TMCnet News
Livebookings Wins Major Contracts with Fuller's and Whitbread Restaurants(PR Web Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) (PRWEB UK) 1 August 2012 During this busy summer for UK tourism and leisure, Livebookings has won the business of two hospitality giants, to provide them with real-time reservations and online marketing services. Whitbread, the UK’s largest hospitality company, is implementing Livebookings’ technology across its restaurants nationwide, and award-winning brewer and pub retailer Fuller’s will be using the system in almost half of their managed sites. Both companies are looking to move away from email request booking systems towards instant real-time reservations and confirmations, to help their sites work ‘live.’ This is in response to customers’ increasingly mobile and last-minute booking habits. Specifically, Fuller’s has developed new websites that incorporate the Livebookings restaurant reservations tool, so that customers browsing their pub websites can book straight away. Fuller’s will also use the Livebookings partner network to promote their pubs on over 300 top dining out websites, including Square Meal and Bookatable.com. John Skinner, of Fullers, comments: “Livebookings puts the customer at the heart of their experience, and recognises that a mobile optimised approach is paramount. It is an outlook that we share, and their keenness to integrate with our existing systems made Livebookings an ideal partner.” Whitbread Restaurants will make use of Livebookings’ offers tool to help drive customer bookings in different brands across the chain. David Murdin, Marketing Director of Whitbread Restaurants, explains: “With Livebookings, we can make the most effective use of the online channel, to drive restaurant bookings on our restaurant websites as well as at touchpoints with customer bookings at our Premier Inn hotels. That’s why we felt Livebookings was the obvious choice for us.” “With online bookings rising fast on desktop and mobile devices, the big pub and restaurant groups are leading the way in making sure customers can make reservations and see offers whichever way they wish,” says Olivia FitzGerald, Regional Director of UK and Ireland for Livebookings. “Research by Google shows that 67% of people expect to be able to book a restaurant online, and our own data has shown mobile bookings increasing by a massive 236% year on year. With the bespoke packages we have created for Fuller’s and Whitbread, we hope to contribute to their continued success by delivering incremental revenue as a result of these growing trends.” The deal will see Livebookings build on previous successes with the likes of Mitchells & Butlers and Young’s to consolidate its strong presence within the pub sector. About Livebookings Livebookings makes restaurants and diners click. We operate the world’s only global, web-based restaurant reservations and marketing service, delivering over one million diners every month to over 9,000 restaurants including Jamie’s Italian, Pollen Street Social, OXO Tower and Ping Pong. Our reservations tools enable restaurants to provide their diners with a free, easy-to-use online bookings service, to manage those reservations efficiently and to collect valuable customer data. Our marketing services ensure restaurants can run promotions and deals and execute online marketing campaigns to attract and retain their customers. Our consumer restaurant reservations website, Bookatable.com, is Europe's fastest growing online restaurant booking website, operating in 9 different languages and across 19 countries. It supports our unparalleled network of 300 distribution partners, including tastecard.com, AfternoonTea.co.uk, SquareMeal.co.uk and Restaurant-Guide.com to ensure we can spread news of deals far and wide and help our restaurant customers attract new business. Headquartered in London, with offices across Europe and the USA and customers in 23 countries, Livebookings is the largest online reservations provider in Europe, focused on making restaurants more profitable and dining out more pleasurable. About Whitbread Whitbread PLC is the UK’s largest hotel and restaurant group operating market-leading businesses in budget hotels, restaurants and coffee shops. Its well-loved brands are Premier Inn, Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Table Table, Taybarns and Costa. Whitbread PLC employs over 40,000 people globally and serves over 20 million customers every month in over 2,000 outlets across the UK. Whitbread PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100. It is also a member of the FTSE4Good Index. About Fuller’s Fuller Smith & Turner P.L.C. is London's last remaining traditional family brewer and our mission is to be the benchmark in retailing and brewing, delivering quality, service and pride in everything we do. In short, we want to brew the best beers and run the best pubs. Fuller's, as we are more commonly known, is based at the historic Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, sandwiched between the River Thames and the Hogarth Roundabout on the busy A4. Our brands include our flagship beer and the UK's leading premium ale, London Pride, the world-famous ESB and Discovery Blonde Beer, a refreshing golden ale. In 2005, we acquired George Gale & Co Ltd of Horndean, Hampshire, and added Gales HSB and its other beers to our excellent portfolio. Our pub estate spreads from Birmingham and Bristol to Battersea and Bournemouth. We have over 360 pubs and bars, including six hotels and a number of pubs with accommodation. Around half of our pubs are managed, while the rest are leased or tenanted. The Fuller's name is synonymous with outstanding cask conditioned ales, delicious food, great wines and exemplary service - so whenever and wherever you see the Fuller's Griffin, you can be assured of a warm welcome and great hospitality, from a company with over 160 years of experience. Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/8/prweb9753853.htm (c) 2012 PRWEB.COM Newswire |