Umbel Group Serves Up Next Level Forecasting with Sage Intacct

Three years after its initial deployment, Chris Gallagher-York explains how Sage Intacct has sped up planning and performance at the unique, Simon Rogan-led restaurant group, highlighting its integral role in delivering competitive advantage in an industry that continues to face headwinds, and offers a glimpse of what the future holds.

About Simon Rogan

With core values centred around food and nature, innovation and sustainability, the group operates across the UK, Malta, Hong Kong, and Thailand. Setting the benchmark for farm-to-table dining and sustainability, its restaurants collectively hold 9 Michelin stars and 2 Michelin Green Stars.

L’Enclume is set in a former 13th-century blacksmith workshop and focuses on homegrown, seasonal produce from its farm a mile away, offering guests an ever-evolving dining experience. It also operates the one-star neighbourhood restaurant Rogan & Co, Simon Rogan’s development kitchen, chef’s table Aulis, 16 bespoke bedrooms and suites for those wishing to stay the night, and a shop.

Other restaurants include Henrock in the Lakes; Aulis London, an eight-seat chef’s table in the heart of Soho; Aulis Hong Kong; Michelin-starred Roganic Hong Kong, which earned a Michelin star just 10 months after opening and, in 2021, became the first restaurant in Hong Kong and Macau to receive a Michelin Green Star for sustainability; The Baker & The Bottleman Hong Kong; and most recently, ION Harbour; Aulis Phuket; and Skof in Manchester.

Post-Pandemic Challenges

After a brief post-pandemic stabilisation, the hospitality industry has continued to experience bumpy times. Business rates, minimum wage, and VAT increases have all converged to erode margins and put more pressure on accurate forecasting to maximise both profit and the customer experience.

Since deploying Sage Intacct in 2022, with a focus on establishing a baseline to build from, Simon Rogan’s team has spent the last year becoming familiar with the platform. Leveraging its breadth and depth to forecast and elevate how the business is run has dominated, as Umbel Group’s Financial Director Chris Gallagher-York explains.

A Unique Business Model

“While our values are consistent across every restaurant, each one is unique in terms of its structure, geography, menu and customer experience. This means we need to manage them differently, and to do so effectively, we need class-leading, intelligent finance and reporting capabilities.

“The infinite number of dimensions within Sage Intacct provides the ability to code and tag data from across every aspect of our operations, from ingredients, staffing, marketing and covers. We can then analyse trends to understand the interdependencies and impact of each dynamic and variable.

“This ability to deep dive into the data and refine plans for each entity, whilst also facilitating collaboration and consolidation to provide us with group-level reports, really gives us a handle on the business and confidence to know we’re making the best decisions at any given time.”

Ingredients for Success

Ingredient costs are a clear example of this and have drawn significant scrutiny for the group, particularly since the Ukraine war. While some product price hikes were well publicised, such as sunflower oil, major upticks in the cost of stock cupboard staples, like flour and butter, have also posed challenges.

“Traditionally, our chefs have had carte blanche to use these types of ingredients fairly freely, but the price increases, which we now have detailed, live data on via Sage Intacct, mean we can plan precisely how much is likely to be needed for menus and provide mandates which reflect this in the kitchen.

“Adjusting to this environment in the wake of the pandemic resulted in a fairly tough 2023, but the intelligence and forecasting Sage Intacct has brought to the table has helped us to navigate this, implement informed planning and pursue measured growth.”

As a result, 2024 was significantly more profitable for the group, and the team has a better understanding of its position, pinpointing opportunities and staying ahead of the industry curve. Specifically, having data that shows detailed performance across every restaurant and flags exceptions has helped redesign budgeting and forecasting.

Class Leading Accounting

“The level of speed and integration with our other systems represents a marked unique selling point (USP) for us as it allows us truly dynamic forecasting,” Chris explains.

“One bad decision or oversight can wreck a week’s figures, so daily check-ins, supported by weekly meetings, are imperative in maintaining focus and keeping everything on track. In a restaurant, for example, a small surplus of fresh ingredients, or over-staffing by one, can quickly offset profit levels, and if not adjusted, this can become a trend which poses real risk to performance.”

Visibility & Control

Sage Intacct’s multi-entity management functionality is flexible and helpful, as the group’s business model is not uniform. Its newest restaurant, Skof in Manchester, for example, has a different legal structure from others in the group. Investor reporting differs, with a separate accounting calendar, but Sage Intacct’s setup makes it seamless. In parallel, it supports the group’s highly seasonal e-commerce business, with peaks around Valentine’s, Christmas, and New Year’s, as well as events such as weddings and Ascot, and, most recently, a pop-up in Sydney to promote and extend its reach.

Modern Capabilities for Scale & Performance

“With 15 different sites and a £10 million turnover, and ambitions to expand further, the granularity Sage Intacct gives us ensures we’re on top of every aspect of every operation and entity at every moment. Entry-level systems such as Xero or QuickBooks don’t offer this capability and control over the numbers.

“Ultimately, we can pull out and review three and a half years of data in just five minutes, something which previously would have been impossible. It’s so easy to get information in and out of it; it’s become integral to our business’s DNA and a driving force. With updates released quarterly, we continually see enhancements and new features, which we greatly value.”

The Percipient Advantage

“From day one, Percipient has been a true partner in helping us to get the absolute most out of the platform. Because the system is so easy to use, we rarely need to call on them for support. However, their guidance, reassurance, and always-available ethos are incredibly valuable, especially given the system’s mission-critical role in supporting our live business.

“They really do know hospitality inside out and are always one step ahead of any upcoming features or developments. As a group, we’re incredibly excited to work with them and Sage Intacct in realising our future plans.”

Sage Intacct for Restaurants

At Percipient, we help ambitious restaurants to upgrade outdated systems with modern, cloud-based solutions like Sage Intacct, designed to scale, simplify, and strengthen your finance function. Call us on 01606 871332 or book a free consultation with one of our Sage Intacct experts, and let us show you how.