BigDish sets out plan to bring dynamic pricing to UK restaurant sector: BigDish, the food tech company that operates a yield management platform for restaurants, has provided an update on its UK growth strategy. BigDish completed the 100% acquisition of Pouncer on the day of Admission, 2 August 2018. Prior to the Acquisition, BigDish had been working with Pouncer since January 2018 to redevelop the existing TablePouncer platform and implement the Company’s yield management system. This is currently successfully operating in the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong. BigDish’s Board sees great potential in TablePouncer. It recorded 126,000 diners in Bournemouth alone in 2017 – up 9% year over year – making it the city’s leading yield management and restaurant discovery platform. The company stated: “For the foreseeable future, BigDish is set to deploy a three-phase development and growth programme to expand its presence within the UK. The first phase of this programme is set to commence in September 2018 and will see a beta launch of the UK BigDish platform in Bath. The second phase of the programme will involve the migration of all existing Bournemouth TablePouncer users and restaurants to BigDish. This is expected to commence in October and is expected to be completed in less than a month. The last phase will be the roll out of the new BigDish platform to a wider UK audience, with primary focus on regional towns and cities where the restaurant app market is less saturated. Yield management is a dynamic pricing strategy that charges different prices at different times for the same products. American Airlines started to use yield management in the 1970s which changed the way airline seats are sold. The hotel industry also has widely adopted yield management. The restaurant industry has typically been a slow adopter of technology and as such yield management has been underutilised. Even the busiest restaurants have empty tables and quieter evenings. BigDish’s application of yield management enables restaurants to offer customers discounts at quieter times to optimise their revenue by bringing in additional customers.” Chief executive Joost Boer added: “I am very pleased that with the Acquisition of Pouncer, BigDish now has an immediate foothold within the UK market. The restaurant sector, traditionally a slow adopter of technology, is ripe for disruption. Following TablePouncer’s migration to BigDish’s business model in January 2018, we have been pleased by the reception from both restaurants and consumers alike. I am also delighted that Patrick Knight, the founder of Pouncer, has agreed to stay on to lead our UK operations. The whole management team looks forward to working with him to utilise the experience BigDish has developed in the Asian market to help roll out TablePouncer’s successful operations across UK regional towns under the BigDish brand. The stage is now set for BigDish to grow within the UK market. Since our IPO, UK and Irish restaurants have reached out to BigDish to get involved with the platform. This confirms that the huge potential we see in the UK is shared by others. This is an exciting time for the Company and I look forward to updating the market with our progress in due course.”

JD Wetherspoon launches new beer mat: JD Wetherspoon has launched a new Brexit beer mat – the pub company has printed 500,000 of the beer mats for distribution in its 875 UK pubs. The beer mat, signed by Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin, outlines ten points to the leaders of the three main political parties. It is headlined ‘Free Trade (ie no deal) means lower prices’. Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said: “The beer mat points out that the vast majority of the public strongly objects to the crazy government plan to pay £39 billion to Brussels, with nothing in return. Lawyers have repeatedly said that there is no legal obligation to pay. That’s £600 for every man, woman and child in the UK or £60 million per MP to spend on their constituents. We are calling on the government not to pay the money. The message on the beer mat also makes it clear, that from our viewpoint, the government should also choose free trade, on leaving the EU on 29 March 2019, by ending the taxes or ‘tariffs’ which the EU imposes on more than 12,000 non-EU imports. Under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, EU imports would also be tariff-free in this case. Ending tariffs means lower prices in shops and pubs.” The beer mat also states the following “If the unelected President Juncker and his apparatchiks continue to be obstructive, remember that all EU products can be replaced by similar alternatives from the UK – or from the 93% of the world not in the EU. Our good friends in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and Canada have slashed tariffs – their citizens are better off as a result, and their economies have thrived. And our good friends in countries like the USA and India are keen to do trade deals with us. So, please show some resolve by ending these tariffs and leaving the EU completely on 29 March next year. Procrastination is the thief of time, so let’s make sure it is not the thief of democracy.” Martin added: “Most economists, businesses and writers mistakenly believe that ‘no deal’ automatically results in the mutual imposition of tariffs by the UK and the EU under WTO rules. That is not true. The rules also allow the UK to abolish current EU import tariffs, effectively adopting ‘free trade’ as a member of very successful countries have already done. The combination of no tariffs, resumption of control of fishing waters and the avoidance of a payment of £39 billion to the EU is far better than any deal that is likely – and this approach does not need the agreement of the EU or any other party.”