A new online restaurant booking system, which is designed to help operators incentivise and increase reservations during quieter periods of the day or week, has been unveiled.

SmartDiner's new website has been launched for the Harrogate market this month, with a full, national launch due to take place at October's Restaurant Show in London. The system has been created to help restaurants attract customers at certain times or days through the use of money-saving incentives, while also offering flexibility to optimise capacity usage and increase profitability.

SmartDiner is free for restaurants to join and for diners to use, although a £1 fee will be paid by restaurants every time the system generates a booking. Lionel Strub, chef and owner of the Mirabelle in Harrogate, said: "All sorts of voucher schemes and booking systems have come and gone. None of them really focused on what the restaurant wanted.

"SmartDiner is different and was attractive to us as we can control the time and how much discount we give. We can turn it off when we're busy and when we really need it, use SmartDiner to boosts sales." Stanley Wootliff, managing director of SmartDiner, devised the concept in December 2010, with Guy Holmes (commercial) and Elaine Lemm (communications) bringing a number of years of hospitality experience to the team. Kevin Moran (technology) has also been involved with the launch.

Wootliff added: "We believe that SmartDiner will be a welcome tool for restaurateurs and diners alike." Details: www.smartdiner.co.uk

Image (from left): Stanley Wootliff and Elaine Lemm from SmartDiner with Lionel Strub, owner of the Mirabelle, and Guy Holmes from SmartDiner.