Reflecting on an eventful year at bookinglab.

As 2024 comes to an end, we’re taking the opportunity to reflect on what has been an extraordinary year at the lab. From launching transformative products and expanding into new service areas to strengthening partnerships and enhancing our internal capabilities, we’ve reached key milestones that have sharpened our strategic vision and made a meaningful difference in the communities we serve. 

It’s been a year of growth, innovation, and collaboration—and we’re excited to share some of the standout moments that defined it! 

We took a fresh look at who we are.

With so much growth over the past five years, we felt it was the perfect time to step back, take stock, and revisit where we’re headed and why. This reflection led to one of this year’s most exciting milestones: redefining who we are as a company and what we aim to achieve.  

With that in mind, we’re thrilled to introduce our new mission, vision, and brand aims: 

Our vision: To redefine how people interact with public services, building a stronger, future-ready public sector. 

Our mission: Connecting people to services that power communities and support life’s key moments. 

Our brand aims:  

1. Technology: To develop innovative, reusable solutions that future-proof and enhance service delivery
2. Processes: To simplify access to services and drive efficiency through intelligent automation
3. People: To foster a culture of collaboration by promoting continuous learning and knowledge-sharing

Anyway, enough about us—let’s talk about you! 

We welcomed amazing new partners.

This year, we were delighted to welcome an incredible lineup of new community members, including leading councils such as Lancashire County Council, Lewisham Council, Camden Council, Middlesbrough Council, Shropshire Council, and Milton Keynes City Council. We were also proud to partner with the pioneering charitable organisation Anthony Nolan, two of London’s leading council registration services, and many more.

Each of these partnerships strengthens our mission and helps us bring smarter, more efficient solutions to the public sector. We’re excited to see what we’ll achieve together in the new year. 

We kicked off a game-changing project. 

We’re excited to announce the launch of an industry-defining project with two of London's leading registration services.  

Recognising the need to sustain and grow their already impressive revenue streams, these councils have joined forces to launch a pioneering end-to-end digital experience platform.  

This cutting-edge solution will set a new standard for registration services, featuring seamless booking, e-commerce, business intelligence, event diary management, and registrar case and task management capabilities. With a sleek, private-sector-inspired design, the platform will make it effortless for customers to book, check availability, manage payments, connect with staff, and purchase ceremony add-ons. 

For management, it will streamline and automate operations, reduce staff workload, and provide actionable insights to tailor services, optimise demand, and boost revenue. With dynamic pricing models and a user-focused experience, this solution will redefine what local authority registration services can achieve. 

We’re excited to bring this vision to life and can’t wait to share updates on how this solution will shape the future of registration services. 

We set the standard for HWRC booking solutions.

With our two latest partnerships, we’re now supporting over two-thirds of the UK's largest county councils in making their sites more efficient. This means over 10 million people will use our technology to book their tip visits—a milestone we’re incredibly proud to celebrate! 

We strengthened ties with our community.

This year, we strengthened our partnership with Essex County Council by becoming their council-wide booking provider. Building on our solid foundation, we introduced ten new digitised services, including a groundbreaking platform that revitalised the Essex Registration Service. In just a few months, the service rose from an all-time low in April to being recognised as one of the UK’s top-performing council registrar teams by September. This remarkable transformation delivered: 

• A 400% improvement in statutory KPIs 

• A 1000% return on investment, and 

• 2,000 additional appointment slots  

Beyond these successes, we also co-created a county-wide HWRC Booking System for 22 sites and enhanced Essex’s Short Break Digital Platform to include clubs and activities, tickets, and Max Cards. This all-in-one solution has reimagined how families and carers access short break services—offering seamless bookings for accommodation, clubs, attractions, and competitions—while providing staff with a single portal for managing eligibility, registrations, payments, and reporting. 

We’d also like to recognise Kent County Council (Kent Country Parks), West Sussex County Council (Venue Hire), City of Wolverhampton Council (Sports Pitches), and many others who expanded their use of our platform this year, improving experiences for both citizens and staff. 

As part of our commitment to continuous innovation, we worked closely with our community of over 100 sites to enhance our HWRC booking product. Their valuable feedback helped us: 

• Develop MyAccount functionality for greater user control 

• Enhance data services and reporting capabilities for deeper insights 

• Improve our on-site check-in app for better data capture, reporting, and searchability 

• Refine our DIY Waste Module to streamline monitoring, reporting, and reconciliation 

• Add custom Visitor Alert Statuses to better manage site usage and communication 

• Introduce UI and UX improvements, including deep links and dynamic guidance messaging, to deliver a best-in-class user experience 

• Upgrade our DVLA Registration Lookup for greater accuracy and usability 

We teamed up with like-minded organisations.

This year, we connected with organisations that share our vision for transforming how people engage with public services. Two standout partnerships—one with the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) and another with LocalGov Drupal—underscore our shared commitment to building a stronger, future-ready public sector through shared knowledge and forward-thinking technology. 

We sparked conversations.

January set the tone for the year with a DIY Waste re-group webinar, where local authorities came together to share insights on managing new legislation, emerging trends, areas for improvement, and the financial impact of recent changes.  

In June, we joined the Resource and Waste Management Expo, participating in the inaugural LARAC Lounge. Over two days, we connected face-to-face with our HWRC community, diving into the key trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the sector’s future. 

September saw us host a virtual session for over 80 HWRC managers, focused on the financial impact of HWRC Booking Systems. Wayne Howick, Senior Contracts and Enforcement Officer at West Sussex County Council, shared how his team achieved an estimated £650,000 in annual savings using our solution. You can catch the full recording here. 

On the 7^th of November, we co-hosted a webinar with Janine Last, Head of Statutory and Regulated Customer Services at Essex County Council. Janine and her team showcased the extraordinary results Essex’s Registration Service has achieved with our new Registrars and Ceremonies Booking Service. You can watch the session here. 

Later in November, we exhibited at the Local Authority Registration and Coroner Association’s Annual Learning and Development Event, showcasing our latest innovations. It was fantastic to connect with new faces, dive into the world of registration booking, and share the excitement around our market-disrupting product. 

From engaging webinars to in-person events, this year has been all about collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and strengthening our community connections. 

We doubled down on security and accessibility. 

This year, we doubled down on our commitment to world-class cybersecurity, renewing our Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus, and ISO 27001 certifications. We took it a step further by achieving the NHS Digital Data Security and Protection Toolkit certification, reinforcing our promise to keep data safe and secure. 

Accessibility was another top priority, with significant investments ensuring all our solutions meet the latest WCAG 2.2 AA standards introduced in October. 

These efforts culminated in our G-Cloud 14 Framework award in November, reflecting our mission to deliver secure, accessible, and innovative solutions. 

Wrapping up. 

We couldn’t pack everything into one blog, but we hope this gave you a glimpse into a few of the exciting things that happened in 2024!

All that’s left is to say thank you for an amazing year. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!