JOURNAL / INDEX · 410 ENTRIES · PAGE 1 OF 35 LAST ENTRY 2026-10-24
THE JOURNAL PUBLISHED FROM LONDON · 51.5072°N 0.1276°W

Everything we learn, written down

Bookings, menus, online ordering, search. Written by the people building the product, between services.

Last published 24 Oct 2026 — the TableSpark team, London
ARTICLES403
FILMS33
TOPICS9

Featured note

FIG. 01 Building the website
Featured 2026-07-24

What is TableSpark?

A website here, bookings there, orders through a marketplace: each tool charges its own fee and keeps its own copy of your guests. This is the complete tour of one platform that replaces the patchwork.

Read the note ↗

All entries

1–12 of 409 Newest first

October 2026

2026-10 12 entries
FIG. 02 Rules and compliance
Rules and compliance 2026-10-24

Restaurant Fire Safety: Risk Assessment, Kitchen and Staff

A fire risk assessment bought once from a template and never reviewed leaves a restaurant at risk after a refit, a greasy duct or a new starter who never saw the exit.

FIG. 03 Ordering and payments
Ordering and payments 2026-10-24

Pay at the Table: Split Bills, Card Readers and Walkouts

A table of eight asks to pay separately at 22:30, the sums go on a napkin and one share is lost. This guide covers splits, card readers, walkouts and card tips under UK rules.

FIG. 04 Bookings and reservations
Bookings and reservations 2026-10-24

Café Booking System: Brunch, Afternoon Tea and Walk-Ins

A paper diary, Instagram DMs and a weekend queue double-book the window table and leave afternoon-tea no-shows unpaid. Here is how a UK café takes bookings without losing walk-ins.

FIG. 05 Ordering and payments
Ordering and payments 2026-10-23

Restaurant VAT: Eat-In, Takeaway, Service and the Till

One wrong VAT rate on a till button repeats on every bill, and the shortfall lands on the restaurant. Here is how eat-in, takeaway, service charges and deposits are treated.

FIG. 06 Building the website
Building the website 2026-10-23

Restaurant Domain Name: Buy, Own and Connect It

A domain registered by a former designer, with renewal notices going to a dead inbox, risks a restaurant site going offline and its name being lost. Here is how to buy, own and connect it.

FIG. 07 Running the site
Running the site 2026-10-23

Restaurant Payroll: Hours, Holiday Pay, Tips and HMRC

A payroll built on hours nobody can prove risks underpaid staff, a late HMRC filing and a public naming. Here is the 2026/27 UK rulebook and one month costed line by line.

FIG. 08 Guest data and privacy
Guest data and privacy 2026-10-22

Restaurant Marketing in 2027: The UK Growth Plan

Quiet nights, rising costs and guests who switch easily make growth harder in 2027, so here is the channel-by-channel plan, the dated calendar and the rule changes to plan around.

FIG. 09 Rules and compliance
Rules and compliance 2026-10-21

How to Open a Restaurant in the UK: Latest 2026–27 Guide

Sign the lease too early and you risk paying rent on a restaurant you cannot yet open. This guide puts every UK registration in order, by format, for 2026 to 2027.

FIG. 10 Running the site
Running the site 2026-10-21

Restaurant Food Waste: The Rules, the Bins and the Cost

Food scraped into the general bin risks a refused collection, a compliance notice and a bill for food already paid for. Here is what each UK nation requires and what waste really costs.

FIG. 11 Ordering and payments
Ordering and payments 2026-10-21

Restaurant Order Ticket System: Set Up a Kitchen Printer

Online orders copied by hand lose collection times and allergy notes, and a printer that drops offline mid-service leaves the pass guessing. Here is what a ticket needs and what it costs.

FIG. 12 Search and being found
Search and being found 2026-10-21

Restaurant Reviews: Get More, Answer Well, Stay Legal

A free dessert for five stars, or a bad review quietly deleted from your own site, can now put a restaurant on the wrong side of UK consumer law. Here is how to ask, reply and publish reviews safely.

FIG. 13 Cost and comparison
Cost and comparison 2026-10-21

Restaurant Software Costs UK: The Year-One Budget

Many tools, each quoted cheaply, can add up to a year-one bill nobody planned for, once commission and per-cover fees land. This guide adds up every line, with sources.

The pass · every other Thursday

One short note. No noise.

The best of the Journal plus one thing worth stealing for your restaurant's website — twice a month, unsubscribe in a click.

We'll only ever email you the Journal. Promise.