Rota software for small UK businesses that doesn't cost the earth

If you run a small business with a team of five, ten or twenty, you probably build the rota yourself, often late at night, from a mix of text messages, a spreadsheet and memory. Most rota software is priced and designed for big employers with HR departments. You don't need that. You need something quick, cheap and easy for your staff to use.

What small businesses actually need from rota software

Before comparing anything, it helps to be clear about what matters at your size.

• A price that makes sense at 8 people, not 80. No per-site fees, no minimum user counts, no contract you can't leave.
• Nothing to install. Casual, seasonal and part-time staff should be able to see their shifts on whatever phone they have.
• Availability from staff, not from you. People should tell you when they can work, in the app, weeks ahead.
• A rota in minutes, not an evening. You should be checking and tweaking, not starting from a blank grid every week.
• Labour cost while you build. In a small business, one extra shift can be the difference between a good and a bad week.
• One place for the final version. On everyone's phone the moment you publish, so nobody works from an old photo.

How ShiftComplete does it

ShiftComplete is an operations and rota app for UK pubs, restaurants, cafés, bars and hotels. "Built for hospitality, by hospitality." It runs in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer.

Staff set their own availability

Each team member marks days as available, partial or off from their phone, weeks ahead, with a note if they need one ("college until 2pm Tuesdays"). No more collecting availability by text.

You add what's happening

Add events to the days they affect: a private party on Saturday needing two extra on the floor, a quiet Monday where you can run lighter. Day notes sit on the rota so everyone sees the context.

ShiftComplete builds a draft rota in seconds

Weight the people you want on (your most experienced person for the Saturday close, for example), and ShiftComplete builds a draft rota from availability, events and your weightings, spread fairly across the team. Then you drag shifts around until it's right.

Publish to everyone's phone

Hit publish and the rota appears on each staff member's phone under My rota. You can email it too.

Built for how small hospitality teams actually work

• Split shifts: up to four time blocks per person per day, for lunch-and-dinner days.
• Custom areas: set up Bar, Kitchen, Floor, Café or whatever your building needs, so each block shows where someone's working.
• Fixed weekly schedules for people who always work the same shifts, so you're not re-entering them every week.
• Holidays recorded so you don't rota someone who's off, and staff can request holiday from their phone for you to approve.
• Labour cost shown as you build the rota.
• Clocking in and out if you want it: switch on time tracking and staff clock in on their phone or a shared tablet. You see hours worked against the rota and download them as a spreadsheet with a total per person, ready to hand to whoever does your payroll. ShiftComplete doesn't run payroll itself.
• More than one site? Staff can work across venues, and you can switch between sites with a group dashboard.

More than a rota, for the same price

Small businesses rarely have someone whose only job is compliance. ShiftComplete includes the everyday records too:

• Temperature logs for every fridge, freezer and hot-hold unit, with out-of-range readings flagged.
• Allergens mapped to the 14 UK allergens, searchable by front-of-house staff.
• Opening, closing and cleaning checklists that change by weekday, with each tick named and timestamped.
• Incident and maintenance logs with photos.
• Risk assessments kept and printed in the app.
• Team announcements so important updates don't get lost in WhatsApp.

It helps you keep the records an EHO asks to see. You don't have to use any of it; plenty of teams start with the rota only.

What it costs

£1.49 per staff member per month. Every feature included, no per-site fee, no contract, and you can remove staff at any time, which matters when your summer staff leave.

The first 60 days are free, and you don't need a card to start. Set-up takes about five minutes, and there's a free 15-minute set-up call if you'd like a hand. If you have more than 100 staff, talk to us. Full detail on the pricing page.

If you're weighing up free options first, our honest round-up of free rota apps in the UK covers what you get and the limits.

What one small hospitality group says

Kirkham Hospitality runs The Lounge in Oswestry and Knock & Snitch. Owner Graeme Kirkham:

"The rota stopped being a Sunday-night argument the week we switched over. The chef stopped being the only person who knows what's in the kitchen. And the EHO turn up to a screen, not a box file." Graeme Kirkham, Owner, The Lounge Oswestry & Knock & Snitch

Read the full Kirkham story.

Who it's for

• Independent pubs, cafés, restaurants and bars with roughly 5 to 50 staff.
• Owner-operators who build the rota themselves and want it done in minutes.
• Small groups of two or three sites that want one login and staff who can work across venues.
• Businesses with lots of part-timers, students and seasonal staff whose availability changes week to week.

It's built for hospitality. If you run a shop, a care service or a warehouse, a general-purpose rota tool will probably suit you better.

Still on paper? Start with our free staff rota template, or read our guide to the best rota app for a small pub.