Toptable
Toptable (styled toptable but now re-branded as OpenTable) is an online restaurant booker covering the UK as well as major cities in Europe and New York City. Toptable was founded in 2000 by entrepreneur Karen Hanton for restaurant owners to advertise their venues and book customers directly.[1] Toptable sat over 1.5 million diners in 2006 when it completed its first full year.[2]
Toptable lists more than 5,000 restaurants in the UK, plus Paris, Dublin, and New York City, providing online menus, reviews and 360° images of each restaurant. Diners can read and compare information about restaurants before their table booking online. Today, 2.3 million visitors view the Toptable website each month and, in February 2010, a dedicated Toptable iPhone app was launched.[3]
The toptable Android app has been available, at least since Sep 2013[4]
Toptable also provides a restaurant booking engine for Time Out, British Airways, The Guardian, The Times Online, Visit London and View London.
In 2006 toptable bought City Eating, incorporating London Eating for an undisclosed sum.[5]
Investors in Toptable include football manager Sir Alex Ferguson, celebrity chef Gary Rhodes and Diageo.[6] In September 2010, toptable was acquired by competitor OpenTable for approximately 55 million USD.[7]
Competition
Toptable’s competition includes Bookatable.co.uk (Europe & Privately Held), Matradee.com (United States & Privately Held), Yelp.com (United States & Publicly Held), EZTABLE (Asia & Privately Held),and Restaurants.com (United States & Privately Held).
References
- ↑ "Karen Hanton". E-consultancy.com. 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
- ↑ Jonathon Moules (2006-04-14). "No reservations about the future". Financial Times. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
- ↑ Growing Business Success Stories: Toptable
- ↑ http://www.appbrain.com/app/toptable-restaurant-bookings/com.toptable
- ↑ "Toptable swallows rival online booking operator". Times Online. 2006-09-12. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ↑ "A taste for the top". Telegraph.co.uk. 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
- ↑ http://press.toptable.com/index.php/2010/09/15/opentable-to-acquire-toptable-com/