Q App Aims To End Queuing At The Bar At The Royal Albert Hall, Among Others

In the age of the smartphone, queuing for stuff shouldn’t really exist. Why can you not be alerted when it’s your turn to be served or to be seated? A number of startups are looking into this idea, but most are tackling it from the consumer end, trying to get us to download an app which has no partners.

Q App (an app for iPhone or Android) is doing something different – slowly but surely wining partners for its platform, who then push out the technology to consumers.

Today it’s signed a deal with the Royal Albert Hall, one of the world’s most famous concert venues, to enable its visitors to order and pay for food and drink from their phones using Q App’s application.

The move follows a 3-month trial earlier this year. The service is already available for ordering while you are sitting in your box watching the opera and will be extended to the remaining 13 bars over the coming weeks.

It means the end to joining long queues to place orders at the bar during a show, and the ability to display a lost menu to customers via the app. No more paper.

For people without boxes (most of us!) the customer can be sent an alert to pick up their drinks and snacks when the order is ready for collection via a separate Q App called Fast Lane, which is placed at each bar inside the Hall.

Q App is now working at venues in London including the Southbank Centre, West Bromwich Football Club, Palace Theatre, Pho Spitalfields, The Queen’s Tennis Club and a number of other bars, pubs, coffee shops and fast food outlets.

Founded by Serge Taborin, Q App’s investors include Alex Chesterman (CEO/Founder Zoopla; co-founder LOVEFiLM), Paul Ettinger (co-founder, Caffe Nero), Ed and Tom Martin (founders, ETM Group) and Alex Carlton (founder, funkin).