As news of a potential roadmap out of lockdown emerges, hospitality operators are being offered free online training for staff by some of the brightest brains in the industry.

Leading hospitality CRM and gift card platforms, Airship and Toggle, have been made free to operators that sign up ahead of June as part of the Come Back Strong campaign which has launched this week. 

1-in-5 consumers intend to make a bigger effort than normal this Valentine’s Day, especially Generation Z and younger Millennials, according to a new consumer poll. ‍

‍Hospitality gift card platform Toggle has reported a ‘buoyant’ Christmas performance in spite of December sales being down overall. With the pandemic forcing businesses to close their doors to customers, operators pivoted to selling retail products and at-home experiences, as well as gift cards. 

‍Hospitality gift card platform Toggle has reported a ‘mixed’ Black Friday performance, with its overall like-for-like sales increasing by 42 per cent compared to last year despite pandemic. 

‍With the new tier restrictions coming into force next week, hospitality operators are having to come to terms with the reality that Christmas trading this year will be very different to a typical festive season.

Ole & Steen, Duck and Rice, Tonkotsu, Sourced Market, JW Lees and Revolution Bars are amongst a host of food and beverage businesses to have launched online stores with Toggle in recent weeks – selling at-home experiences, gift cards and retail products to boost pre-Christmas sales during lockdown.