This week on Hospitality Meets, I sit down with the brilliant Phil Shelley — Senior Operational Manager at NHS England and Chair of the NHS Food Review. Phil is an exceptional hospitality leader and human being and was crowned Outstanding Achievement Award winner at the 2025 Foodservice Cateys, only last Friday.
Phil’s career is a masterclass in purpose driven leadership. From his early days in hotel kitchens to shaping the future of hospital food, he’s proof that hospitality is about so much more than service, it’s about care.
We talk about how hospitality thinking is transforming the NHS, the power of teamwork in driving real change, and why good food and kindness go hand in hand.
It’s an episode packed with humour, heart, and hope and a well deserved celebration of a man who’s spent his life making food matter.
Key Takeaways
Memorable Quotes
Final Thoughts
Phil is a living reminder that hospitality is everywhere and when it’s done with purpose, it can transform lives.
This conversation is equal parts inspiring and grounding, showing how leadership, food, and humanity can come together to make a real difference, one plate at a time.
Show Partners
A big shout out to Today’s show partner, RotaCloud, the people management platform for shift-based teams.
RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from a single, web-based app.
It makes work simple for your team, too, allowing them to check their rotas, request holiday, and even pick up extra shifts straight from their phones.
Try RotaCloud’s time-saving tools today by heading to https://rotacloud.com/phil
