MediaCityUK’s largest bar, lounge and events space, Social 7, has gone cashless, just six months after it launched. The move makes it the largest cashless venue of its kind in the UK.
Social 7, based at The Landing – a specialist incubator hub for high-growth technology and digital companies, regularly serves employees from the BBC, Kellogg’s, ITV, Peel and Creative England and has served over 10,000 customers since it opened in March. But, from now on, the venue will no longer accept cash, opting instead for card payments and even new digital or ‘cryptocurrencies’ such as BitCoin.
Social 7, which incorporates a large lounge-style bar area as well as meeting snugs, a conference room and a 20-seat private cinema, has seen its daily revenue increase by around 40 per cent since it opened, with an even greater increase in its private hire bookings, which currently stretch to the middle of 2019.
Owner, Carla Taylor, says that their move to cashless has come about following a recent research trip to the US. She said: “We decided to take the next step and become a cashless venue after a day of inconveniences in New York City where we had only cash to spend and found that most venues there now operate cashless. After talking to friends and professionals in the US, we knew this was the right move for us.”
With significant increases in the cost of banking cash in the UK, not to mention the time involved in depositing cash at a bank, there’s no doubt that going cashless saves time and makes businesses more efficient and there doesn’t seem to be a downside.
“Currently, 97% of our payments are already made on card, so the move won’t negatively affect many of our existing customers at all,” added Carla.
In a world of contactless cards and Apple Pay, cash is already becoming a thing of the past but new digital currencies, such as BitCoin, are the new kids on the block and Carla is keen to stay ahead of the game and accept these new currencies.
Carla said: “As part of The Landing, we’re surrounded by innovative tech companies and so it’s really important that we are also innovative and make advances through our own business. We are now the largest cashless venue of our kind in the UK, which is really exciting.”
Paul Billington, managing director at The Landing said: “This is a very exciting move from Social 7 which comes so soon after we launched the business earlier this year. We are proud to have built a community of over 120 tech start-ups here at The Landing and Social 7 is the social hub, not only for our resident businesses, but for the wider community at MediaCityUK.
The find out more about Social 7, visit www.social7.co.uk.
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