A Message from Vinnie Morgan, BookingLive CEO and Founder

2019 was a fantastic year for BookingLive thanks to our customers’ continued support, and we are really looking forward to continuing to work with them to make 2020 even better. 

At BookingLive, we are always working to improve and refine our customers’ user experience. This means continually developing and transforming our products with new innovations, advances in technology, and improved customer service. With this in mind, I would like to share some of our recent developments and successes, and give you an insight into what is in store for BookingLive this year.

I developed my first booking system 14 years ago (yes, I was extremely young), following a number of successful e-commerce and mobile app launches. Since launching BookingLive in 2014, thanks to your support, we have come a long way. 

Here are some of the recent milestones which we have reached in the last twelve months:

• £1.31m investment from Blackfinch Ventures and the Development Bank of Wales (DBW)
• Appointed a CMO, CTO and CPO to drive forward company strategy
• Expanded into the US market
• Opened a new office in Cardiff
• Launched Connect, our SME / startup booking platform after two years of R&D
• Been awarded the Best Booking System of 2019 by CV Magazine
• Launched over 150 booking systems for some fantastic clients including Microsoft, Greene King and Adnams Brewery

Investing for the Future

£1.31m Investment

BookingLive recently closed a £1.31m VC investment round, with contributions from Blackfinch Ventures and the Development Bank of Wales. 

We will be using this to fund further improvements in our products, including the incorporation of automation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

In 2018, the total venture capital invested in UK tech exceeded £64 billion – more than any other country in Europe. We are proud that BookingLive has helped continue this proud tradition of UK technological innovation and investment in 2019.

New Key Appointments

Integral to BookingLive’s success is a talented team and we know the importance of attracting skilled professionals.

There has been significant team development including the formation of a strong and talented group of C-level executives. Louise Chawich has recently been promoted to Chief People Officer and will guide the business forward through our growth period. Andy Gale has been appointed as Chief Technology Officer, bringing with him exceptional experience in various tech companies, and Sam Johnston is driving forward our sales and marketing strategy as Chief Marketing Officer and representing BookingLive in the USA. I am personally delighted to have extended our leadership team (time to put my feet up yet?).

We are also recruiting several new roles to support our growth.

BookingLive Connect

Connect, our free booking platform, continues to go from strength to strength. 

Launched just over a year ago, there are now over 750 users in over 47 countries on six continents (we’re still aiming for someone from Antarctica to sign up)! 

Connect is set up on a pay-as-you-go model and is the cheapest online booking solution on the market. It is a perfect system for start-ups, SMEs and individual users who lack the means, or need, for a fully-fledged Enterprise system.

We’re very proud of how far Connect has come in such a short period of time, especially as its growth has happened organically via inbound marketing. It is a great example of the dedication, passion, expertise and hard work the BookingLive team show every day.

Looking forward

The recent investment will allow us to fulfil our promise to develop our people and products with continued improvements to our service. As we enhance our global presence, and continue to support organisations around the world, we will be harnessing this momentum across all areas of business. 

During this year our product strategy will focus on user experience, and substantial innovation to ensure that you get the market-leading solutions you need. Our product roadmap for 2020 includes:

• New analytical and scheduled reports
• Adding customer self-check-in
• Two-way Outlook integration
• Data purge, multi-time zone support
• An updated registrars platform 
• A marketplace with 50+ business tools

New offices

We outgrew our previous Bristol office during 2019, and moved to larger premises in December. Our new office space gives us room to grow, and gives us more freedom for creating and testing new features. We are also opening a new smaller office in Cardiff in February, which will serve as our formal company headquarters.

Our users and customers continue to inspire us and push us forward, and I am delighted to have them along on our journey. We remain committed to continued innovation and providing industry-leading products and solutions.

If you would like to contact BookingLive to find out about the products and services we offer, just send us an email or give us a call.