Hospitality Meets... with Phil Street

Walk for Well being began during one of the toughest periods hospitality has ever faced. Craig Prentice had an idea. Sean Wheeler said yes. Then the two of them attempted to map out a 20km walk along London’s South Bank… …and somehow ended up in somebody’s garden. A reassuringly professional beginning. Seven years later, Walk for Wellbeing has grown from a small gathering into a nationwide hospita...

At 16, Neel Radia had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. Then somebody in a careers office suggested hospitality. What followed was a dream job at Walt Disney World , eighteen months backpacking around Australia, a temporary return to the family food business that somehow became 15 years, nearly two decades supporting the National Association of Care Catering, national television appearan...

What pairs beautifully with a £250 bottle of Californian wine? Apparently, a proper dirty kebab at two o’clock in the morning. For Bradley Dorrington , co-owner of The Wine Cellar in Bury St Edmunds, that particular combination perfectly captures hospitality: great drinks, questionable late night food and hours spent putting the world to rights with somebody else from the industry. Bradley opened...

Christian Wiens spent his teenage years working in restaurants where, on particularly frantic days, they occasionally dealt with the constantly ringing phone by simply ripping it out of the wall. Years later, after a career building and growing technology businesses, that particular hospitality headache came back into view. The result is Loman. AI - voice AI built to answer restaurant calls, take...

Hannah Swarbrick-Done followed a boy to Thailand with dreams of an idyllic island life. The relationship lasted approximately one weekend. Hannah stayed for two years. What followed included living in a house made from bottles, running one of the world’s largest pub crawls, guiding travellers around Thailand and becoming sufficiently relaxed about footwear that she once wore two left flip-flops wi...

What happens when a morning person who dreams of opening a coffee shop joins forces with a night person who wants a cocktail bar? Naturally, they rope in their chef mother, add a fiancé with experience in marketing and finance, and open a Greek Mediterranean restaurant together. This is the story of Eirini Tamousi and Nectar : a family business that took four years, several false starts, disappear...

The story of the office that smells like itself What do university ASBOs, Stash Monkey, Sarah Beeny, private equity cold calls and an office with its own recognisable smell have in common? They all feature in the unconventional journey of Chris Davies , CEO of flexible office brand Uncommon . Recorded inside Uncommon’s Fulham podcast studio, after Chris and Phil had already used up most of the goo...

I'll be honest... this one is a little different. For the first time in Hospitality Meets history, I sat down with a guest who didn't need a microphone, didn't ask for a coffee before we started, and definitely didn't have any travel expenses. Instead, I had a conversation with ChatGPT. What began as a bit of curiosity quickly turned into something much more interesting. Somewhere between jokes ab...

The Story of... The Angry Gardener What do luxury hotels, practical jokes, Palm Beach, New York, Beijing, Japan, Hong Kong, a very angry gardener and a 30cm ruler have in common? Yep, this week's guest Rory Slater , Managing Director for COMO Hotels in London. And trust me... Some of these stories are almost too good to be true. Rory's journey started with a love of food, inspired by his mum's Cor...

Six years ago, Robert Richardson joined me on Hospitality Meets for the very first time. Back then, he was a hotel General Manager with a passion for people, wondering what the next chapter might look like. Neither of us could have predicted what came next. Fast forward six years, and Robert returns to the show as CEO of the Institute of Hospitality , leading a global professional body with more t...

What do a biochemist, a Chinese mansion house, Heathrow Airport, 250 burger restaurants, a pub turnaround, student accommodation, retirement living, and more than a few bottles of Mao Tai have in common? This week's guest... Duncan Garrood. And trust me... You're going to want to hear this one. Duncan's career began in a laboratory as a scientist with a PhD in Biochemistry. It then took him throug...

What do a kitchen porter, a Swedish adventure, a hotel fire, a freezing swimming pool, and the CEO of one of Britain's most iconic hotel groups have in common? This week's guest is John Badley, CEO of Andrew Brownsword Hotels . Today, John oversees a collection of some of the UK's most beautiful and historic hotels. But his story starts somewhere much humbler. A teenage job sweeping a car park for...

What do dough balls, coffee, Covid crisis meetings, global expansion, and one very determined mum have in common? This week's guest is Caroline Ottoy, Managing Director of WatchHouse . Today, WatchHouse is one of the most exciting hospitality brands on the planet, with 29 locations across the UK, USA and Dubai, and ambitious plans to reach 100 sites globally over the next few years. But Caroline's...

What do holiday parks, imposter syndrome, accidental career sabotage, and one of the UK's most respected hospitality leaders have in common? This week's guest is Barrie Robinson, National Operations Director at Parkdean Resorts and Chair of the newly launched North Star Competitive Career Accelerator. Barrie's journey into hospitality wasn't exactly traditional. After lasting just six weeks at uni...

This week I sat down with Jonny Bramwell, Regional Head of Operations for Rosa’s Thai — a man responsible for 22 restaurants, thousands of miles of motorway, and quite possibly the most unexpectedly philosophical conversation we’ve had on Hospitality Meets in a while. What starts as a chat about pubs, restaurants and leadership quickly becomes a brilliant conversation about burnout, ambition, bala...

This week I sat down with Adam Hamadache , founder of Formula and host of the Hotel Growth Podcast, a man who has spent the last 15 years helping hotels figure out how to grow in an industry that never seems to sit still for more than five minutes. What followed was part hospitality strategy masterclass, part therapy session for modern business owners, and part beautifully chaotic conversation abo...

This week, I sat down with Gareth Rees, and this is one of those conversations that feels properly important. Not just for hospitality… but for how we think about people, performance, and what “doing a good job” actually means Gareth now runs ADHospitalityD, with a mission to educate the industry on neurodiversity, breaking down misconceptions, supporting individuals, and helping businesses create...

This week on Hospitality Meets , Phil sits down with another Phil, that being Phil Andreopoulos, CEO of YOTEL, for a conversation that starts with washing pots in restaurants… and somehow ends with power naps, gorilla trekking, hotel disruption and leadership philosophy. Inspired by a first class airline cabin and created by the founder of YO! Sushi, YOTEL has always challenged the “that’s just ho...

This week, I sat down with the brilliant Guy Freedman, Hotel Director at The Pig & The Pig in the Wall, and honestly, this one felt like a giant exhale. A conversation about leadership, yes. Culture, absolutely. But also… naked guests, rogue deer, flood rescues in a Land Rover, student days in a fudge kitchen, and why maybe fun has been unfairly underestimated as a serious business strategy. G...

This week, I sat down with the brilliant Basel Jabri, and this one’s got everything. Global upbringing, accidental career pivots, iconic hotel brands, and a journey that goes from literally steering boats in Dubai… to leading people & culture across a luxury London hotel group. And the best bit? It all started with a dream that didn’t happen. In this episode, Basel and I get into… Growing up i...

This week, I sat down with the brilliant Newton Fernandes - and this is one of those conversations that reminds you just how non-linear careers in hospitality can be. From starting out as a journalist, to working in airline reservations, to quite literally being invited across the road into a hotel career… Newton’s journey spans continents, cultures, and some seriously big roles. We’re talking glo...

This week, I sat down with the brilliant Dawn Lister - and honestly, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get someone from the world of sales on the show. And what an introduction to it this was. From wanting to be an air stewardess at 10 years old, to building a 20+ year career in hotel sales, Dawn’s journey is packed with graft, growth, resilience… and a lot of persistence (some might call...

This week, I sat down with the brilliant Paul Hunter, and after nearly a year of trying to make it happen, we finally got the conversation in the can. And it was worth the wait. From early days in hospitality (and admittedly being a “bit of a mischievous lad”) to launching hotels across London, navigating redundancy during COVID with twin new borns, and now stepping into a brand new luxury estate...

This week I sat down with the brilliant Gemma Glasson, Managing Director of Wahaca and one of those leaders whose journey reminds you that careers rarely move in straight lines… and thank God for that. From starting out in the world of KPMG and Ernst & Young , to stepping into hospitality with a desire to have more impact, more energy, and a bit more colour in her working life, Gemma’s story i...

What do you get when an introvert ends up running one of the most iconic hospitality resorts in the country? A very good reminder that the loudest person in the room isn’t always the best leader This week, after what feels like about 17 years of trying to line up diaries , I finally sat down with the legend that is Chris Eigelaar , Managing Director of The Belfry Hotel & Resort . Now, if you k...