What bookinglab does

Bookinglab Ltd is a Birmingham, UK-based SaaS company founded in 2019 that sells GovBook, an online booking platform purpose-built for the UK public sector. The product sits on top of JRNI's underlying booking infrastructure, exposing RESTful APIs and hosted on AWS, and is delivered as two connected platforms — GovBook Citizen Engagement Platform and GovBook Workspace Management Platform — with a portfolio of verticalised modules covering Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC), Registrars and Ceremonies, HAF Programme, Phlebotomy, Short Breaks, Family Hubs, Online Appointments, Events, DIY Waste, and Sports Pitches, plus Workspace Management modules for desks, rooms, courses, and pool cars. Differentiated technical components include an AI-powered scheduling engine, a Ceremony Officer App, end-to-end certificate stock management, ANPR integration for HWRC sites, and a dynamic pricing engine, all backed by ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, WCAG 2.2 AA, G-Cloud 14, and NHS DSPT certifications.

The company monetises through three revenue streams: tiered annual SaaS subscriptions (Bronze, Silver, Gold) priced on build complexity, demand volume, and integration depth; one-off professional services for onboarding, configuration, training, and milestone-based bespoke implementation (timelines ranging from a few hours to 4-8 weeks); and recurring ticketed support with 24/7/365 P1 coverage delivered through partner JRNI. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales combined with inside sales for inbound enquiries, complemented by G-Cloud 14 marketplace listings, free demos, heavily discounted pilots, content marketing, and event participation at LARAC, LARCSA, RWM Expo, and LocalGovCamp.

Bookinglab serves 110+ public sector departments across UK local councils, NHS trusts, and central government, with named customers including Kent County Council (over £1.4M annual waste-management savings), Essex County Council (400% statutory KPI improvement, 2,000 additional appointments annually), Westminster City Council, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Norfolk County Council, Gloucestershire County Council, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Hampshire County Council (31% tonnage reduction), West Sussex County Council (35% less waste handled), and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The company remains privately held and bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding rounds, and reports an average ROI of over 1,000% and £450,000 average annual saving per HWRC customer, with 96% resident satisfaction across the council base.

Name

bookinglab

Legal name

Bookinglab Ltd

Website

https://bookinglab.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bookinglab is a Birmingham-based SaaS company selling GovBook, a purpose-built online booking platform for UK local councils, NHS trusts, and central government departments, serving 110+ public sector organisations with appointment, event, and resource-booking modules certified to ISO 27001, G-Cloud 14, and NHS DSPT standards.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Sector Online Booking Software

NAICS

Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (56159)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Appointment Scheduling & Reservation Management (HSACAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

White-Label Booking Engine Platforms (SaaS/Widget) (THALADAN)

Keywords

• Public sector booking software
• Council appointment system
• Citizen engagement platform
• HWRC booking solution
• NHS scheduling platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription (Software as a Service): Annual subscription for cloud-hosted booking platform access. Pricing varies based on tier (Bronze/Silver/Gold), complexity of build, service demand volume, level of integration, and custom functionality requirements. Core platform includes appointments, ceremonies, citizenship, reporting, and communications as standard.
2. Professional Services (Onboarding & Configuration): One-time onboarding services covering configuration, training, and customisation of the booking platform. Implementation costs for bespoke projects are typically split into project milestones. Implementation timelines range from 2-3 hours to 4-8 weeks depending on complexity, design, scale, data migration, and module customisation.
3. Ticketed Support: Ticketed support offered as a separate pricing component alongside the SaaS subscription. Support team available Mon-Fri 8:30am-5:00pm. P1/system-critical events handled 24/7/365 through software partner JRNI.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

bookinglab sells GovBook, a cloud-based online booking platform purpose-built for the UK public sector, providing self-service appointment, event, and resource booking for citizens alongside admin portals for council staff. The platform is offered as an annual SaaS subscription with tiered Bronze, Silver, and Gold packages, complemented by professional services for onboarding and ticketed support, and is sold primarily to local councils, NHS trusts, and central government departments.

Product overview

Bookinglab offers GovBook, a unified online booking platform with specialized modules for the public sector. The platform consists of two main platforms: GovBook | Citizen Engagement Platform and GovBook | Workspace Management Platform. The Citizen Engagement Platform includes specialized booking modules for HWRC (Household Waste Recycling Centre), Form-Based HWRC, Registrars and Ceremonies, HAF Programme, Phlebotomy, Short Breaks, Family Hubs, Online Appointments, Events, DIY Waste, and Sports Pitch. The Workspace Management Platform provides Desk Booking, Room Booking, Course Booking, and Pool Car Booking modules. All modules share a common AI-powered scheduling engine, REST API integration layer, and admin portal, enabling councils to standardize their tech stack while customizing bookings for specific service requirements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GovBook: An online booking system for the public sector, including Citizen Engagement Platform and Workspace Management Platform products.
• GovBook | Workspace Management

Products and services

• GovBook GovBook is bookinglab's primary online booking platform for the UK public sector, providing appointment, event, and resource booking capabilities across multiple channels with AI-powered scheduling. It is the umbrella brand encompassing both the Citizen Engagement Platform and the Workspace Management Platform.
• GovBook Citizen Engagement Platform Multi-service booking platform for councils enabling citizen self-service across appointments, events, and resources with 24/7 availability. Features white-label custom-branded booking journey, MyAccount functionality, personalised communications, customisable surveys, and full WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility.
• GovBook Workspace Management Platform Workspace management platform for optimising desk, room, course, and pool car booking within government organisations, improving the staff experience and supporting hybrid working.
• HWRC Booking System Household Waste Recycling Centre booking system for managing site visits, controlling usage, preventing misuse, and enabling real-time check-in capabilities. Includes ANPR integration for permit cross-referencing and vehicle whitelists. Deployed by Kent, Hampshire, and West Sussex County Councils among others.
• Registrars and Ceremonies Booking System Registration and ceremony management solution for statutory appointments, ceremony bookings, citizenship services, and certificate stock management. Features Ceremony Officer App, AI-powered staff allocation, dynamic pricing engine, GRO compliance workflows, and end-to-end certificate stock tracking. Deployed by Essex County Council, Westminster City Council, Kensington and Chelsea, Norfolk, Gloucestershire, and Windsor and Maidenhead.
• HAF Booking System Holiday Activities and Food Programme booking service for managing activities, providers, and bookings. Used by West Sussex County Council, which achieved 2,255 bookings in the first 48 hours, 50+ registered activity providers, and over 1,000 bookable activities.
• Phlebotomy Booking System Healthcare phlebotomy appointment booking system for NHS and clinical settings. Deployed by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) for NHS blood testing appointments.
• Short Breaks Booking System Booking system for council-provided short breaks with dynamic pricing, fair access management, and payment processing.
• Family Hubs Booking System Booking service for family hub activities and services across multiple locations and resources.
• Online Appointment Booking System Generic online appointment booking system for managing multi-channel, multi-service, multi-location bookings for council services.
• Event Booking System Event booking system for managing virtual and in-person events with attendee management.
• DIY Waste Booking Module Module for monitoring and charging DIY waste deposits that exceed legislated limits, recouping revenue from the new UK DIY Waste Legislation with real-time check-in, usage limit enforcement, and detailed reporting.
• Sports Pitch Booking System Booking system for sports pitch and facility reservations. Deployed by London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF).
• Desk Booking System Desk booking system for workspace management enabling staff to reserve workspaces in hybrid working environments.
• Room Booking System Meeting room booking system for internal workspace reservations within organisations.
• Course Booking System Training course and educational session booking system for organisations.
• Pool Car Booking System Vehicle fleet booking system for managing pool car reservations within organisations.

Quantifiable outcome

• £1,400,000 in annual cost savings for Kent County Council across waste management services
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration26 records

AI capability4 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• JRNIcoreTechnology or IntegrationJRNI is bookinglab's core software platform partner. The booking system is built on JRNI technology (now re-branded). bookinglab issues a Master Subscription Agreement for JRNI, and customers receive 24/7/365 P1 (system critical) support through JRNI's infrastructure. Customers also gain access to JRNI's Knowledge Base and developer resources (JRNI Developer Hub, JRNI User Guide).
• NHS DigitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNHS Digital DSPT (Data Security and Protection Toolkit) certification. bookinglab's booking systems meet NHS data security and information governance standards, enabling deployment within NHS trusts and healthcare organisations.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• JRNI: JRNI is the underlying booking technology platform on which Bookinglab's GovBook is built and the source of its 24/7 P1 support. It is the most direct peer — both offer enterprise-grade appointment, event, and resource booking with similar capabilities, making it the closest comparable product.
• Skedda: Skedda provides a workspace booking platform for desks, rooms, and resources — directly comparable to Bookinglab's GovBook | Workspace Management Platform covering Desk, Room, Course, and Pool Car Booking modules.
• Robin: Robin offers a hybrid workplace platform with desk booking, room scheduling, and workplace analytics, making it a direct functional comparable to Bookinglab's Workspace Management Platform for shared office environments.

Broad incumbents

• Granicus: Granicus is a broad incumbent in UK and US government digital experience platforms, offering citizen engagement, communications, and service delivery tools that overlap with Bookinglab's citizen engagement platform. Bookinglab integrates with Granicus, indicating direct overlap in the public-sector technology stack.
• Civica: Civica is one of the largest UK public sector software vendors, with a broad portfolio spanning payments, regulatory, and back-office solutions that overlap with Bookinglab's payment and service delivery modules. The two integrate, and Civica could bundle booking functionality against Bookinglab's specialist offering.
• Envoy: Envoy provides workplace software including desk booking, room scheduling, and visitor management, overlapping with Bookinglab's Workspace Management Platform. It is a broader incumbent in hybrid-workplace software rather than a direct public-sector booking competitor.

Emerging players

• Setmore: Setmore is an online appointment scheduling platform targeted at small and mid-sized service businesses, with customisable booking pages, staff management, and payment integrations. It is comparable as a general appointment booking SaaS but lacks the UK public-sector compliance and enterprise scaling.
• Calendly: Calendly provides scheduling and appointment booking automation widely used by organisations for both internal and external booking workflows. It is a lighter, consumer-leaning peer rather than a direct competitor for complex public sector use cases, but it competes for general appointment scheduling demand.
• SimplyBook.me: SimplyBook.me is a SaaS booking website platform used by service-based businesses for appointment, class, and event booking. It is comparable as an online booking platform but does not target the public-sector compliance and complex multi-resource use cases that define Bookinglab's offering.
• Acuity Scheduling: Acuity Scheduling (owned by Squarespace) provides online appointment scheduling with customisable booking pages and integrations. It overlaps with Bookinglab's online appointment booking capability but lacks the public-sector compliance certifications and multi-service complexity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bookinglab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bookinglab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about bookinglab