helping humans and robots work in perfect harmony

Distribution centres run by the likes of Amazon and other online retailers have become employment hotspots as online shopping has grown in popularity – a trend that gathered pace during the pandemic and shows no sign of letting up.

Amazon employs thousands of workers do the picking and stowing, but they also deploy over a million robots worldwide - a milestone reached in June 2025 – to take the goods where they need to be for delivery.

Humans and robots working in perfect harmony. That’s a philosophy adopted by Greater Manchester entrepreneur Daniel Howarth, whose new company, Nexoserv, is pioneering the deployment of autonomous serving and cleaning robots.

In this blog, we’ll look at why Daniel has taken his bold step, beginning in the hospitality sector, where inflation and increasing operational costs compound difficulties created by severe staffing shortages - another trend with its roots in the pandemic that shows no signs of abating.

There are significant staff shortages across hospitality with 132,000 vacancies – 48% above pre-pandemic levels at the time of writing, according to UK Hospitality, the industry’s leading trade body which lobbies government to influence policy, shape debate and empower an environment for hospitality to thrive.

It’s a scenario that Nexoserv founder Daniel Howarth is well aware of – he has worked in the sector for many years and has another company, Complete Foods Limited, which has been supplying products and solutions to the hospitality sector for over 14-years.

Daniel’s eureka moment came on a visit to Japan when he saw serving robots in operation. (Indeed, there are an estimated 150,000 robots deployed in service-led industries in the Far East.)

It served up a business opportunity that fed his entrepreneurial spirit: illustrating how robotics could improve the customer experience, increase operational efficiency and provide a helping hand to a sector challenged by staffing shortages, inflationary pressures and the full force of National Insurance increases.

In fact, research by UK Hospitality has revealed that seven in 10 hospitality businesses say they will have to reduce their employment levels as a result of last year’s NI hike, making Nexoserv’s launch into the UK and Ireland market a timely one.

The business is the official partner for market leader, Keenon Robotics, and also works with other leading manufacturers in the field.

“Letting robots take the strain eases pressure on the workforce by standardising routine functions, which in turn frees up team and management time to focus on the customers,” says Daniel.

“I think the UK is five years behind the adoption curve compared to the Far East, but if we can make business owners and operators more familiar with the technology and how it could help their operations to be more efficient and cost-effective, then the deployment numbers will come.”

‘Robots enhance our customer experience’

Nexoserv already has over 150 robots deployed in the UK by clients including Hilton Hotels, Best Western Hotels, Tampopo at Manchester’s Trafford Centre and Housing Units in Oldham, just a few miles down the road from Nexoserv’s base at Uppermill on the outskirts of the town.

Daniel says: ‘’We follow a process which is the same for all customers to ensure we achieve the desired outcome - which is to successfully deploy our technology and be sure that it adds value by improving the guest experience, operational efficiency, and supporting the team whilst delivering a solid return on investment. 

“We provide every customer with a free trial to help them decide whether the technology is right for their business, after which we deploy the robots and tailor the solution for each business.

“Post-deployment, we focus on training the team to ensure they understand how to get the best-use of the technology, alongside which we offer after-sales support, and access to new software and firmware updates.”

One of those customers, Housing Units in Oldham, has two T9 Pro and one T10 working in mutli-robot mode and regularly doing over 100 tasks per day.

Rachel Ramsden, who manages the Wickentree Restaurant based at the site, says:

“The robots help us to achieve a fast, friendly and consistently high quality of service. 

“They have enhanced our customer experience. Customers find them fun, entertaining and a talking point and they are encouraging revisits.

“We are finding the robots a great support for our team during busy times. Having them has optimised our operations, table turn is quicker and multiple drops can be made to many tables.”

Another advocate is Jackie, Restaurant Manager at Belton Garden Centre near Grantham in Lincolnshire, who says:

“The robot is a big conversation point amongst our customers and has created a lot of interest with people coming to site to see it. 

“We can clearly see this interest has increased footfall into our restaurant.  The team see the robot as one of them.  It supports the team and helps during our busy periods, which creates more time for our team to speak with our customers and focus on delivering quality service.’’  

Catering for all scenarios and budgets

Nexoserv has a full range of restaurant servers, which cater for a wide range of restaurant scenarios and budgets, and the Kleenbot series for cleaning.

“We work with the biggest and best suppliers which ensures we have access to the best technology, latest innovation and this enables us to provide our customers with the best solution,’’ says Daniel.

“All our robots come with LIDDOR and SLAM technology and dynamic obstacle avoidance, voice and message commands and our premium models now have digital advertising screens and AI technology. 

Technology aside though, robots and their wow factor are making their mark in a different way.

Daniel: “Our customers really enjoy working alongside them and even give them names - one of the most frequent questions I’m asked is what shall we call him or her?

“The novelty factor has already gone in the Far East because commercial robots are that well established. Robotics have only scratched the surface here and we’re excited to be delivering the future of smart service.”

Try a free trial 

Take advantage of a free trial to help you decide whether the technology is right for your business.

Our team will work with you to tailor the solution for your business and then deploy the robots.

We’ll ensure your teams have the training to get the best-use out of your robots, and all deployments enjoy after-sales support, and access to new software and firmware updates.

Get in touch and make our technology the next member of your team.