One in Five Hospitality Businesses Fear Collapse in the Next 12 Months

Data published this weekend by sector analysts CGA by NIQ found that one in five hospitality businesses fear collapse in the next 12 months as higher business rates add to mounting pressures on the sector. Additional data from Dojo suggests payment outages are exacerbating those challenges.

New data shows payment outages have become a routine and costly issue for UK hospitality businesses, with repeated failures disrupting service during peak trading and putting revenue at risk.

Key data from Dojo, one of the UK’s largest payment providers, shows:

• UK hospitality businesses report an average of 32 payment outages a year, equivalent to more than one every fortnight, with 30% experiencing failures weekly.
• Venues estimate broken payments technology or payment issues cost them an average of £11,688 a year, with one in three putting the annual hit at £10,000 or more.
• Payment problems are most acute during busy periods, with 81% of hospitality operators experiencing issues at peak times.
• Three in five hospitality leaders say they are likely to change payments provider in the next 12 months.
• New UK tipping legislation is also driving upgrades, with 42% introducing flexible mobile payment options such as pay-at-table and handheld devices, and 40% upgrading hardware to enable digital, at-table tipping.

Please find the full release with the data below, along with a quote from Charlie Ashworth, Head of Insights at Dojo.

Hospitality businesses hit by payment outages more than every fortnight, costing over £11,000 a year

Four in five experience payments issues during peak times, with three in five considering changing provider

• New UK tipping legislation has driven almost half of businesses to introduce flexible mobile payment options such as pay-at-table and handheld devicesJulie

Payment failures have become a routine and costly pressure point for UK hospitality, with venues reporting an average of 32 outages a year, or at least every fortnight, with almost a third (30%) facing weekly failures. The estimated average annual cost to businesses exceeds £11,000 per company.

Leading payments company Dojo commissioned Censuswide to poll 250 UK technology leaders in hospitality to explore how payments technology underpins customer experiences.

Peak-time pressure driving frustrations and financial losses

Payments processing is particularly fragile during peak trading. 81% of operators run into payment problems during their busiest periods, undermining customer service when demand is surging. The top frustrations with current payments technology are processing failures (33%) and slow transactions (32%), closely followed by connectivity issues (27%). A lack of flexibility over preferred payment methods and poor integrations are also common pain points.

Venues estimate a mean loss of £11,688 per year from broken payments technology or payments issues. One in three put the annual hit at £10,000 or more, with 11% even saying it costs them between £25,000 and £49,999.

Failures driving technology switches

Given the regularity and cost of payments failures, three in five (60%) hospitality leaders say they are likely to change their payments provider in the next 12 months. Yet, competing tech priorities internally (19%) is the most common barrier holding operators back from switching, as well as the belief their incumbent technology is “just about” good enough (17%).

When making the decision to switch, hospitality leaders are clear on their gold standard for payments: flexible terminals that speed staff workflows (33%), as well as real-time data and insight (32%). Fast seamless transactions are not enough. Businesses now also want intelligent technology solutions tailored to customer needs.

Upgrades to meet new tipping demands

In part, the need for upgrading the customer experience at the point of payment has been driven by new UK tipping rules. In response to the new legislation unveiled last year, 42% have introduced flexible mobile payment options such as pay-at-table and handheld devices, while 40% have upgraded hardware to enable digital, at-table tipping.

Charlie Ashworth, Head of Insights at Dojo said: “Payments play a critical role in shaping the last frontier of the customer experience, with reliable back-end tech underpinning such performance and reliability. 

“When businesses choose a payments provider, they’re not just buying technology – they’re buying assurance that their revenue flow will continue to weather any external storms. Reliability isn’t just technical excellence. It’s business continuity.”