Brigade

The whole staffing operation for venues that never close, not just the rota.

The problem

Saturday, 6pm. Two staff have swapped shifts by text, nobody with a first aid certificate is on, and a server is asking why her share of last month's tips looks low.

Who it is for

Pubs, restaurants, hotels, cafés, care providers, retail chains, leisure centres.

What it does

• Rota and availability across one or many sites, with swaps that a manager approves rather than a group chat.
• Cover rules the venue sets: a rota cannot be published without the trained people each shift needs, such as a first aider or a food hygiene-trained cook.
• Labour cost against expected trade, so managers see the wage bill before the week starts.
• Tips and service charge shared by the venue's written policy, with the records UK law now requires kept for three years and available to staff on request.
• Holiday accrued correctly for irregular-hours and part-year staff.
• Shift notice and cancellation records, ready for the new rights to reasonable notice and pay for short-notice cancellations being phased in under the Employment Rights Act 2025.
• Right to work and starter documents, with expiry reminders.
• A shared casual pool across sites, and timesheets exported to payroll.

Why it is different

Most rota tools stop at the rota and charge per employee, which hurts in a sector with high staff turnover. Brigade handles the legal and money side of staffing too, and a group that adopts it owns it.

AI and automation

AI drafts next week's rota from expected trade, availability, cover rules and the labour budget, and the manager adjusts and publishes it. When someone drops a shift, Brigade offers it in turn to qualified, available staff. Tips are calculated from the venue's policy, holiday accrues on its own, and rotas that break rest rules or cover rules are flagged before they go out. A person approves every rota and every tips payout.

First release

One site: rota, availability, cover rules and tip records.