Rising costs are front of mind for most UK hospitality operators in 2024, with April’s increase in the National Living Wage and business rates a key contributor to stretched margins and over-burdened teams.

Other ongoing challenges operators are facing include labour shortages, food inflation, and price-sensitive consumers, all of which require innovative strategies to combat them.

Fourth's ‘Level Up’ product release introduces capabilities enabling hospitality operators to increase profitability, efficiency and employee engagement in the areas impacted by the current challenges they face.

Fourth’s managing director, EMEA, Sebastien Sepierre commented: “Since its launch in 2022, our AI Forecasting solution has been delivering great results for our workforce scheduling customers.

“It's used by many of the UK’s largest restaurant groups including Pizza Express, and growing chains like Thai Leisure Group, who reduced overscheduling by 22% while boosting sales by nearly 16%. Our ‘Level Up’ product release brings the huge potential of this technology into our inventory solutions.”