Square Handheld Launches in the UK, Powering Growth for Restaurants

The portable, pocket-friendly device arrives in the UK alongside newly streamlined front and back-of-house tools, as Square announces a wave of new of innovation and updates

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Square, the global technology company, has today announced the launch of Square Handheld in the UK, setting food and beverage sellers up for success as they enter the busy summer season. Square Handheld is the most powerful, portable point-of-sale device yet from Square and is being launched alongside a suite of industry-specific features and upgrades to empower UK businesses to move faster, deliver better customer experiences, and grow.

“Light. Slimline. Fits in your pocket. Still has all the features we’re used to from Square and quite a lot more,” said Tom Haydon, Founder of Tom’s Pasta, one of the first businesses in the UK to try the new pocketable point-of-sale device. Weighing in at 0.31 kgs and only 1.5 cm thick, the Square Handheld has been purpose-built to help businesses serve customers wherever they are - at the counter or out on the floor.

Recent research conducted by Square and Tech on Toast found that when UK restaurant leaders deploy new technology on-site, the top success metrics are staff feedback (74%), fewer errors (68%), and greater efficiency (52%). Meaning the best systems are those that improve the daily flow – for guests and staff alike – by syncing front-of-house with the kitchen, simplifying payments, and eliminating repetitive tasks. Square Handheld was developed with feedback and insights like this in mind, empowering staff with the mobility, speed, and efficiency needed to keep operations steady and deliver high-quality customer experiences.

“Square has gone big in restaurants, and it shows, with our product innovation accelerating to include more restaurant-specific tools to help UK hospitality owners capture every order, all while freeing up staff to spend more time serving customers,” said Ming-Tai Huh, Head of Food and Beverage at Square. “Running a business has never been more demanding, but at Square we’re here to partner and power UK businesses with the right digital tools. Square Handheld does exactly that. It’s a gamechanger for restaurant owners, providing all the tools they need to run their business, right in their pocket.”

A durable-yet-elegant device, Square Handheld is designed to stand up to water splashes and dust. Built to handle the realities of a busy shift, it offers a battery built to last all day and both Wi-Fi and offline payments capabilities, ensuring businesses stay up and running. A camera also allows hospitality businesses to take product pictures and an integrated barcode scanner lets them quickly scan in retail offerings like merchandise or bottles of wine as well as gift cards. By eliminating unnecessary trips between tables and the counter, Square Handheld enables waiters to provide more attentive service and turn tables more efficiently during peak hours, leading to improved customer satisfaction and increased revenue for UK businesses.

To help sellers get the most out of their Square Handheld, Square has partnered with industry-leading accessories manufacturer Belkin to offer premium protective cases. The Belkin SheerForce cases can be purchased online at Square Shop. They complement Square Handheld’s sleek design, add further defence against accidental drops and scratches, and will come in two different colours, which lets businesses match their brand identity to their device.

New Square Point of Sale app arrives

Square Handheld is powered by the new unified Square Point of Sale app, bringing years of commerce innovation and technology leadership into a single, powerful hub for running any size or type of business. Everything that was in Square for Restaurants, Square for Retail, and Square Appointments is now built into the one Square Point of Sale app, meaning UK businesses can be managed from one place.

The upgraded app now includes personalised layouts, smarter workflows, and intuitive features that reflect the daily routines of any business. Whether they’re managing complex menus, tracking in-store inventory, or processing service bookings, the new POS experience helps them do it faster and with less friction.

New releases to power UK restaurants

Square is also introducing additional new features and expanding its comprehensive partnership ecosystem to help UK restaurants streamline and grow their businesses even further:

• Square’s new Item Splitting feature saves time and ends the fuss when it’s time to split the bill among guests. The new feature makes it easier and faster for staff to check out larger groups by reducing time spent calculating totals and waiting on guests to discuss shared costs.
• With Scan to Pay QR codes on printed receipts, customers can scan and settle up without having to wait for busy servers to collect payment. That means restaurants can turn tables faster and staff have more time to serve diners.
• With Multichannel menu management, Square sellers can now seamlessly edit and update menus across all locations and channels, both online and offline, in one centralised Dashboard.
• New ResDiary integration means table reservations can be managed and accepted easily. It means restaurants can import deposits directly through OpenTable and ResDiary into Square Point of Sale so they can be automatically deducted from the bill.

Square Handheld is available in the UK from 25th June. For more information on Square's recent product innovations and how they can help UK businesses, find out more here.

Notes to Editor:

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Tech on Toast report available here

About Square

Square makes commerce and financial services easy and accessible with its integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions. Square offers purpose-built software to run complex restaurant, retail, and professional services operations, versatile e-commerce tools, embedded financial services and banking products, buy now, pay later functionality through Clearpay, staff management and much more – all of which work together to save sellers time and effort. Millions of sellers across the globe trust Square to power their business and help them thrive in the economy. For more information, visit www.squareup.com.