Catering software, built in Essex.
The enquiry that lands mid-service is the one caterers lose. We make Pala, a CRM that answers it the moment it arrives, asks what you would have asked, and leaves you a brief you can price. Built in code from our base in Colchester, for catering and event businesses across Essex.
Example of Pala at work: someone messages "hi do you do weddings? looking at june next yr for about 90" on WhatsApp at 21:40, typo and all. Pala understands, replies in four seconds, asks whether it is sit-down or buffet and whether the venue is booked, and captures the answers. You get a notification saying wedding, June, 90 guests, with the date, venue and service style already gathered, and a brief ready to quote from in the morning.
Essex is home ground.
We are registered in Colchester and work with the catering and event businesses this county runs on, from Chelmsford to the coast: wedding and corporate caterers, hog roast and street food, mobile bars, planners and venues. You deal directly with the people who design and build your system, and we can be at your premises the same week.
What we build.
Software, websites and the search work around them, all built in code and all yours to keep. We usually start with whichever piece is costing you the most.
Pala
Software that answers every enquiry in seconds, qualifies it and books it into your diary, on every channel your customers use. We built it, we run it, and it is called Pala.
Learn more →Custom Software
The system your business actually runs on, built around how you work. Dashboards, booking and quoting, tools for your team, and the joins between them, written in code you own.
Learn more →Websites
Fast websites built in code, designed to turn the visitors you already have into booked work. No page-builder bloat, no template soup.
Learn more →SEO, GEO & Automated Marketing
Get found on Google and inside AI answers like ChatGPT, with content that keeps working while you do not.
Learn more →Where we go.
On-site anywhere in Essex, from Colchester and Chelmsford to Southend, Braintree, Witham and Clacton, and over the Suffolk border to Ipswich and Sudbury. Remotely, we build for service businesses across the UK. The systems we build run wherever your customers message from.
Essex questions, answered.
Who builds catering software in Essex? +
Kilij Digital, from Colchester. We make Pala, a CRM for caterers and event teams that answers every enquiry, qualifies it against your menus and the way you run events, and hands you a brief worth quoting from. Where the product does not fit how a business works, we build bespoke systems and the websites in front of them.
Which parts of Essex do you cover? +
All of it, on site. Colchester, Chelmsford, Braintree, Clacton, Ipswich just over the border, and the towns between. We work remotely with catering businesses across the UK.
What kind of catering business is this for? +
Quote-led ones: wedding and event caterers, corporate and private catering, hog roast, BBQ and street food, mobile bars, event planners and venues, and private chefs working as one or two people.
Can we meet in person? +
Yes. We are based in Colchester, hold a seat in BNI Iceni, and travel across Essex. A 30-minute call works too if that is easier.
How quickly can an Essex caterer get this running? +
Usually two to three weeks from kickoff. Most of that goes into tuning the questions and the tone so it sounds like your kitchen, not into the underlying build.
Will it talk to my clients as me? +
It replies in a voice you set and hands over rather than guessing when a question goes past what it knows. It never closes the job: you quote, and the relationship stays yours.
BNI Proud member of BNI Iceni · Colchester
Talk to someone who has already built it.
Book a call or message us, and we'll show you a real enquiry handled live, exactly the way your customer would send it.