Yumpingo acquired by US platform Black Box Intelligence: Black Box Intelligence (BBI), the US restaurant data and operational performance solution platform, has acquired guest experience management and survey platform Yumpingo. BBI said the acquisition accelerates its vision of building the “artificial intelligence (AI) command centre” for restaurants, integrating guest experience management, guest sentiment, operational performance and workforce and financial intelligence into one platform. In February, BBI announced the launch of Performance Intelligence — a new AI driven platform that leverages BBI’s set of guest feedback, workforce and financial benchmarks to deliver targeted operational insights for restaurant operators “that improves decision making and delivers real results”. BBI said the integration of Yumpingo’s technology, which includes survey capabilities and transaction-level insights, into the BBI platform provides an even more comprehensive view of restaurant performance from brand right down to menu and unit level. BBI said: “Yumpingo’s robust survey options provide transaction-level insights (through POS integration capabilities), menu item feedback, loyalty platform integrations and greater customisation. The Yumpingo team brings deep expertise in guest survey building and deployment for enterprises. Integrating Yumpingo’s survey data with BBI’s GuestXM offering creates a complete experience management solution, combining surveys with social media and online review management, and correlating that data to financial performance. The combination of direct and indirect feedback will provide a deeper dataset to surface actionable insights via Guest Intelligence, BBI’s proprietary restaurant-trained AI analytics engine. BBI’s US presence combined with Yumpingo’s footprint in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Australasia increases the company’s geographic reach.” Yumpingo’s survey capabilities will be integrated into BBI’s new Performance Intelligence solution. Mark Dillon, chief executive of Black Box Intelligence, said: “Our vision is to deliver an ‘AI command centre’ to restaurant leaders, giving them a single source of truth to execute smarter, faster and better. By integrating Yumpingo’s guest experience technology, we are taking a major step forward in helping restaurants optimise performance across every aspect of their business. This will enable us to feed our proprietary restaurant-trained AI technology with even deeper, quality data in larger quantities for even more informed decision making and prioritisation. This acquisition, hot on the heels of our launch of Performance Intelligence, again underscores our commitment to innovation and growth.” George Wetz, chief executive of Yumpingo, who will take up the role of general manager at a newly-formed business unit, said: “We are thrilled to be officially joining forces with Black Box Intelligence after being in a formal partnership with them since 2022. We have been particularly impressed with their recent trajectory and product advancements, so the timing couldn’t be better. Yumpingo has always been committed to transforming guest experience through real-time data and actionable insights, and now, as part of BBI, we can do this in a much deeper way at a much greater scale.”

 

Wingstop opens in Aberdeen for fifth Scottish location: Wingstop UK, which is backed by US private equity firm Sixth Street, has opened in Aberdeen. The new site is located in the heart of the city’s shopping and leisure destination, Union Square, measuring 3,035 square feet and hosting 90 covers. It will offer the full Wingstop UK menu of wings, tenders, burgers and sides, including the brand’s new hot honey glaze flavour, available for a limited time only. The opening marks Wingstop UK’s fifth location in Scotland and first outside of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Since launching in the UK in 2018, Wingstop UK has grown to 65 locations, and the Aberdeen site is one of more than 20 new locations set to launch by the end of this year. Chris Sherriff, chief executive at Wingstop UK, said: “We’ve seen the buzz around Wingstop UK in Scotland, and to meet the growing demand, we’re delighted to open our fifth location in the country in Aberdeen. The city has been high on our list for a long time, and Union Square is the perfect place to grow.” Sherriff was among the speakers at last month’s Propel Multi-Club Conference. His video and the 13 others from the conference are available to Premium Club subscribers. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.