acquisitions, the most notable of which, Ei Group taking the group to over 4,500 sites.
Ashlie’s role has evolved considerably during her tenure. She began as the company’s first business analyst, coming from a fintech background at Currency Cloud in London, and has seen her responsibilities grow alongside the business itself.
“My role grew organically with the business, moving from business analyst to programme management,” Ashlie explains. “When we merged with the Ei Group, I led the integration of the two technology stacks, which was challenging but gave us the opportunity to cherry pick the best elements from both businesses.”
The digital transformation journey at Stonegate has accelerated dramatically in recent years, with the global pandemic forcing rapid adoption of technologies that had previously been considered optional.
“Booking capability is a perfect example,” Ashlie explains. “We had been using the Access Collins platform in our higher volume sites, but suddenly needed to deploy it across our entire estate immediately.”
This urgent need to adapt to changing guest behaviours marked the beginning of Stonegate’s transformation, but the true catalyst came with new leadership. The arrival of CEO David McDowall, along with the company’s first-ever Chief Information Officer, Guy Tambling, brought fresh perspectives to the business.
“They’re applying retail principles to hospitality operations,” Ashlie says. “Guy’s retail background with TFG Limited and his experience in IT and e-commerce has brought a completely different perspective to our business.”
The challenges of transformation in hospitality
For Stonegate, the technological challenges are multifaceted due to the company’s unique structure. “The sheer volume of technologies, tools, applications and systems that we need to support a business of our complexity and scale is massive,” Ashlie reveals.
Stonegate operates through three distinct business units: the Pub Partners estate, the fully managed estate and Craft Union. Each has its own technological requirements and compliance considerations.
Beyond its internal complexity, Stonegate must also navigate an industry that has historically been resistant to collaboration. “Hospitality as an industry is massively behind retail. We’ve historically been quite behind the curve,” Ashlie says.
“It’s also challenging in its nature as well – it's always been a very closed-door industry with competitors. It’s always very secretive regarding what everybody’s up to, even though everybody's having the same problems and challenges. We don’t come together as a cohort to try and solve the problems together as a unit."
The pandemic accelerated the need to overcome these challenges, as customer expectations shifted dramatically. “There was a huge technological shift coming out of COVID in the way that our guests wanted to interact – pre-booking, pre-planning, knowing exactly where they were going, ordering at table,” Ashlie explains.
“All of those things were on the edges pre-COVID, and they have really come to the forefront. What we’ve seen is a generational shift in the way people interact in the pub sector now, and how and why they want to go to a pub for a night out.”
Balancing technology with traditional hospitality values
Technology implementation in pubs requires careful consideration of the fundamentals that have always drawn people to these establishments. Ashlie is adamant that digital solutions must enhance rather than replace the human element that makes pubs special.
“We must never lose sight of why people visit pubs – they’re seeking human connection,” Ashlie emphasises. “There’s a generational shift happening: younger customers want immediate gratification and digital interaction, while many still want the traditional experience of conversation at the bar.”
This understanding shaped the development of Stonegate’s MiXR app, a loyalty platform that offers optional engagement rather than becoming a requirement for service. The app provides gamification and surprise offers to appeal to younger patrons while also serving traditional customers.
“We were actually surprised by how actively older generations have embraced MiXR – it’s become part of their community connection to their local,” Ashlie reveals.
According to Ashlie, MiXR plays a carefully considered role in the overall guest experience. “It should be an enhancement of the customer experience. It can be the reason that drives the footfall, drives the guests to the venue, the reason for going in the first place, but then once they get there, it has to be about that overall experience of the warmest welcome.”
She envisions the app as “almost like the best friend in your back pocket.”
“It shouldn't be something the guest focuses on – it’s not the reason our guests go to the pub – but it should be the reason why they keep going back and want to go back, why they’re engaged with us,” Ashlie explains.
Alongside MiXR, Stonegate has developed one of the UK’s largest digital screen networks. This technology drives revenue through advertising while delivering location-specific information about events and promotions to enhance the guest experience.
The group has also worked on other solutions, working with technology provider The Access Group on CRM and web app ordering. Access offers integrated software solutions across the hospitality sector, and the company’s relationship with Stonegate has evolved from a traditional vendor arrangement to a true strategic alliance.
Martin Verdon-Roe, who leads the front-of-house software company within Access’s Hospitality division, explains that the collaboration with Stonegate began around 2017 with Access Trail, followed by Access Collins in 2018 and 2021 saw the implementation of Access Acteol as the pub group’s customer data platform which is the power behind MiXR, creating what Martin describes as “a virtuous cycle of building the guest platform, capturing more data and creating better experiences.”
The power of data transforming operations
Perhaps the most significant shift in Stonegate’s approach has been the move toward data-driven decision making. The company now conducts more pilots and trials across its estate than ever before, relying on multiple data points to shape strategic choices.
“The biggest shift for Stonegate is becoming truly data-driven,” Ashlie says. “Our decisions are shaped by multiple data points: guest feedback, team input, end-user adoption rates, and ultimately, impact on the bottom line.”
This approach represents a fundamental change in how the company evaluates technological investments, with regular checkpoints to ensure initiatives are tracking against profit and loss targets and that guest sentiment aligns with the company's vision.
Ashlie is particularly enthusiastic about the potential of customer data to transform the business. “The real thing is in the true power of the data, the segmentation of that data, really understanding and knowing our guests,” she explains.
The integration with Access’s Acteol platform has enabled unprecedented insights. “Being able to use the Acteol platform to pinpoint when somebody who was, for example, drinking Guinness all summer, then suddenly they shifted to something else. Understanding whether that was because of a price change – was it a pricing decision? Was it that they didn't like it after a formula change? Or if we sent them a voucher for the drink, would they go back to it? This is gold dust for our drinks suppliers and something no-one else in the industry can provide at this level.”
This data-driven approach extends beyond marketing to operational efficiencies. “We can do loads of things in the background as well,” Ashlie says. “You can use those data points from MiXR – we’ve initiated, for example, the ability to change pricing across our estate next day. Before, that was a six to eight week process. We’ve now reduced that to hours with the support of OpenR technology.”
The implementation of the QikServe ordering system exemplifies this methodical approach. Stonegate previously managed various branded apps across its estate but realised they were missing an opportunity to unite their portfolio under a single umbrella brand.
“We had a variety of branded apps across our estate. Stonegate has some prominent brands like Slug & Lettuce and Be At One, but also many local pubs that aren't strongly associated with our corporate identity,” Ashlie explains.
After a thorough Request For Proposal process, Access stood out for both meeting requirements and offering innovation potential. The integration capabilities were particularly compelling, as QikServe was already part of the Access platform portfolio.
“QikServe eliminates the friction of downloading a dedicated app for a one-time visit,” Ashlie explains. “It allows walk-in guests to order easily, whilst still giving us the opportunity to convert them to MiXR by showing the loyalty points they could have earned.” In our next release QikServe will be integrated into MiXR so guests can use the OrderPay services in app, further removing friction for our guests.
Leveraging AI for practical applications
AI is an unavoidable topic in technology discussions, but Stonegate is taking a measured approach to implementation. Rather than adopting AI simply because of its recent surge in popularity, the company has launched an automation workstream with three distinct approaches.
“We’re careful not to implement AI just because it’s trendy,” Ashlie notes. “First, we’ll identify processes that simply need workflow improvements rather than complex technological solutions.”
The second phase involves ensuring full utilisation of existing systems, recognising that organisations often use tools the same way for years without exploring new features or optimisations.
Only after addressing these fundamentals will Stonegate explore how machine learning can enhance repetitive tasks, improve data presentation or extract information from inconsistent documentation. One practical application involves processing gas safety certificates from different councils, each with their own formats.
“Document scanning technology will significantly streamline this process,” Ashlie says. “We’ve already begun implementing AI in select areas – integrating chatbots for out-of-hours bookings, using Microsoft tools internally and developing data extraction tools for pricing decisions.”
The company’s technology partners are also enhancing their products with AI capabilities. Access is rolling out Evo, its AI platform, across the product suite, including an upcoming Collins Cool AI feature that will allow guests to complete bookings offline without staff interaction.
A vision for industry-wide standardisation
Looking to the future, Ashlie is particularly excited about a strategic plan to develop a Standardised Data Model for the hospitality sector. Though still in its early stages, the concept has revolutionary potential for an industry that has traditionally operated in silos.
“I’m particularly excited about our strategic plan to develop a Standardised Data Model for the pub sector,” Ashlie explains. “The major pub companies all use similar partners but have never collaborated on standardising our data.”
The problem is one of inefficiency and duplication. All major pub companies face identical challenges – a pub might be identified differently across various systems, and product codes may follow different formats. Each company currently pays separately to solve these same issues with custom development.
“We all face identical problems – a pub might be identified by its name in one system, a site number in another, a pub number in a third. Product codes are alphanumeric in one system but only numeric in another,” Ashlie elaborates.
Access has offered to host a roundtable bringing together major pub companies to discuss standardisation, leveraging their existing relationships to facilitate this conversation where direct competitor engagement might be challenging.
“This initiative could be transformational for the entire sector,” Ashlie says. “It’s what we mean when we talk about disrupting technology in hospitality – not just innovations like MiXR, but fundamental changes to how the sector operates."
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