Hospitality Mavericks Podcast Show

Hotel owner and author of the book ‘A Bridge Not Too Far’, Deepak Ohri, joins the show for the second time. He is the CEO and Chief Happiness Officer at lebua Hotels & Resorts, Bangkok-based luxury hotels and restaurants company with locations in Thailand, India, and New Zealand. We reflect on how he came to run a hotel and discusses the importance of balancing material desires with principles...

Today I’m joined by a fellow Dane – Rie Kattrup Lorentzen. She is currently the UK Head of Food at Ole & Steen, and has previously worked for some amazing brands like Wagamama, Whitebread and Bills Restaurants. It’s fascinating to learn about her incredible journey as a chef and working in a male-dominated industry.  The conversation sheds light on the challenges that women face in t...

Matt Tebbit is spearheading the University of Reading’s emphasis on human and planetary health by using the Menus of Change guiding principles and by supporting cross-institutional collaborations for both learning and research. He is currently the university’s Head of Bars and Dining. We delve into the university's approach to food and menus, particularly the Menus of Change, a ground-breaking ini...

Polly Robinson is a coach who specialises in leadership coaching for hospitality businesses. She joins the show to share her story and explain how she works with clients, including running leadership development workshops and participating in a government-funded program.  Find out about the impact of leadership coaching for business growth, working in a VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexi...

Today we get an insight into what can be achieved when a business is used as a force for good and makes significant changes in their food supply chain – through cage-free eggs. We are joined by expert two guests: Yulia Bolotina, the Global Head of ESG at Gategroup – a global leader in airline catering, and Hannah Surowinski, the Global Corporate Relations Manager at The Humane League, an internati...

Time is a concept many of us are obsessed with, but it’s totally subjective. Jacob Dahl joins me to unpack the nature and experience of time for a better life. He was, until recently, a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, after spending 26 years at the global consulting firm. Today, he is a board member of a leading international bank and continues to be a serious student of science. We find...

Today we explore the role of food in physical and mental performance. We are joined by Eleanor Rees, a nutritionist whose goal is to help everyone improve their overall health and lifestyle. Her areas of expertise include assisting with weight loss, helping with muscle gain or guiding those transitioning from amateur to professional sport. In this episode, we discuss the benefits of scratch cookin...

Based in Staffordshire, Parogon pub group is a privately owned, independent company started in 2007 and led by 5 local friends with a wealth of industry and business knowledge. It’s their mission to provide fabulous restaurants for local and surrounding communities to visit, enjoy and receive excellent customer service. We are joined by Richard Coldlough, the MD of the business, to learn how they...

The Irish start-up rezexe helps operators who want full capacity by reducing the number of no-shows. Through their technology and data, they can enable trade in places on reservation and on waiting lists. It saves restaurants lost revenue and a lot of frustration. Ross joins the show to talk about the marketplace of reservations that benefits everyone. In this episode, we discuss the impact of no-...

Today we explore actionable business intelligence and forecasting for restaurants. We are joined by Christian Mouysset, Co-Founder of Tenzo, who is currently revolutionizing restaurant operations. The restaurant management and sales forecasting app works with leading brands such as The Breakfast Club, Pizza Pilgrims, and Nando’s. In this episode we discuss Tenzo’s goals for long-term growth, addre...

Stoicism, the ancient Greek school of philosophy, resonates today more than ever. It maintains that your thoughts and beliefs create the world you inhabit, not external circumstances, so you need to take responsibility for your mind. Find out in this episode how this can be applied directly to hospitality. We are joined by Jamie Ryder, Founder Of Stoic Athenaeum, who has a philosophy-led approach...

Welcome to the 200th episode of the Hospitality Mavericks podcast! Today’s episode is a timely conversation, as we are joined by Kate Nicholls, CEO at UKHospitality, a trade group that represents the UK hospitality and tourism industry. With all the big issues that we’re facing – debt, energy, inflation, and so on – how can we not just survive, but thrive?  Kate answers this question and so m...

There is a massive business case and social responsibility to ensure that your digital presence is accessible for all. Denise Pane joins the show to run through what you can do to help 25% of the worldwide population who require better digital accessibility – from ADHD, trembling hand, epilepsy, and more. She is the Founder and CEO of Access Design Studio, a web development agency that knows...

Today we’re joined by the first ever guests of Hospitality Mavericks – Ed Brown and Griff Holland, Founders of Zedible. There was a lot to catch up on since I interviewed them in 2018, and it was fascinating to learn more about their platform Zedible, which helps food and hospitality businesses map and track their carbon footprint from the supply chain.  Find out how you can make carbon reduc...

Ludovica De Pieri is a Public Health Nutritionist and the Founder of Reveal My Food. Her speciality is in Behaviour Change applied to food allergies management and weight loss intervention in the adult population. With Reveal My Food, it’s Ludovica’s mission to measure the impact that the hospitality sector can have in shaping healthier lives. In this discussion we explore the trends around how im...

The hospitality industry is in a state of reinvention. Today we unpack how with Co-Founder and Managing Director Corbonate, Candace MacDonald. The brand communications and creative services agency specialises in food, beverage and hospitality, and for the last 15 years, have been producing free trend reports for the industry, which we delve into in this episode.  Tune in as we also explore so...

Gavin Rothwell is a food retail analyst who specialises in the food-to-go market. He supports businesses in creating better food experiences and has a passion for traveling the world to see the different food and retail aspects of different countries. Gavin joins the show to talk about the food-to-go market and some of the opportunities that lie in the future.  Tune in as explore overall tren...

Breezeway is a leading property operations and services platform for short-term rentals. The CEO and Founder, Jeremy Gall, shares his entrepreneurial journey and how it led him to launching Breezeway. It’s an interesting conversation about why property management is at the beginning of a massive shift, and how all businesses can learn from the vacation rental industry. In this episode we discuss o...

Ally Gordon has over twenty years of experience helping business leaders, professionals and individuals realise their potential. Through his past experience as a Senior Manager and Director in a number of high profile businesses, Ally has led the growth and redirection of junior management through to board level, in sole traders, start-up businesses right through to global corporates. Ally joins t...

Through consultation, programmes and speaking engagements, Dr Vikki Barnes supports organisations across industries in making the most of people and creating cultures that people are proud to be a part of. It was an honour to have Vikki return to the show for the second time, as we find out what she has been up to since we spoke in July 2020, including some insights from her latest book ‘Free Happ...

Today’s guest, John Mason, has a deep purpose of trying to make learning better and easier for everyone. He is the founder of Sideways, a hospitality learning and knowledge-sharing platform that helps teams to get better every day. We dive into John’s story and why he built Sideways, and how John struggled with the traditional ways of learning in school and the early parts of his career.  Thi...

Paul McCarthy is the CEO and Founder of Snapfix, which is the simplest Facilities and Maintenance Platform in the world. Paul’s background is in software development, and in parallel he has always been involved in managing buildings as part of a family business – both residential and commercial buildings.  Tune in to this episode as we explore how Snapfix can assist the operations team in gai...

There are only two kinds of companies: the one that has been hacked… and the one that hasn’t yet. To find out how to keep your hospitality business secure, tune in to this episode as we are joined by Mathieu Gorge, CEO and founder of VigiTrust. The award-winning provider of Integrated Risk Management (IRM) SaaS solutions helps companies around the world in the hospitality, retail, transportation,...

Myles Downey is an authority on Performance Coaching and Leadership. He was the founder of The School of Coaching, for many years, a much-respected provider of coach training and executive coaching in the UK and Europe. Myles is the author of ‘Effective Modern Coaching’, ‘Effective Coaching’ and ‘Enabling Genius – a mindset for success in the 21st Century. I truly enjoyed this reflective conversat...

Profit Hound was founded by Simon Elliott in 2020 to help food businesses become more profitable. From being the only boy in Home Economics at 13, to his career in food profit consultancy for 25 years – and then launching Profit Hound – Simon has achieved a lot along his journey.  Tune in to this episode as Simon shares some practical tips on how you can boost profitability – from upselling,...