The reasons for cancelling a business meal at the last minute are as numerous as they are varied. Strikes, bad weather, terrorist risks, accident or hospitalisation of the main speaker: to help companies deal with these imponderables, Business Table has launched cancellation insurance, the cost of which is calculated according to the value of the insured event. For example, it costs 30 euros for a service of 1,500 euros. Taken out on a one-off basis, or as part of a framework contract, the insurance covers all cancellation costs. The policy is organised around a key person whose presence is essential on the day, and the cancellation conditions take into account their inability to attend the meal or event for personal reasons or due to exceptional circumstances.
The business meal reservation and management solution, which was launched in 2012 with the aim of offering companies the means to rationalise the associated expense accounts while giving them visibility over a major item of expenditure, is thus extending its range of services. In the second half of the year, Business Table is set to launch a mobile application for booking and paying for restaurants via smartphones.
Its solution has already been adopted by 25 major accounts, including La Poste, one of its first customers, as well as Veolia, Orange and Legrand, and Business Table is now turning its attention to medium-sized companies to continue its growth. "Our aim is to have half of the top 1,000 companies in France as customers, compared with 300 today", explains Mickaël Hadjadj, founder of Business Table. In September 2016, the company launched two packages aimed at SMEs. While the Premium package, for a fixed fee of 199 euros per month, offers advanced reporting and authorises a certain number of parameters, such as a validation circuit, the Free package, with no subscription, simply provides access to the booking tool and delivers simplified reporting. "But it does provide a degree of visibility over expenditure", explains Laurent Gabard, Managing Director of Business Table.
For its part, the 'Advanced' offering for large companies is obviously the most comprehensive, with the possibility of very precise reporting by subsidiary, entity and employee, while interfacing with Concur and KDS expense management software as well as with corporate payment solutions from AirPlus, American Express and Edenred.
At the same time, Business Table aims to cover 50 % of France's catering offer within three years, i.e. 40,000 restaurants and caterers, compared with 15,000 and 1,200 caterers today. We'll be covering the entire range of chains," explains Laurent Gabard. The market is extremely fragmented, with not only restaurant chains but also a large number of independents. In a way, this serves us well, since companies have to go through us to rationalise".
While Business Table covers everything from a simple bistro to a three-star Michelin restaurant, around fifty new restaurants are added to the booking tool every month. "A member of staff is assigned every week to find an exceptional place, whether it's a new restaurant, an original concept or a surprising venue. This is very much in demand from top-of-the-range brands for their VIP customers", stresses Laurent Gabard.
