What BigDish does
BigDish PLC (LON:DISH) is a technology company that operates a platform that aims to help restaurants fill spare capacity by matching them with potential diners during quieter periods.
The BigDish platform does this by offering discounts to diners for reservations at restaurants at certain times of the day, usually when general demand is lower and the restaurant is looking to get people through the door.
The platform is operated through both a website and a mobile phone app.
How it's doing
In November, BigDish appointed Tom Sumner as its new chief executive and rebooted its restaurant roll-out strategy.
Sumner, who took over on 2 December, was previously managing director of TableNow, a dining discount app, where the number of restaurants signed up jumped to 3,000 from 250 following a rebrand in April 2019.
He has also run telesales operation at the Gourmet Society and Tastecard, each of which has more than 6,000 restaurant partners.
In February 2020, BigDish reported the number of restaurants signed up had increased by 150% to 351 since November, with January alone seeing a 120% rise.
Sumner added that the deal quality has also improved with seven-day availability rising by a third and the number of half-price or 2-for-1 deals rising almost five-fold.
After a trial with Tasty PLC’s Wildwood outlet in Bournemouth, the service, which is designed to help restaurants fill tables at quiet times, will roll out to 56 Wildwood and dim t sites this year.
What the boss says: Tom Sumner, chief executive
Building a national product with increasing restaurant numbers will enable BigDish to leverage national brands for large-scale marketing partnerships drive consumer acquisition which is integral to the strategic marketing plan.
“It is anticipated that some of these deals will be monetised and that going forward the sums involved may be more significant than future transactional revenue.
“BigDish is aware that currently such a positive scenario may not have been considered by its shareholders or observers of the company.”
Inflexion points
- New telesales operation underway in Manchester in December
- Restaurant recruitment rising rapidly as new CEO repeats his previous successes
- The company launched its restaurant booking platform in Brighton in July
- National deals can earn more than transaction revenue
Blue Sky
Having around 6,000 restaurants using the platform within two years is “absolutely achievable”, the company believes.
Deliveroo for example amassed around 18,000 UK restaurants on its platform in four years
Conversations have already occurred with restaurant groups
