Online ordering for Stoke-on-Trent takeaways

Chefzi is an online ordering system for Stoke-on-Trent restaurants and takeaway shops, with no commission on orders. The ordering page is part of your own site; see takeaway website design. For the full picture, read how the online ordering system works. There are set-ups for each kind of shop, such as kebab shop ordering system and ordering for chicken shops.

# Online ordering for Stoke-on-Trent takeaways

Short answer: Stoke-on-Trent is one of the most takeaway-heavy places in the UK. The FSA register lists 328 takeaways against 351 restaurants and cafés, close to one-for-one, where the UK as a whole has about 2.2 restaurant or café premises for every takeaway. They aren't in one centre: they're spread across the six towns, with Tunstall and Burslem (ST6), Longton (ST3) and Stoke and Fenton (ST4) each holding about a quarter. Hygiene is strong, with 67.7% of rated takeaways on a 5. Chefzi gives you a commission-free ordering site with no setup fee, free migration and the first month free. Your own domain is included.

Six towns, not one centre

Most cities have a dense middle and thinner suburbs. Stoke doesn't. The median takeaway sits 2.2 miles from the centre point of all of them, and fewer than half (43.1%) are within 2 miles. Compare that with Derby, where 71.3% are. The FSA addresses show why:

• ST6 (85): Tunstall (28 addresses), Burslem (21) and Chell. The north of the city. The busiest strips in the data are Ford Green Road (10 takeaways) and Waterloo Road (9), plus the high streets.
• ST3 (81): Longton, Weston Coyney, Meir and Blurton. Uttoxeter Road alone has 13 takeaways.
• ST4 (74): Stoke, Fenton, Shelton and Hartshill. London Road (14) and King Street (11) lead. Staffordshire University's Stoke campus is here, so term-time evenings run late.
• ST1 (56): Hanley. The city centre and shopping district, with Broad Street the busiest (8).
• ST2 (30): Bucknall, Bentilee and Abbey Hulton. Mostly residential, east of Hanley.

What that means for delivery: one big radius from your shop will either miss customers in your own town or promise times you can't keep in the next one. Draw a tight zone around your own town, then add a second zone for the neighbouring town at a higher fee and minimum order. A shop in Longton probably shouldn't promise 30 minutes to Tunstall. The A500 runs north to south through the city, so how close a street is to it often matters more than the straight-line distance on a map.

In Chefzi, delivery zones can be drawn on a map, set as a radius or listed by postcode, each with its own fee, minimum order and delivery time. Customers see straight away whether you deliver to them.

What the hygiene data says

Ahead of the region. Two in three rated takeaways (67.7%) have a 5, ten points above the West Midlands figure. Only 10 takeaways (3.4%) are rated 0 to 2. The council is also up to date: more than half the city's takeaways (175) were rated in the last 12 months, and only 3.1% of ratings are over two years old. A 5 here is the norm, so a 4 stands out more than it would in many cities.

What holds the rest back. FSA officers score three areas, and to get a 5 a business must score no more than 5 in each. Of the 94 rated Stoke takeaways below a 5, 64.9% fell short on "confidence in management", which covers food safety records and procedures, and 61.7% on the condition of the premises. Hygienic handling was the weak point for fewer (47.9%). So for most takeaways stuck on a 3 or 4, the fastest fix is paperwork: keep the Safer Food, Better Business pack (or your own system) filled in every day, and ask your officer what the last report flagged.

By district. ST3 (71.4% on a 5) and ST1 (71.1%) are the strongest. ST6 is lowest at 62.7%. ST1 also has the most low ratings (6.7% rated 0 to 2), so in Hanley a good rating is worth putting on your ordering page.

Oatcakes, chippies and the morning trade

By name, Stoke's most common takeaways are fish and chips (32), pizza (29), Chinese (24) and kebab (19). This is an estimate, and 56.7% of names don't match any cuisine. Eight takeaways have "oatcake" in their name, which you won't see on the register in most cities. For an oatcake shop, the opportunity isn't late-night delivery but morning collection: customers order on the way to work and pick up at a set time. Chefzi lets you set separate collection and delivery hours and a pre-order lead time, so a shop can take collection orders from opening and keep delivery off. For chippies, see our fish and chip shop page.

Licensing and display rules

In England, showing your hygiene sticker is voluntary, though the FSA encourages it in the window and online. Selling hot food or hot drink between 11pm and 5am, for eating in or taking away, counts as late night refreshment under the Licensing Act 2003. It needs a premises licence from Stoke-on-Trent City Council's licensing team. Match your online ordering hours to the hours on your licence. On Stoke City home games at the bet365 Stadium, and Port Vale games at Vale Park in Burslem, expect slower roads nearby. Lengthen your delivery times, or turn delivery off and stay open for collection.

What Chefzi gives a Stoke takeaway

Dine-in cafés can add QR table ordering.

Price: £39 a month billed annually (£49 if billed monthly), with your own domain and your own branded app (Android & iOS) included, first month free. All per location, excluding VAT, 0% commission ever, no setup fee. Free menu migration. Current offer: One plan at £39 a month per location, ex VAT: ordering website, your own branded app (Android & iOS), EPOS till, kitchen screen, SMS and email marketing (GDPR compliant) and loyalty rewards. 0% commission ever, no setup fee, free migration and one month free.

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