Over the past 25 years, Uncle John’s Bakery has remained a staple household name within the Afro-Caribbean Community, with a community expanding across the UK as well as around the world. Founded by his parents, today’s guest is Samuel Mensah, the MD of the company. From the very start, the…
Today’s guest, Victoria Williams, is on a life ambition to change the world for deaf people. Establishing her company teptree 14 years ago, their goal by 2025 is to positively impact 1 million deaf people’s lives. It’s ambitious, but Covid-19 has highlighted how it affects so many people. The innumerable…
There’s often a big stigma behind fast food and QSR, but it’s the best way to be the biggest in the world. As former colleagues, I was super excited to catch up with Mark Hawthorne, Former CEO at McDonald's and Guzman y Gomez. With the fast-changing landscape, we need to…
With this ongoing crisis, leaders need to develop new skills, such as compassion and a growth mindset, to navigate and rebuild this new landscape. When you feel safe within yourself as a leader, this projects to the rest of your team. In this episode I’m excited to speak with leadership…
Edd Heller joined the hospitality industry late in life – just six years ago. Since then he’s proven to be a real maverick by running the Ethicurean Guild, which cooks delicious food from small farms and producers in other peoples kitchens across Brighton. Since the pandemic Edd and his team…
In this episode, Michael talks with experienced operator and tech CEO Dan Brookman of Airship & Toggle. Two platforms that enable operators to engage customers by generating pre-sold revenue and recency and frequency of visit. They work with great brands like Boston Tea Party, Roadchef, Leon, Revolution Bars, Byron &…
There’s a story behind every business, and it’s an area a lot of us neglect to fully communicate with our consumer. So how do we best tell our story? To find out, I catch up with Mark Smith, Founder and Lead Strategist of Double Up Social, an award-winning social strategy…
The hotel industry has faced a big shake up since the outbreak. Now two months after reopening, MD of Dominion Hospitality Drew Brown joins the show to share how technology has helped drive behavioural change for the regional hotel business. As we enter autumn, we look to see what a…
Back by popular demand, Zoey Henderson has worked closely with hospitality brands to be healthier and more sustainable. During lockdown, she launched her own low alcohol beer Fungtn. I caught up with Zoey to learn more about how she came to produce such a drink that is hoppy, textured –…
With a background in theatre and acting, today’s guest Tom Lionetti-Maguire fell in love with the immersive piece. In 2013 he launched Little Lion Entertainment, and operates the likes of The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience. Their mission is to provide live entertainment where the audience is at the heart of…
We don’t have the answers yet, but we need to ask the right questions in order to navigate through the pandemic. What’s clear is that the hospitality business model of low profit margins needs to change. Today’s special episode is from a webinar I had the pleasure of being on…
We’re going to take a different view of the hospitality industry today – through the eyes of investment. Today’s guest is Ali Aneizi, a M+A and Private Equity specialist, and founder of Tamweel Capital – an investment advisory boutique focussed on brand led consumer facing businesses. As the industry is…
What do successful leaders look like over the next few months? To get to the heart of this, Michael catches up with leadership expert Caitlyn O'Loughlin to dissect how most often it’s the simple things that stick. As Leadership Trainer at LifeLabs Learning, she’s seen first-hand that people-first companies are…
Links: https://www.openpantryconsulting.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-de-vries-80bbb685/ Surviving The Shit Storm Episode 6 with Ivan Brewer: https://www.hospitalitymavericks.com/podcast/episode/1e3d2a1e/surviving-the-shit-storm-episode-6-with-ivan-brewer Episode 63 with Josh Koppal: https://www.hospitalitymavericks.com/podcast/episode/27f9ad9f/63-setting-yourself-a-long-term-mindset-with-joshua-kopel Episode 62 with Dr Vikki Barnes: https://www.hospitalitymavericks.com/podcast/episode/37279533/62-leading-with-radical-acceptance-with-dr-vikki-barnes Surviving The Shit Storm Episode 7 with Elaine Batho: https://www.hospitalitymavericks.com/podcast/episode/3d09a586/surviving-the-shit-storm-episode-7-with-elaine-batho Lune Croissanterie: https://www.lunecroissanterie.com/
Facing repeat openings and closings in LA, it’s been a tough time for so many restaurant owners. But it’s given today’s guest some serious thinking time about the kind of life he wants to live. For too long, the hospitality industry has been running on long hours, low-profit margins and…
In this episode, Michael has Head of Operations for The Athenian Patrick Gray as a guest. Patrick has a lifetime of experience from many great brands like Bill's Restaurants, Boston Tea Party and many more. The Athenian was born out of love for Greek food. They launched at the business…
Following months of being on “soldier mode”, we’ve all experienced overwhelm during the covid-19 crisis. Now more than ever we need to be taking care of ourselves. Michael catches up with clinical psychologist Dr Vikki Barnes – a true expert in positive psychology. She is the Founder of Positive Wellbeing,…
In this episode, Michael talks with Amy Ogden. Amy is based in New York City and matches world-class hospitality brands of all sizes with best-in-class agency partners in the areas of digital marketing, web, SEO, paid search, PR, social media, branding and more. Amy gives us an overview of what’s…
In this episode, we have Operations Director Paul Hooker from Boston Tea Party as a guest. The Boston Tea Party is a purpose-driven cafe operator with 24 units across the South-West of England. Paul has more than 20 years of experience in the industry working with some great national brands.…
In the episode, I have a great friend and colleague of Michaels as a guest. Michael knew it would be an out of the box experience, and as you will hear very different than a normal podcast conversation. Martin is the founder YourBigPic a consultancy that helps teams to connect…
In this episode, Michael talks with Joshua Jarvis the Co-founder of Wing Shack Co - a QSR concept with 3 units from London. They talked about how the pandemic has impacted Wing Shack Co and how they quickly transformed into delivery and click and collect model. Joshua gives some great…
In this episode, Michael will be talking with Davonne Reaves who is the founder of The Vonne Group in Atlanta - A co-author and hospitality consultancy specialising in travel market research, asset and operational management, and brand development for boutique hotels. She has extensive experience from operations, brand to asset…
In this episode, we talk with Scott Erwin Founder and CEO of HIre Hand - a tech company that helps companies to staff more flexibly. Prior to Hire Hand Scott work with McKinsey specialising in workforce planning. We talked about how he has seen the pandemic evolve and how to…
In this episode, Michael talks with Yazz Abdulla CEO and Founder of Urban Hospitality. A consultancy business that has been focusing on delivering dark kitchen projects over the last couple of years. Yazz and I talk about the rise of dark kitchen and delivery and their impact on the restaurant…