A former Just Eat director has chosen Manchester as the UK HQ for his expanding takeaway firm OrderYOYO
Kristian Bronsbjerg said he wants to help independent takeaways "regain control over their online presence" with his Danish digital solutions company.
With the market dominated by third-party delivery companies, the OrderYOYO app "gives power back to the restaurant owners" - channeling and expanding traffic through their own websites and apps.
Mr Bronsbjerg said Manchester provides "fertile grounds for growth" after it was named the UK's top city for digital tech - and "promising mass of digital talent and central position in the UK".
The Dane, who was Just Eat's sales director for Denmark and Norway for six years, has relocated his family to the city, and said: “We are very excited at the opportunities for growth here in Manchester and across the British Isles.
"Our plan is to double our UK and Ireland workforce within the next year, expanding from about 40 employees.
"Manchester is widely known for its hard-working busy-bee attitude, and that is just what we are looking for at OrderYOYO – independent hard-working restaurant owners who want to use data insights to grow their business.”
Before setting up their HQ, the firm already had a big presence here. Of last year's revenue of approximately £125m, around half stemmed from the UK.
The firm's aim of empowering small restaurants to compete has been strengthened by the Covid-19 crisis, which caused a surge in take-away deliveries leading to restaurants expressing concerns over dwindling profits.
OrderYOYO wants to "change the power dynamics in this market".
Headquartered in Copenhagen, the firm claims to take care of everything going on outside the restaurant: order management, data analysis and storage, and growth initiatives like Google Ads and email campaigns, meaning the restaurant can focus on "what they are good at – making great food".
Mr Bronsbjerg added: “80% of sales in these businesses come from returning customers, and therefore it is paramount that the restaurants establish direct lines of communication.
"We help them do that by creating the right balance between all the digital sales avenues.
"We have all felt the consequences of Covid-19, but at OrderYOYO we are optimistic that a lot of these hard-pressed restaurants will survive and compete if they strategize in time.”
