Waffle co-founders Matt Pritchard, James Powell and Julian Bourne

An enterprising young student at the University of Sussex is seeking to shake up the way restaurants with empty tables can connect with diners looking for a deal, after creating a chat bot-based service thought to be the first of its kind in the UK.

Julian Bourne, a fourth-year Finance student from West Sussex, founded Waffle with friends Matt Pritchard and James Powell after a Eureka moment in an empty Nando’s one afternoon in 2017, driven by a frustration with the amount of money he was spending on eating out.  

Aiming to combat the levels of lost revenue and food wastage that occur when a restaurant is quiet, Julian and his co-founders designed a chat bot programme that allows diners to find restaurants offering discounts in order to fill their empty tables.

The Waffle team are now seeking success in Pitch@Palace, a national competition designed to allow the best and brightest from across the UK to showcase their ideas in front of an audience of influential individuals, big businesses and investors.

The 42 businesses shortlisted for the event at St James’s Palace are also automatically entered into a public vote for the best idea – and Bourne is hoping that the University community can get behind them to secure Waffle the top spot before the 25 April closing date.

Speaking about the competition, Julian said:

“Eating out brings people together, and we like the idea that Waffle creates more connection in the world. Voting for Waffle means less washing up, less time spent deciding on where to eat out, more great food and more time connecting with friends and family.

“We’re thrilled to have got this far already and can’t wait to see what opportunities arise from the event. We really hope that staff, students, alumni and local Brightonians alike will get behind us and help us to come out on top in the public vote.

“Winning would really help us take the business to the next level, opening doors to larger, more established restaurant chains to secure even better deals for our Wafflers.”

As well as acting as a search tool, users are also notified of special offers, all of which takes place in a conversation with Waffle in Facebook Messenger. This direct contact allows the programme to learn the user’s particular preferences and tastes, helping it to recommend more relevant restaurants and offers to them in a geographical area of their choosing.

On top of scoring users a deal, the business is environmentally friendly, too. The concept helps cut food waste in restaurant kitchens and there are plans for each deal to contribute towards a meal for someone in need, in order to support the local community it serves.

Waffle launches in full in Brighton next month in April and nearly 1,000 hungry customers and scores of local independent restaurants are already signed up to take advantage of it.

People can vote for Waffle in the Pitch@Palace awards here.

Waffle website: www.joinwaffle.com

Chat to waffle via: www.messenger.com/t/joinwaffle