LIVEBOOKINGS CONSOLE DIARY MAKES ITSELF AN INDISPENSIBLE TOOL FOR RESTAURANTEURS WITH FURTHER THIRD

In an unprecedented position, Livebookings has just confirmed that it has now secured seventeen leading website partners providing restaurants with the greatest source of marketing opportunities and coverage ever created within the UK market.

Lastminute.com
American Express
City-Eating.co.uk
Urbanpermit.com Xexec.com
Togolondon.co.uk
Quintessentially.com
FluidFoundation.com
Viewlondon.co.uk
Myvillage.com
Jadedining.com
Designrestaurants.com
Sugarvine.com
Mobilefoodguide.com
Coventgardenlife.com
Localsecrets.co.uk
City-visitor.com


Livebookings is the UK’s leading supplier of real-time technology since 1999 and not only provides restaurants with Console – a interactive web based diary system which consolidates web bookings from the restaurants homepage but also from household names such as lastminute.com and America Express - but now also supplies these marketing websites with direct access to over 1400 UK restaurants all making real-time reservations.

Leading websites in their own right, the partnership with Livebookings allows each partner to offer speed and efficiency to their customers, utilising new technology to provide a seamless service.

Design Restaurants, being the largest affiliation of leading AA rosette and Michelin starred restaurants throughout the UK, offers a unique proposition to its clientele dealing only with fine dining venues needed a technology provider that would enable them to maintain this high level of service to their members.

Tessa Shreeve, Director of Design Restaurants highlights that "Livebookings has been a perfect match in that it’s been able to match the expectation of the business and the customer seamlessly. Customers receive a confirmed reservation by email branded with the restaurants logo and Design Restaurants are able to accurately generate reports as to redemption of offers and volume of traffic. Its a succinct package that we wouldn't be without."

Whereas previously restaurants had the task of managing multiple allocation based methods to enable them to work with these website partners, Livebookings technology allows restaurants to work on their real-time availability. Should the situation of a session needing to be closed out or indeed reopened, the restaurant can do this at the click of a mouse and this information automatically synchronises against all affiliates websites.

For restaurants to join forces with these leading lifestyle guides allows the venues to reach a far greater audience than any other media. The internet is a great leveller and regardless of budget, customers are able to source high profile fine dining restaurants through to local eateries all with the click of a button.

With over 35 million internet users across the UK restaurants can no longer ignore the internet as a major driving force of business.

Marketing Manager for Hush, Chloe Beacham adds "with real-time reservations technology and links to national and international websites, working with Livebookings has allowed us to reach out to a new and different group of customers", a goal which is widespread across the industry.

In addition to lastminute.com and American Express, Livebookings now implements direct bookings links for restaurants to:

www.coventgardenlife.co.uk
CoventGardenLife.com was formed in the summer of 1999 to bring all of this together, to provide one single source of information, to help both tourists and locals get the most out of life in the capital. We now receive in excess of 2.5 million hits per month and we continue to grow month on month. The site was created by a mixture of local Covent Garden businessmen and travel industry professionals, with many years experience working in London's leisure sector.
Contact: James Blaney Tel:020 7839 320 Email: james@coventgardenlife.com

www.togolondon.co.uk
A developing brand within the restaurant industry, ToGoLondon has been predominantly based within the more suburban area producing magazines for local restaurants and takeaways within that given area. With a substantial customer database, ToGoLondon wishes to launch itself in Central London as well and has teamed up with Livebookings to ensure that this is all in real-time.
Contact name: Paul Spencer Tel: 0870 780 3007 Email: paul.spencer@togolondon.co.uk

www.myillage.com
Established in 1999, MyVillage now has a national network of over 80 London area websites and over 21 websites serving major UK cities and provides what has long been missing from the internet, a viable online alternative to local radio stations, newspapers and magazines delivering entertaining, varied and relevant local content.
Contact name: Roifield Brown Tel: 0207 792 0624 Email: boss@myvillage.co.uk

www.urbanpermit.com
Urban Permit is an exciting new company that specialise in providing hassle free entertainment organisation to its clients, so they can focus on the more important task of enjoying their nights out. "We aim to provide our customers with a simple one stop approach to organising social events, at the same time managing clientele for the venues."
Contact name: Michael Wallace Tel: 07855 964 090 Email: mwallace@urbanpermit.com

www.sugarvine.com
Sugarvine.com is an online dining magazine and directory with city- and region-specific sites right across the UK. It’s the most effective way to promote your restaurant, pub, bar or business to the dining public and we offer a range of solutions tailored to suit your needs. Whether you already have your own website (and want lots of relevant traffic – ie diners – pushed into it), need an initial low-cost web presence, or want a new website designed (or redesigned) for you, Sugarvine can put your business in front of your potential customers better than anybody else. We also offer 360 movie panoramas, SMS text messaging to market direct to your customers, search engine optimisation and a range of other services.
Contact name: Clive Holland Tel: 0870 2421423 Email: clive@sugarvine.com

www.localsecrets.co.uk
Launched in 1997, The company (formerly The Cambridge Insider Ltd) published an acclaimed newsprint magazine called The Cambridge Insider until November 1998. In 1999, it started an 'Insider Guide' lifestyle series with 'The Best Cafés, Pubs, Clubs and Restaurants in and around Cambridge'. Now in its fourth edition and renamed 'Dining out & Eating in: best restaurants and places to by great food & wines - Cambridge', the book is a local best seller. The company also published 'Cambridge Secrets', a shopping and services guide, in 2000, and 'Cambridge: a user's guide', in early 2001 and again in 2003 in association with the University of Cambridge. Local Secrets online incorporates elements of all three books and delivers the content in a new dynamic format. The service now has thousands of subscribers and users, and provides information and services on eating out, events and Related areas.
Contact name: Neal Robbins Tel: 08707 201205 Email: info@localsecrets.com

www.themobilefoodguide.com
The Mobile Food Guide is a groundbreaking up-to-the-minute interactive restaurant guide. While it remains an invaluable reference on your desktop computer, it is primarily designed for the PDA mobile phone. At last you can have a restaurant guide, in your pocket, right up-to-date and FREE* to use.
Development of The Mobile Food Guide is set to remain a step ahead of the huge expansion in use of the mobile internet in 2005. You will see the basic directory entries disappear and full reviews, menus and wine lists appear for the chosen restaurants as the guide develops each county and each country.
Contact name: Stewart Email: stewart@themobilefoodguide.com

Jade Dining.com
lastminute.com have teamed up with Cims (part of the Cendant Corporation) who manage dining programmes on behalf of banks such as Natwest and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Through an exclusive ‘Jade dining’ website (powered by lastminute.com) your restaurant can get access to an affluent high-income membership base, most of who earn a minimum of £50,000 and attain incremental business – the promotion can be run at quieter times only, which may help you fill seats otherwise left vacant. There is one mandatory offer of 25% off the total bill in order to take part in the Jade dining programme.
For more information of how to participate please contact:
Contact name: Alex Peppis Tel: 0870 145 9512 Email : apeppis@lastminute.com

www.xexec.com
xexec works for a number of leading global corporations, offering both employee and client solutions. These provide firms with a valuable benefit with which to reward staff and in some instances the customer. Linked from the Company intranet or from your corporate site, the Xexec tool allows your employees or customers to save time and money in the management of their daily needs, as well as helping them to cope with commonly faced lifestyle pressures
Contact name: Jacqueline Benjamin Tel: 020 8201 6483 Email: jacqueline.benjamin@xexec.com

www.city-visitor.com
People generally use search engines to look for everything they need on the Internet. The Search Engine Optimisation program incorporated in city-visitor.com continually achieves high search engine rankings for their customers. Links from Google.com (and other major search engines) will take a customer directly to a City-Visitor product, whether that's a Basic Listing or a Bespoke website.
Contact name: Richard Lee Tel: Email: richard.lee@infoserve.com

Existing portfolio of Livebookings partners

American Express - www.livebookings.co.uk/amex
Livebookings is the booking technology behind all of AMEX's restaurant sites including Centurion cardholders dining program along with their successful promotional programs such as Eat 2 Win.
Contact: Holly Coventry Tel: 020 7630 3203 Email: clare.s.clark@aexp.com

www.quintessentially.com
Quintessentially is a renowned concierge service with offices across the world. Livebookings provides them with the facility to make all their restaurant reservations in real time so they appear seamlessly in our diary.
Contact: Sarah Mawby Tel:020 7432 2640 Email: smawby@quintessentially.com

www.city-eating.com incorporating www.london-eating.co.uk
Based predominantly on a notice board idea, London-eating.co.uk have gone from strength to strength now generating high volumes of reservations to compete with any of the major booking website.
Contact: Michael Kirk Tel: 0871 2233 044 Email: michael@london-eating.co.uk

www.fluidfoundation.co.uk and www.fluidstyle.co.uk
An exciting and new opportunity here to be part of 'Fluid' the brand... Fluidfoundation is a comprehensive bar guide also offering the facility of placing restaurant reservations. FluidStyle is about to be launched and will focus predominantly on restaurants, showing venues on a regular basis and driving covers to your restaurant.
Contact: Duncan Welch Tel: 07771 858 282 Email:Duncan@fluidnetwork.co.uk

www.viewlondon.co.uk
Viewlondon have already managed to carve a strong position with their in-depth and fast- paced website. Within in excess of xxx visitors to the site, Viewlondon have joined on board with Livebookings to provide seamless customer service to their customers and illustrating to you as a restaurant just how much business they are able to generate for you!
Contact: Josh De Haan Tel: 0870 242 1235 Email:josh@viewlondon.co.uk

Restaurants can register at www.livebookings.com for the Console program.
Membership to each of the affiliate websites is free of charge; a standard commission does apply on all covers booked. For more information call Alison on 020 7934 9275 or email alison@livebookings.com