Food technology company BigDish has appointed a new CEO.
The firm, which operates a smart platform which diners can use to book restaurants at discounted prices, will be led by Sanj Naha from mid-February.
Naha has significant experience in restaurant and hospitality technology platforms in the UK and Europe and has held senior positions at companies such as TripAdvisor and Bookatable.
Naha, who has also worked as a consultant for large restaurant groups in the UK, has sat on the board of four technology start-ups which were successfully bought out.
Former CEO Joost Boer will remain with the company as chief product officer but will no longer be a director of the company.
BigDish, which is listed on the London stock exchange and headquartered in Jersey, already operates in Jakarta in Indonesia, Manila in the Philippines and Hong Kong.
It recently launched in Bournemouth after the UK version of the app has finished its beta testing phase. More than 50 restaurants in the town have now been migrated on to it from existing restaurant booking platform TablePouncer following its acquisition by BigDish in August.
BigDish, which is also planning a launch in Bristol and Bath, features 50 per cent discounts on food from Sunday to Thursday, at least twice per day.
Diners can obtain the deals by making a reservation via the BigDish iOS and Android apps and website.
Restaurants can manage incoming reservations via the BigDish merchant app and website. The merchant platforms analyse anonymous user behavioural data, enabling restaurants to adjust the availability and level of discounts in real-time.
“We wish to thank Joost Boer for his contribution to BigDish both as founder and in building a world class technology platform,” said Naha.
“BigDish is a fantastic opportunity and all the indications lead me to believe it has the potential to become a dominant player in UK restaurant technology.
“I believe the UK is the right place to be at this time. Given how advanced the BigDish tech platform is, I do not expect that we will need to have a huge staff base in the UK.
“Whilst at TripAdvisor I helped grow their restaurant base from 11,000 to 36,000 over a two-year period. We discovered that the key was to have the right restaurants and the right deals.
“I intend to bring that same philosophy to BigDish and management fully expect that we will achieve break even in our first two territories within 2H 2019.”