Pioneering hospitality pre-ordering service TellTheChef has announced the appointment of Luke Johnson as chairman.
One of the UK’s best-known entrepreneurs, Johnson’s hospitality industry successes include chains Pizza Express, Strada, Giraffe, Patisserie Valerie and Gail’s Bakeries. Johnson has also taken an undisclosed stake in the business.
Group bookings and pre-orders
TellTheChef was founded when experienced restaurateur Andrew Norton became frustrated with the complexity of processing pre-orders in the busy Christmas period in his own restaurant, developing a system to remove the need for manual order-taking and paperwork.
The TellTheChef service, which simplifies group bookings and pre-orders, has grown organically through word-of-mouth and is now used by hundreds of establishments across the UK and beyond including the Malmaison chain of boutique hotels and the Royal Opera House.
Scalable business with great potential
Luke Johnson said:
“Managing group bookings is time consuming and prone to human error. TellTheChef makes pre-orders easy and creates a direct link with each customer that helps restaurants grow their customer base and obtain detailed feedback data. As a simple innovation that solves a big problem, TellTheChef is a scalable business with great potential.”
The company is now seeking further growth capital to invest in sales, develop its technology, and refine its data business.
TellTheChef founder & CEO Andrew Norton said:
“The vast majority of restaurateurs in the UK still take group orders over the phone, on bits of paper. Few have any idea who the customer is, and get very little feedback on what the customer thought.
“The hospitality industry has been slow to innovate and simple ideas like JustEat, OpenTable and TripAdvisor have rapidly scaled into hugely successful business. We aim to do the same and we’re delighted to have the backing of one of Britain’s most foremost leisure industry entrepreneurs to ensure we get there.”
Pictured top: (L-R): Andrew Norton, CEO / Luke Johnson (chairman) / Matt Phillips (Marketing)
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