Food & Drink Awards 2020

Page 24 www.lux-review.com LUX 2020 Food & Drink Awards The idea for Clubhub was born when co- Founders Hugo Gretton and Kevin Lomas were on a stag-do in Benidorm, trying to find where they should go for their ideal night out. They soon realised that there was no app that could suggest suitable venues to users based on physical location and personal tastes. When the pair returned to the UK, they decided to fill this ostentatious gap in an otherwise heavily saturated market. With the help of the University of Derby, they have built a close-knit team of five, dedicated to bringing Clubhub to life. Available for free download on the App Store and Google Play Stores, Clubhub is the first location-based marketing app designed specifically for the hospitality sectors. Using state of the art geofence technology, Clubhub sends notifications to users based on their personal preferences and physical location, notifying them of real-time, relevant offers on food, drinks and special events near them. Working with independent pubs to major city centre nightclubs, Clubhub helps its clients to promote offers and drive footfall through their doors, using services such as branded marketing collateral including promotional videos and social media posts. For one client, these services have expanded their social media reach by 400%, acting as testament to Clubhub is the nightlife app designed to revolutionise the way we socialise. Created for the bar and late-night promotions industry, Clubhub eradicates the need for venues to use promoters, flyer distributors and other outmoded means of attracting the attention of passing trade. Whilst other nightlife apps are built to help ‘pre-plan’ a night out, the team at Clubhub recognise that people much prefer to see where the night takes them. Clubhub is designed to facilitate this spontaneity, bringing the deals to the user when they need it to create a night of unprecedented fun and adventure. Sep20637 Clubhub Limited Most Innovative Restaurant & Bar App 2020 the influential powers Clubhub offers to outlets of all size in the food and drinks industry. As soon as a user walks within 200 metres of a Clubhub listed venue, they will be notified of an offer which they can choose to accept or decline. In this way, Clubhub will positively disrupt nightlife sectors across the country, giving independent and smaller venues a platform to compete with the larger, better established chains. Unlike other nightlife apps, Clubhub is designed to work on behalf of the user, rather than forcing the user to manually interact with the app to seek offers or find new venues that might suit them. Users simply need to input their preferences on food, drink, music and atmosphere, as well as the types of offers they wish to receive when they first download the app. From there, Clubhub does all the work, using a matching algorithm to find users their ideal venues and offers. In addition, Clubhub has brought the originality that is required to stand out in such a populated market to their app, ensuring they are not dismissed as yet another table or ticket booking platform. The Clubhub team therefore work hard to know exactly what it is that their users are looking for in an app and have found that most of their competitors repeatedly run into a simple but significant error. The majority of 18-25-year-olds do not want to plan out their whole night out, preferring to find their first venue and see where the night takes them from there. While most nightlife apps focus on the pre-planning element of the night, Clubhub has steered away from this, engineering an app that facilitates the spontaneity that is instrumental to a great night out. Unfortunately, the nightlife and hospitality sectors have been among the hardest hit by the outbreak of Covid-19. Many venues and businesses have shut their doors for good, with many more struggling hard to stay afloat in what only continues to be an uncertain and stressful period. Whilst the market recovers, Clubhub is doing all it can to support current and prospective clients by offering their services completely free to all venues, in an attempt to aid a valuable but ailing industry. Meanwhile, Clubhub is continuing to evolve, looking to integrate augmented reality and artificial intelligence into the app so as to truly bring their user’s night to life. Now going for the next round of funding and on the lookout for future investors, Clubhub are also always on the lookout for ambitious new talent to join their team and venues they can add to their extensive portfolio. It’s an exciting period of growth for Clubhub and we’re excited to see what’s next. Contact: Hugo Gretton Company: Clubhub Limited Web Address: www.clubhubltd.com