The Locale - Helping In The Fight Facing Retail And Hospitality

There's no doubt that these are trying times for retail and hospitality, which is why the offer from North East company, The Locale, is being so well received.

Apps are part of everyday life. From doing banking to playing Candy Crush, there’s seemingly a solution for everything. Or so it seemed. Enter The Locale, a North East company which has taken its trailblazing technology and adapted it to come up with a real solution to help the current crisis currently facing hospitality and leisure venues.

It’s been a year like no other for these industries – firstly having to shut their doors completely and then having to reduce the number of customers, submit to a curfew and manage who enters their premises and when.

For Grant Thompson, Managing Director of The Locale, these challenges were something that he could help solve to some extent, giving real-time information about bars, restaurants and other visitor attractions while also using the app as a promotional tool.

The original plan for The Locale was a clever bit of kit that businesses could sign up for and give information about their site, how busy it was and also highlight any deals or offers. It has new significance in this age of Coronavirus however, which is now being more widely recognised as cities sign up take part.

“We’ve adapted The Locale so that queuing to get into all venues or public places can be monitored in real time and will allow people to make sensible decisions and so stick to the social distancing rules,” explained Grant.

The Locale has certainly struck a chord with local authorities, Business Improvement Districts and destination marketing companies which are trying to balance the safety and wellbeing of the general public but at the same time try and protect the economy.

Sunderland, Durham and Newcastle have signed up to The Locale, as have cities further afield including Edinburgh and Canterbury. Grant added: “What it allows us to do is to communicate on behalf of venues in real time so they are able to share their information.

“It will tell people when they are open, what the queues are like, how long they may have to wait and can also navigate customers towards the venues.” The idea also seems to have been well received by retailers, with more than 300 signed up across the various cities – ranging from high street names to independents.

While the situation facing these industries is currently like ever moving goalposts, the benefits of The Locale will always be relevant. The ability to promote a venue in real time will never not be useful and will also be a huge asset in promoting customer confidence.

While further restrictions may be currently hitting the hospitality industry again, Grant believes The Locale can play vital role in the future. “It is acting as a digital clicker for the venues giving confidence to the public to know how many people are in the venues in real time.” said Grant.

“It’s also a fantastic way to get people to become familiar with ease of use technology such as augmented reality and we are integrating a route building system, bringing even more benefits to the businesses.

“We have had a great response so far and now our aim is to roll The Locale out.”