Hop Software, formed in 2017 by Highland Hoteliers, pioneered an award-winning Property Management System (PMS) capable of running all aspects of hotel operations in one system.

Its PMS and bespoke Booking Engine has seen it secure hospitality contracts across 4 continents, growing over 10% in 2025 whilst also opening a Cape Town office last Summer.

Now, with smaller hospitality operators turning away from excessive systems, Hop has created an affordable ‘HopLite’ to cater for the pubs with rooms, boutique hotel and self-catering accommodation markets.

The entry-level PMS will offer high functionality ‘essentials’ for properties with 1 to 15 rooms and will be paper-free, saving hospitality customers 1700 sheets of print annually whilst reducing the sector’s environmental footprint.

The company, which hopes to secure its first 100 small operator clients by the end of 2026, was compelled to act after analysing sector trends and listening to smaller operators on ever tighter margins.

The 2025 Pub Accommodation Review stated that 1 in 6 pubs now have rooms as they seek to ‘diversify to survive’ but operators want to cut back on complex systems they don’t need.

“Smaller operators are being forced to choose between outdated manual systems or complex enterprise software designed for hotel chains where they are paying full price for lots of features which are not actually relevant to them.

“We have listened to that feedback in developing HopLite which gives pubs, smaller hotels and self-caterers the same digital tools used by larger hotels but at a fraction of the price,” said Hop Director Richard Drummond, who also co-owns McKays Hotel Bar and Restaurant in Pitlochry.

Taking heed of sector sentiment, the company’s ‘lite’ version will save on paper and printing costs but will also remove the 15% -25% commission fees charged by third party travel sites on pub and hotel bookings.

HopLite comprises a commission-free Booking Engine which means smaller hospitality operations retain 100% income on direct bookings.

Single click on-boarding and 7-day support will also appeal to small operators fearful of losing room bookings while transitioning over to new systems.

“Because we are hoteliers, first and foremost, we are seeking to build solutions that deal with the real, everyday problems in hospitality,” said Director Jonn Erasmus, who also co-owns the Glen Mhor Hotel in Inverness.

“There is a margins crisis in hospitality. This gives smaller operators a system tailored to their needs at a much more affordable price point.

“HopLite is aimed at an under-served segment of hospitality. It isn’t fair that high quality digital tools are outwith some businesses purely based on size. 

“Our slimmed down PMS still has all the automated guest communications, robust reporting and royalty-free booking engine. It has integrations with all the main online travel agencies and EPOS providers, but it focuses on what is essential for the size of the operation.”