Archive for the ‘Features’ Category
BView restaurant booking interface now live
Monday, October 12th, 2009
On Friday we released a great new feature: restaurant booking. OK, there are several restaurant booking services available so what makes our’s so different? Here are some features:
- really simple, really easy to use interface
- no registration required
- we remember your details meaning future bookings only take three clicks
- there is an iPhone-optimised version
Booking interface for web cbrowsers
So this is the view if you are viewing it from FireFox, Chrome or IE on the web….
Mobile browser view
…and this is what you see when you use a mobile browser and in this case on an iPhone.
We think you’ll agree that this is a really useful addition to the voucher search engine. There are currently around 2,000 live restaurant offers available and this number is growing. By our calculations, that makes us the home of the largest number of restaurant offers in the UK. Happy booking!
For any developers using the BView API: the restaurant booking screen is now part of the API and you don’t have to make any changes.
Tags: booking, offers, restaurant
Posted in Announcements, Business, Features | Comments Off
Out and about for nowt (as we say in Yorkshire)!
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
I decided to make a short notice break away from the norm and galloped off to the coast for a few days of relative peace, naturally, for the purposes of research I had to do that on a budget.
So, having already spent a couple of days sharing a caravan at a Park Resorts site I decided to maximise the savings to be had. Park offer a saving for any repeat bookings in one season and since I was mentioned on the occupancy list last time, I’m entitled to the saving this time. The best savings are to be made when booking again before you leave and that applies to any of the sites around the country.
I managed to book a pretty big caravan for four on the East Coast for a long weekend and from there the plan was to explore.
En route we travelled through Hull, hardly a fine example of tourism but with it’s own appeal in the form of The Deep a large sea life centre just off the main roads. We got in for the family ticket price of £28.50 and there’s the option to upgrade that ticket at no extra cost to a year long pass, all they ask is for a donation next time but it isn’t compulsory. So, that’s a years entry into The Deep for around £7 each. You can even make use of the local tourist information board who often provide online printable vouchers or key phrases to quote and make even greater savings at attractions around the country.
We even managed to find some places of interest with free entry, like Wold’s Way Lavender Farm and we picked our own fruit at a farm down the road before driving home via Wentworth Garden Centre.
Park even assist with savings, for example you can buy entry for The Sea Life Centre in Scarborough at great reductions instead of the ticket sales at the venue. Alternately look at the internet site and find vouchers on site or sign up for Bview’s local listings to get an up to date link to the latest offers in the area.
No matter what type of holiday you want or even if you just want a day out or two, it’s worth searching around the internet for reduced price entry to visitor attractions and events all over the UK and really making the most of the sunshine.
Tags: attractions, caravans, days ut, holidays, Savings, tourism, visitors
Posted in Features, Findings, General, offers, Savings | Comments Off
Making the most of the scrappage allowance
Monday, June 29th, 2009
It’s been a great temptation for many car buyers to take advantage of the scrappage allowance scheme introduced by the government this year. The Scrappage Allowance / Vehicle Discount Scheme is a £300 million scheme which has been introduced by the UK government during the 2009 budget which involves the scrapping of a car or small van which is over 10 years old. The government is offering a £1000 incentive which will be matched by participating manufacturer’s dealers . The discount is deducted from the price you pay for the new vehicle.
Tempted and willing to research I had a look at the offers from Ford and found some interesting figures, they’re offering a £2K government scrappage amount and they’re going to match it, which sounds amazing, but that’s for a Style at £12,295 after reductions, then another £1,892 as a fee for the credit which stands at a whopping 7.9 APR. Suddenly the offer isn’t quite so tempting.
And there are caveats: The vehicle must only be first registered on or prior to 31 August 1999 and the owner must have owned the vehicle continuously for at least one year prior to the order date of the new vehicle.
The scrapped vehicle should have a UK address on the registration certificate (V5C) and has either a current tax disc and current MOT certificate, or has a current tax disc and a current Hackney Carriage Licence, or has an MOT certificate which expired no earlier than 14 days before the date of the contract for a new vehicle.
Neither vehicle (scrappage or new) should exceed 3.5 tonnes.
The purchased vehicle must be first registered in the UK on or after 18 May 2009 and have no former keepers.
The registered keeper of the new vehicle must be identical to the registered keeper of the vehicle to be scrapped. The Scrappage Allowance will be payable in relation to the first 300,000 new vehicles purchased nationwide or until 28 February 2010, whichever is sooner.
My reservations were repealed by the more promising offers with Kia, a subsidiary of Hyundai , where you can get a Picanto for a mere £4,495 on the road with a £2,000 combined saving with the new incentive. As a cash purchaser with no ridiculous APR to pay on a credit agreement, you’d actually be making a reasonable purchase for a new car, though it should be borne in mind that a car decreases in value rapidly for those first days of ownership and then drops to it’s usual steadier decline, but with a sensible road tax bracket, great fuel economy, low insurance grouping of 2, 3 or 4 and all around nippy features, perhaps many of the savings are to be made later. You could also look at the Fiat Eco at £5,995 and Peugeot 107 Urban Lite from £6,945.
It’s only a true saving if you don’t pay the hiked credit/ finance fees and interest rates.
Tags: car, dealerships, government incentive, Savings, scrappage allowance, vehicle
Posted in Features, Findings, General, News, offers, Savings | 1 Comment »
Steigenberger Nile Palace or Costa Del Back Garden, holidays in 2009.
Friday, May 1st, 2009
As the elusive British summertime begins its months long game of hide and seek, many of us begin to think of holidays and jetting off to sundrenched beaches and a brief escape from the rat race. In times of financial instability a holiday could be more than some can manage. For some, perhaps the annual break will be closer to home this year.
I was vaguely considering that I could begin to plan a holiday and musing over destinations when I began to think of the practicalities. My passport is out of date and my children don’t have one at all yet. There, in under 10 seconds is a cost of £164. £72 for my own passport and £46 for each of my children. I just don’t need that headache right now. I don’t need to leave the country.
So, my thoughts returned to good old Blighty.
Now, I’ve travelled the U.K fairly extensively, in caravans, tents, guest houses, hotels and friends homes. I’ve even stayed at a substantial number of English Heritage sites. I have children who think Dora The Explorer has the most exciting life and I love the idea of something new, so, wandering around the internet I found wigwams at Humble Bee Farm.
A lovely homey looking wooden building with real beds starting from £15.00 per person per night and just £8.00 for children. So, £31 per night and no great risk from weather conditions. There’s even a secure lock on the door, which might give me some peace of mind about midnight excursions by the gruesome twosome.
Or what about a Cocoon at Nostell Priory Park at £24.50 per night? A small building which looks like a rigid tent and again guaranteeing you won’t be blown away in the middle of the night. No escapees and the dubious pleasure of cooking outside every night, just like real camping. It also means I don’t have to get up close and personal with nature, I can scurry back to the more-tangible-than-canvas-relative-safety of a plastic house. I’m warming to the idea.
I think my kids will love camping and it’s an adventure I want them to enjoy, though I worry about them getting out of the tent in the middle of the night in the same manner as they wander around the house eating chocolate in the wee small hours.
Still, I checked out the prices and venues. I remember staying in a lovely place in St Austell, Cornwall a few years ago and their prices for a tent are a very reasonable £4 – £9 per night depending on the season. However, prices vary around the country and during peak season. One site I found mentioned a £20 minimum fee per night during the peak season. You’ll often find money off vouchers in the back of The Camping and Caravanning Guide, available from CCC, Blacks and other similar shops.
Most of my childhood holidays were spent in touring caravans in Great Yarmouth and Skegness, or in static caravans in Cornwall, again, I’d quite like my daughters to enjoy that experience so I checked back to the sites we used when I was small. Vauxhall in Great Yarmouth would be around £418 for a week at the end of June in a dinky little 3 berth static caravan. The same week in Widemouth Caravan Park would be £322.00 as an online booking price.
I had romantic dreams of a cottage in the Lake District one year, all open fires and long country walks ending at cosy country pubs. The prices quoted were in the region of £350.00 minimum per week, for two people, in November! Unimpressed I quickly found a late winter sun deal in Majorca with Thomson for less and we skipped off to laze by the quiet beaches instead of the open hearth.
However a B&B begins at £60.00 per night and a weekend break might be just the thing.
I’ve never been entranced with hotels. They’ve always been associated with work related stays for me, though I confess, as a mental mum of two rampant children, I rather like the idea of no cooking and no cleaning up. Still, a brief search shows I could get a short dated booking for £42.50 in a 4 star hotel in Devon and share. I certainly couldn’t leave my little darlings in a room of their own…despite being far too young, remember the chocolate escapades I mentioned? Imagine a whole hotel full of adventure in the middle of the night. It would be Macauley Culkin Home Alone Part 4, The End!
So many people say that by the time you’ve finished, it’s just as cheap to fly elsewhere for a holiday. Perhaps the answer lies with Lastminute.com . The cheapest holiday I can find there is for £450.00 flying from Luton to Costa Brava and I’d still have to get the passports, bringing the total back up to over £600.00 without travel at either end, or insurance, or spending money. But the lure of no cooking and cleaning is strong. I could even write a blog to enter the 99% off competition and win the chance to have my holiday for just £4.50! No, I’d aim for the luxury of the Steigenberger Nile Palace in Luxor, Egypt. A snip at £489.00 per person. Still, that would be one paid for, a mere £4.89 from my pocket.
Maybe there is more to be said for Costa Del Back Garden. I think I’ll leave it a little while longer and bag a last minute deal, crossing my fingers for extra savings with vouchers on BView.
Tags: BView, camping, caravans, competition, holidays, hotels, vouchers
Posted in Business, Competitions, Features, Findings, General | 1 Comment »
Inspiring confidence, Stratton Roofing cover it all
Monday, February 23rd, 2009
Looking through some of BView’s top rated businesses you’ll see Stratton Roofing Ltd with a complimentary 90% rating.
Andy Sands-Moore, the Operations Manager gave us the scoop on the company background; ‘Stratton Roofing Ltd was first launched on 15th April 2008, and was formed to offer home owners and business the very latest flat roof systems, first class customer service, with a friendly professional approach and at a price that offers real value for money.’‘I found BView whilst web searching one day, I was so impressed with the opportunity to profile our business and what we are all about on a friendly usable site, that we just had to get involved.’
Andy seems very impressed by the chance to create vouchers on their listing; ‘Its a great touch and can be customized to suit any offer we may be running in any of our adverts across our region, it draws extra attention to your page and can only help to increase potential sales.’
Stratton Roofing Ltd also have a link to their company website which apparently helps attract new customers. They also link back to BView which helps to create a connection between the two sites. This also helps to build confidence for their site guests who can check out the company’s reputation at a public source.
They run local newspaper advertorials and hope to begin a radio campaign and post it as a video feature on BView.
Great oaks from little acorns grow.
Andy told us they’ve been using the invite customers to review your business function to make their existing customers and suppliers aware of their BView presence, enjoying the chance to build a community and write about their views, helping to create confidence in the company.
Andy said ‘As we are in the flat roofing trade, a trade that is often riddled with rogue traders it is vital to us that potential customers can review genuine reviews of how we operate and the service we offer to our customers.’
You can read more about Stratton Roofing Ltd on BView or at their website.
Posted in Business, Features, General | 1 Comment »
Release 5.0 New Features – Tags
Friday, September 26th, 2008
Tagging, as any up and coming graffiti artist knows, is the process of adding relevant slogans to a wall or in our case a business listing. We decided that tagging would be a great addition to BView and this Thursday it was unleashed.
Tags are always associated with a particular business and can be added either when you write a review, or separately when you edit the business. Kat and I have added a video below showing you how to add tags. A tag cloud will be shown for every business, giving you a quick summary of what people think, and also against a user showing you what tags they have added.
Additionally, when you search for a business using the “what” field, as well as relevant categories you will be shown all businesses tagged with your search phrase. For example, searching for “ice cream” will show not only all ice cream parlours, but also all businesses tagged with “ice cream”.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxZr7_punpg]
Tags: bview has tags, tag, tagged, tagging, tags
Posted in Announcements, Features, News | 3 Comments »
Broadway Market
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Every week, from today, we will be taking a look at a selection of businesses [good, bad and ugly] in a specific area of London. Having spent most of Saturday on Broadway Market, what better place to begin.
If you’re a Londoner, chances are you’ve already been to Broadway Market, and if you haven’t been there you’ve probably heard how popular its becoming (especially with the tight jean/asymmetrical hair brigade).
Historically, Broadway Market is one of the oldest chartered markets in London which went into massive decline in the early part of the century but was resurrected to its former glory in 2004 following pressure from local residents. Today it is home to a bustling street market which sells a colourful array of organic foods, fruit and veg, coffee, vintage clothes, general bric-a-brac which will excite the market lovers. Its basically a mini Borough Market. Its also home to a number of businesses including gastro pubs, restaurants and boutiques, art shops, book stores etc. Here’s a selection of the main places to eat and drink:
The Cat and Mutton is at the top of Broadway Market overlooking London Fields park. Its one of those places
which you’ll either love or hate. Its generally ok for a pint, especially when you’ve manage to conquer the benches outside on a suny day, however, if you’re a beer/food connoisseur head to the The Dove for a selection of belgian beers and gastro type foods (Oysters are one of the offerings on the menu) The Dove is really warm and cosy inside, perfect for a winters day, but the nearby London Fields Park is a much more tempting option on a beautiful summers day. Cicilcia’s is a Turkish Restaurant/Cafe at the end of Broadway Market with an outside terrace which overlooks the canal. The Turkish Coffee here is my highlight on the menu. If you want to opt out of the posh-nosh, The Broadway Fish Bar is the way to go. For a fiver you get yourself a big bag of the greasiest chips and a nice helping of cod. I plan on trying out Amardillo Restaurant, and The London Fields pubs soon.
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