Another Summer With Stanhope Weekender
Stanhope Weekender Festival 2024: Lolly’s Bespoke EPoS System Drives Festival Efficiency


About Stanhope Weekender
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Stanhope Weekender is a family-friendly live tribute act music festival, founded by Lewis Maddison and his business partner, Sean Stembridge, in County Durham. The festival began in 2021 as a small-scale event in their village, with just 300 attendees, and has since grown to 3,000, with plans to expand further year-on-year.

The festival is held on family-owned land within the Stanhope Showground, recognised as an Outstanding Natural Beauty Area. Where organisers aim to create an event that is not only about music but about the experience of real County Durham, with a strong focus on the local community and a commitment to reinvest all proceeds into improving the festival’s facilities. Lewis’ deep-rooted connection to events, beginning from his teenage years, and his passion for creating something unique for his community, drove the ethos behind the event.


The Challenge
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As a rural festival, Stanhope Weekender faced significant operational challenges, particularly around taking payments. The local cash points were limited, which made managing cash during the event difficult. Other point-of-sale systems used in the past, were not fit for purpose at a high-capacity event. “It was slow, and it just didn’t work for us", says Lewis. “We were surprised by how many payments were made by card; the system just couldn’t keep up."

The team needed a faster, more resilient solution that could handle quick transactions while accommodating their reusable cup initiative, a core feature of their sustainability efforts.


The Solution (Working with Lolly)
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After extensive research and a solid recommendation, Lewis met with the team at Lolly. The decision to work with Lolly’s EPoS system was, as he put it, "the best business decision" they ever made. Lolly offered a customised solution that ticked all the boxes for a fast-paced festival environment. Their system allowed the Stanhope Weekender team to streamline bar operations, reduce stress on staff, and eliminate mistakes in pricing and ordering. The ability to pre-program menu options and offer reusable cup discounts at the touch of a button meant staff no longer had to think about pricing adjustments.


2024 and the hybrid, cashless bar

This year, the festival moved to a hybrid cashless bar, using a prepaid card system. Customers who wanted to pay with cash could load money onto prepaid cards, allowing for faster service and eliminating the need for handling cash. The system worked so efficiently that the festival reduced the number of bars, speeding up service times and improving customer satisfaction.

With 20 hours of bar service to manage, having Lolly’s technician, Reece, on-site was invaluable. Lewis commented: “Reece was a credit to Lolly. He was always ready to help and went above and beyond, and we’ll never do a large bar without Lolly’s support. If we go offline for just an hour, that’s £1,000 in lost revenue, but with Lolly, we felt completely supported.”

Paul Markey, Sales Manager at Lolly added: “Our whole approach is centred around designing bespoke systems for clients, such as the team at the Stanhope Weekender event. We worked collaboratively to make the entire operation as seamless and frictionless as possible for the event attendees. We’re never afraid to develop and adapt our technology to help meet unique challenges, such as the ones faced by those on the Stanhope Weekender team. At the end of the day, their very success depends upon it.”


The Future (Plans)
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Looking ahead, Stanhope Weekender is planning for organic growth, to reach 5,000 attendees. Lolly will continue to be a key partner as the festival expands, ensuring operations run smoothly and efficiently. Lewis: “We wouldn’t work with anyone else. Lolly’s team feels like part of our family - they’ve been with us every step of the way.”

Stanhope Weekender’s commitment to sustainable practices, such as its reusable cup initiative, will remain central to the event’s future.“ Lolly’s system made it easy for us to offer discounts for people bringing their own cups, and it’s something we’ll continue to do as we grow,” added Lewis.