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Prepared for Paul Lenehan

Buy back
your time

AI systems for the Hartes Group. Built by a publican who automated his own businesses first.

Hartes of Kildare Firecastle Dew Drop Inn Ballymore Inn
June 2026 | barry@iskra.ie
Hartes of Kildare
Firecastle Firecastle rooms
Your group

Four venues, one vision

Hartes of Kildare
Hartes of Kildare
Gastropub, Kildare Town
Firecastle
Firecastle
Deli, Bakery, Cafe + 10 Rooms
Dew Drop Inn
Dew Drop Inn
Gastropub + Brewhouse, Kill
Ballymore Inn
Ballymore Inn
Gastropub, Ballymore Eustace
Current tech stack
■
Square POS
S
Sage
D
Dext
LH
Little Hotelier
KT
KitchenTech
TP
Timepoint
What we heard

The money you're losing today

"Most of the money that's lost is on ordering and bad rosters."
— Paul Lenehan, Discovery Call
🔴 Chefs ordering blind

10 kilo of chicken ordered without checking if the price has gone up. No live pricing across your 20+ suppliers.

🔴 Four venues, no shared view

A price increase hits Hartes but the Dew Drop doesn't find out. Credit notes go unchased. The office catches some of it.

🔴 Phone calls and order sheets

8 orderers across 4 venues. Most orders placed by phone. No record, no comparison, no accountability trail.

🔴 You're still the point of call

After-hours accommodation queries, check-in questions, room keys. Firecastle guests phone you directly at 9pm.

Your scale

A group this size deserves systems

4
Venues
150
Staff
20+
Suppliers
10
Hotel rooms
Your time split (you told us)
Firecastle 70%
Hartes 20%
10%
Accommodation occupancy
82% avg
18%
17-18% of total revenue
What Iskra does

AI that works in your business

We build AI systems for hospitality operators. Not theory. Working tools that handle the daily grind your team shouldn't be doing manually.

Invoice scanning
📸
Purchasing Intelligence

Photo-based invoice capture, live price database across all venues, supplier comparison, price change alerts.

Phone AI
📱
AI Voice Agent

Answers calls 24/7. Handles guest queries, check-in instructions, booking questions. Sounds human. You stop being the point of call.

Dashboard
📊
Owner Dashboard

All four venues on one screen. Revenue, labour, purchasing alerts, occupancy. On your phone. Updated live.

📋
Staff Checklists

Digital opening and closing checklists. Photo proof. Issue flagging. Manager alerts if something gets missed.

📣
AI Social Media

Posts per week generated from your real photos. Drafts sent to your phone for approval. One tap to publish.

🧑‍💼
AI Hiring Pipeline

Job posted. CVs screened by AI. Candidates surveyed automatically. You only see the shortlist. Saves hours per hire.

Primary build

The Live Larder

One shared pricing database across all four venues. Every invoice photographed at the door builds a live, searchable record of what you're paying and whether you're getting the best deal.

📸
Photo capture
Delivery arrives, staff photographs the invoice and sends it. AI reads every line item, price, and supplier. 30 seconds.
🔍
Search any product
What did we pay for pork racks last week? Which supplier is cheapest for chicken right now? Instant answer.
🔔
Price change alerts
Supplier raises a price above 2%? Push notification to you and the chef the same day.
⚖️
Cross-venue comparison
Flags when one venue pays more than another for the same product. In black and white.
✶
Live Larder
Iskra Bot
📸 Invoice Received
Supplier: Carave Foods
Venue: Hartes of Kildare
Items: 14 line items
All prices updated in database
09:14
⚠️ Price Alert
Chicken Breast (kg)
Was: €7.80 → Now: €8.45 (+8.3%)
Sysco still at €7.60 — consider switching
09:14
⚖️ Cross-Venue Check
Beef Mince (5kg)
Hartes: €42.00
Dew Drop: €46.50 (+10.7%)
Same supplier, different price. Flag to chef.
09:15
📊 Monday Report
Total spend this week: €12,340
Biggest mover: Salmon (+12%)
Cross-venue flags: 3
Credit notes pending: 2
Mon 07:00
Price of pork rack?
➤
How it works

Simple enough for any chef

01

Invoice arrives

Delivery comes in the door. Staff photographs the invoice on their phone and sends it to the Telegram channel. That's it.

02

AI reads it

Every line item extracted automatically. Product name, quantity, unit price, supplier. No data entry, no logging in, no forms.

03

Database updates

All four venues feed into one shared pricing database. Updated in real time. Searchable by any orderer, from any venue.

04

Alerts fire

Price increase detected? Push notification. Cross-venue discrepancy? Both venues flagged. Monday report arrives on your phone.

System flow
📸 Staff photographs invoice
↓
🤖 AI reads & extracts line items
↓
🗄️ Shared price database (all 4 venues)
↓
🔔 Price alerts
📊 Weekly report
↓
📱 Paul's phone (Telegram)
Works alongside Dext + Sage

Your existing invoice-to-bookkeeping flow doesn't change. Photo goes to Live Larder for price intelligence. Dext continues handling your accounts pipeline as normal.

Secondary build

AI Voice Agent for Firecastle

An AI answers your Firecastle phone line. Handles guest queries, check-in instructions, key collection, directions, and booking questions. Sounds human. Works 24/7. Escalates to a real person only when it needs to.

What it handles
✓ Check-in / checkout
✓ Key collection
✓ Directions & parking
✓ Menu & hours
✓ Table bookings
✓ After-hours calls
"I'm still the point to call on check-in queries or where their keys might be. That would be very beneficial."
— Paul Lenehan
Firecastle accommodation
🎧
AI Voice Agent
● Active 24/7
SAMPLE CALL TRANSCRIPT
Caller: Hi, I'm checking in today, where do I pick up the keys?
AI Agent: Welcome! Your keys are at the front counter in Firecastle. We're open until 6pm. If you're arriving after that, there's a lockbox beside the main door with code 4521.
Works alongside Little Hotelier. No changes to your booking system.
Already working

Built in a real pub first

Every system we're proposing already runs in Lock 13 Brewpub, Sallins. We built them for our own business before offering them to anyone else. Production code, not a prototype.

Live PurchasingOS

AI-powered invoice scanning, supplier price comparison, and weekly purchasing reports running at Lock 13. Catches price increases the day they happen.

Invoice photo in → price alerts out → Monday report to owner's phone
Live VoiceOS (Saoirse)

AI phone receptionist answering calls at Lock 13. Handles bookings, enquiries, and callbacks. Connected to the reservation system. Sounds human.

Caller dials → AI answers → booking confirmed + SMS sent to guest
Live ChecklistOS

Digital opening and closing checklists. Staff complete on a tablet. Photo proof for critical items. Manager alerted for flagged issues or missed deadlines.

Staff opens tablet → works through checklist → signs off → manager alerted
Live SocialOS

16 social media posts per week generated from real venue photos. AI writes captions matched to each image. Drafts sent to phone for approval.

Real photos in → AI captions → approve on phone → published

18+ AI systems built and running across three businesses. 58% of recurring tasks automated.

Your command centre

Everything on your phone

All alerts, reports, approvals, and dashboards come through Telegram. One app. Push notifications. No desktop required. Works on the golf course.

🔔
Price alerts

Instant push when a supplier raises a price or a venue is paying more than another.

📊
Weekly reports

Monday morning: spend summary, biggest movers, cross-venue discrepancies. One message.

✅
Approve from phone

Social posts, purchase decisions, checklist sign-offs. Tap to approve. Done.

Why Telegram?

Free. Encrypted. No login walls. Channels keep different systems organised. Your team already uses WhatsApp, so the muscle memory is identical.

✶
Hartes Group
5 channels
📸
Live Larder 09:14
⚠️ Price Alert: Chicken Breast +8.3%
3
🎧
Voice Agent 08:42
✅ 3 calls handled, 1 booking confirmed
📋
Checklists 07:30
✅ Hartes opening complete (John)
📣
Social Media Mon
4 posts ready for approval ✓✕
4
📊
Weekly Report Mon 07:00
Group spend: €12,340 | 3 flags
Search channels...
Getting started

How we'd start

We pick one or two systems, get them running, and you see the results before we go further. No big commitment upfront. Proof first.

Week 1

Kickoff + Setup

30-minute call. We get your top products listed, map your suppliers, and set up the invoice capture channel for all 4 venues.

Week 2

Go live

Staff start photographing invoices. Price database begins building from day one. You see the first data landing.

Week 3

First reports

Cross-venue comparison data starts flowing. Price alerts activated. First Monday report on your phone.

Week 4

Fully operational

System running across all venues. Staff trained (10 minutes each). You're seeing real savings data.

Staff training requirement
10 minutes per venue

Photograph the invoice. Send it. That's the entire training.

What we need from you
Your top 15-20 most ordered products
List of current suppliers per venue
30 minutes for a kickoff call
Blade of beef Fish dish Pizza
Next steps

Let's pick one thing
and prove it works

You tell me which system matters most. We build it, you see the results, and we go from there. No long contracts. No big upfront spend. Just proof.

Let's talk ➚ iskra.ie
Hartes Firecastle Dew Drop Inn Ballymore Inn

Barry Flanagan

Founder, Iskra

barry@iskra.ie