Molewood Consulting led by Damian Hall Partner and Senior Commercial Consultant has launched recently the Tech ready market disrupter www.venue10.com a free casual dining reservation platform for users with a unique subscription based model for Casual dining Groups, brands and Independents majorly in the UK but with an eye on the International sector especially to destinations frequented by the UK consumer offering the customer casual dining destinations just round the corner, where I work and where I want to travel, making Venue10 the Casual Dining platform of choice.

The Casual Dining Sector is witnessing a revolution, “Damian Hall” we are reacting and providing a market aggregator for customers and restaurants alike, its a win win, already called the “Just Eat” of The Casual Dining sector, with 6 major Groups and Brands from the Casual Dining sector signing up their UK estates and footprint in less than two weeks since tech ready and soft launch.

New research released by the insights firm NPD Group has found the casual dining sector has increased its annual traffic by 11.6% (as of March 2014) compared to five years ago.

That means 47 million more visits to casual dining restaurants now than in 2009.

This is a strong performance given that the overall market in Britain for eating out of home has lost 4.8% of its traffic in the same five-year period.

Among the 30 or so brands that NPD Group says are contributing to the growth of casual dining are Cafe Uno, Nando’s, Wagamama, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Strada, Yo! Sushi, Zizzi, Carluccio’s and Giraffe.

The success of casual dining comes in contrast to quick-service restaurants serving fast food (burgers, chicken, fish and chips, sandwiches, and including coffee shops and bakery outlets), which recorded only 4.2% traffic growth over the same five year period.

Casual dining is taking business from full service restaurants, which have seen traffic decline by 11.4% since March 2009.

Despite the average bill per visit of £11.90 for a dinner, casual dining’s growth has outpaced the cheaper fast food channel, where the average bill per visit is much lower, at £5.06.

Casual dining is only slightly more affordable than the full service channel, where bills per visit work out at £15.17.

NPD said consumers like the combination of the ambiance and quality of food of a full service restaurant and the speed and delivery of a fast-food/quick service restaurant.

Britons also see casual dining as a good family option when eating out.

At dinner time, 36% of all the meal occasions in casual dining restaurants are due to family visits, whereas they only account for 25% of the meal occasions in restaurants generally.

Cyril Lavenant, drector of Foodservice UK, said: “People are telling us that casual dining is the best of both worlds – speed combined with a good ambiance. The new casual dining restaurants are proving popular with people who want good food in a pleasant environment but who are also keeping an eye on what they spend. In difficult economic times, consumers need to save money.”

“That helps to explain why full service restaurants have suffered. But casual dining is successful because it offers a good experience when eating out and a good option for when people want a ‘treat’ for themselves or their kids.”

‘The food is also priced at the level that makes it easy for younger people to dine out. The success of casual dining in Britain is the beginning of a new way of eating out – this is definitely not a blip. We believe that casual dining restaurants will continue to take business from full service restaurants.”

This is a fast paced industry sector where growth and margins are hard fought, Venue10 puts the guest reservation commission back in the hands of the business.

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