Press & media.
Everything a journalist or producer needs to write about Halfseat. Direct questions: jack@halfseat.com replies within 2 hours during UK working day.
The pitch in one paragraph
Halfseat is a same-day list of empty tables at the restaurants worth eating at. Diners pay a booking fee from £5 (by party size) for 50% off the food bill. From £3 to £8 of every fee goes straight to the venue, set by party size and identical on every tier, a model designed to align with operators rather than extract from them. Founded 2026 in Brighton by hospitality operator Jack Visick (Coal & Co Group). Launched in Brighton, summer 2026.
Fact sheet
Founder
Request hi-res: jack@halfseat.com
Jack Visick multi-venue UK hospitality operator. Runs Coal & Co Group: The Castle Inn (Bramber), Tollgate, The Bull on the Green (Newick), The Berwick, Ash & Honey, St Mary's Tea Room, Farm Shop, Taste of Dreams.
Built Halfseat after running the maths on his own venues' empty-seat problem and concluding the existing solutions (FirstTable, EatClub) take too much from operators and give too little back. Halfseat exists to solve the same problem with venue economics that actually work.
Pronouns: he/him. Available for interviews, podcast appearances, and operator panels. Lead time: 2 working days for video, same-day for phone.
Quotes you can use
"Restaurants spend their entire fixed cost on empty seats they never serve. We built Halfseat so those seats earn something back."
Jack Visick, founder
"FirstTable proved diners want this. EatClub proved venture capital does too. Neither solved it in a way that's actually fair to the venue. Putting £3 to £8 of every booking fee in their pocket changes the maths."
Jack Visick, founder
"We don't list everywhere. The bar is: would I eat there at full price? If yes, you're in. If not, we keep moving."
Jack Visick, founder
"Tonight-only is the whole point. We don't want venues releasing tables they'd sell at full price two weeks out. We want the 9pm Tuesday seat that was going to walk."
Jack Visick, founder
Logos & screenshots
Need high-res screenshots of the live site or specific UI states? Email jack@halfseat.com with the page + viewport and we'll send within the hour.
Story angles
The 6%-margin restaurant industry
UK hospitality net margins dropped from 12% to 6% between 2019 and 2024. Operators are starved for tools that don't extract value. Halfseat's £3-to-venue model is a response to that.
Brighton as the launchpad for a UK tech-hospitality startup
Why a Brighton-based founder is launching here first instead of London, and what that says about where UK hospitality innovation is actually happening.
The 'tonight only' deal economy
Same-day yield management is normal for airlines, hotels, even fitness classes. Restaurants haven't caught up. Why now, why it matters.
Operator-built vs investor-built
EatClub raised $27M and launched fast. Halfseat is being built by a working restaurateur. What that produces is a different product, and a profile of the founder's own venues.
Direct line.
For interviews, comment, exclusive previews, photography access at our venues, or to be put on the press list for launch announcements:
Reply within 2 hours, UK working hours.
Reply within 24 hours, evenings/weekends.