Shows
Extrology: Mastering People, Performance & PurposeTrailblazing innovation within the hospitality industry with Mark Cribb, Urban Guild, Managing Director #14With the hospitality sector in a state of relative disarray in lieu of the past year’s developments, and the government’s somewhat misguided response trying to help the industry, there are swathes of people begging to return to the kind of experiences and venues that incubate moments of genuine human connection. One man who hopes that his brand, and sector as a whole, emerge stronger than ever with a focus on facilitating the ‘touchpoints of humanity’ is Mark Cribb, the Managing Director of Urban Guild.Joining Lee Cooper to detail the steps on his business journey and year...
2021-02-101h 24
Humans of HospitalityBen Tish - Culinary Director Norma & StaffordAlthough originally from Skegness, Ben is more captivated with Sicily and one day would like to move there. Sicily has had a huge influence on his favourite style of food and he’s even written an awesome book called ‘moorish'. Ben is actually only a chef because of fellow Skegness buddy Jason Atherton who got Ben his first chef job at the Ritz. We touch on Ben’s time at the Salt Yard and how a big influx of cash that he hoped would sort out his financial and restaurant dreams ended up ruining his love for...
2020-08-241h 02Humans of HospitalityAdam Handling - Restauranteur & Chef - The FrogYou have to be impressed with today’s guests energy levels. Adam Handling works hard, has achieved a lot and is not short of an opinion or two that he’s quite happy to share. Adam joined me just 48 hours after re-opening The Frog, his flagship restaurant in Covent Garden. He’d been through a particularly traumatic closure period where he’d lost four of his venues and learnt a great deal about the business side of running restaurants. Adam speaks openly and honestly about the financial, physical and mental aspects of what he has been through, but he’s ke...
2020-08-171h 04Humans of HospitalityRobin Hutson - CEO Limewood and Home Grown HotelsFor my 100th episode I really wanted to get a bit of an industry super star in my eyes. Robin Hutson has been on my list of people I’ve wanted to chat to since day one of launch. I live within a pretty easy cycle of two of Robin’s PIG hotels - Pig on the Beach in Studland and Pig in the Forest in Brockenhurst. I LOVE what Robin has created. I’ve seen Robin talk at a couple of hotel events and in essence he just knows his stuff. He oozes common sense and his...
2020-08-101h 42Humans of HospitalityRobin Sheppard - Chairman Bespoke HotelsRobin Shephard is the Chairman and co-founder of Bespoke Hotels. Bespoke look after over 5000 hotel rooms, 6000 team members and £500 million pounds worth of assets. But they particularly interested me, because many of you will know I love the independent hospitality sector. Bespoke are fascinating, because although they’ve become a significant player, they keep their personal brand and business very much behind the scenes. Most of their venues are independently owned, and bespoke simply provide some of the benefit of brand, with consistency of service, some centralised professional team members and some of the benefits that come at scal...
2020-08-031h 09Humans of HospitalityDanny Pecorelli - MD Exclusive CollectionExclusive is a superb example of what can be achieved in the genuine world of hospitality when not dominated by venture capitalists or short term city demands. Exclusive is family owned. They take a long term view, are not hugely leveraged and as you’ll hear in this conversation Danny is a genuine human with a sincere love of the hospitality sector. Danny has also been very helpful in helping England win the Rugby Wold cup, but I’ll let him tell that story. We touch on Danny’s role as the Chair of Master Innholder...
2020-07-271h 06Humans of HospitalityTim Maddams - Chef, Teacher, Presenter This episode was recorded just before COVID lockdown, so is not referred to in the episode, but it's a great chat, so I wanted to finally get round to releasing it. Thanks. By the time Tim Maddams had reached the end of his first year as a professional chef, working in a restaurant kitchen, he came to a crazy realisation: he had cooked more meals in those 12 months than most people prepare in an entire life time. For a while, working hard with luminaries like Alastair Little and Marco Pierre White and appearing on TV with...
2020-07-201h 04Humans of HospitalityTim Wookey - Co Founder - Amamus Speciality CoffeeThis episode was recorded just before COVID-19. At the time we had no idea what was about to come. During the pandemic I’ve been focusing on time specific conversations, but now as hospitality re-opens I want to release a few great conversations that have been patiently waiting for their time. Tim knows a great deal about coffee, but rather than being a roaster or venue, he’s got a unique slant on trying to get better coffee in the places many of us spend time, but generally have low expectations. Tim correctly points out that many ‘value led...
2020-07-131h 19Humans of HospitalityAndrea Rasca - Founder Mercato MetropolitanoAndrea is a walking philosopher with some very strong opinions on the ethics of business and the community around food and drink. I’ve interviewed Andrea before about his business and journey, but today we focus on the recent opening of his latest venue in an absolutely stunning old church in Mayfair. I’ll let you listen to andrea’s eloquent description of that stunning space. Andrea stayed open in some guise throughout the lockdown since their business is pretty diverse from a deli, bakery and shop through to street trade units. Andrea’s philosophy is that entreprene...
2020-07-041h 01Humans of HospitalityDavid Simms - Restaurant Associates Culinary DirectorNow whilst to your average human Restaurant Associates is not particularly a consumer facing brand, you will certainly know many of the venues that David Simms and his team operate, from Somerset House, to Edinburgh zoo, to Michelin starred restaurants like Jason Atherton’s City Social and Michelle Roux’s Parliament Square. I chat about David’s history in the podcast, so I’m not going to list it here, but fundamentally just be reassured that I was really excited to get to chat to David because I knew the diversity and depth of his experience across the hospit...
2020-06-301h 04Humans of HospitalityKarl Chessell - CGA Date & InsightI first saw Karl speak at an event in March where I was impressed by some of the insights and data that he and the CGA team had collated. It was nice to see so many of the thoughts and impressions that I had of the sector backed up by some scientific data and commentary. Now seemed like the perfect time to put some data behind the theory of what re-opening may look like. Karl and I go on a bit of a journey in this conversation, and it is worth noting that it was r...
2020-06-271h 06Humans of HospitalityKris Gumbrell - CEO Brewhouse and KitchenKris is a very experienced operator who has had both a successful corporate, as well as more entrepreneurial career in hospitality. We briefly touched on Kris’s early career but spent more time chewing the fat on a broad range of hospitality topics. From EIS funding schemes and some great perspectives on why debt is quite often not the answer. We also have a great conversation around hospitality as part of the rejuvenation and placemaking of towns and cities. Quite often they are the vibrancy and life-blood an area needs as a catalyst for investment and regeneration, yet al...
2020-06-231h 00Humans of HospitalityGriff Holland - Friska FounderI’ve spoken to Griff Holland from Friska before in episode 47 and I love his love of food and drink and humans. After a crazy couple of months of lockdown I thought it was a great time for a follow up. We touch on how trade had been in the 6 months before lockdown and how he’d been navigating Brexit indecision, multiple elections and a stormy winter. We look at the rollercoaster of shut down itself and how Griff pretty much nailed his plans in one emergency covid meeting, rather than every day. And then in his ever posi...
2020-06-2052 minHumans of HospitalitySally Beck - Royal Lancaster & Hotelier of the yearThis weeks guest is yet another true inspiration of hospitality. Sally is the General Manager of the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London and the 2019 hotelier of the year, joining some legendary predecessors of the award. We have a pretty wide ranging conversation all the way from chickens, to my relief that Sally was not actually born in a pub, to how a 40 million pound refurbishment actually turned into an 85 million pound refurbishment, as well as Sally’s desire to create the happiest hotel in London, and what that actually means. Sally is very principled when it com...
2020-06-161h 03
Humans of HospitalityDavid Abrahamovitch - Grind LondonDavid from Grind London, a collection of coffee shops, cocktail bars and restaurants, started his hospitality journey by inheriting a mobile phone shop, where he loved the building but not the business. Fast forward and David has managed to walk that tricky operational and design tightrope where his venues are both a great stop off for a daytime coffee, but also a sit down meal, and by night transform into a busy cocktail bar. Not an easy feat, but something that feels so effortless when right, but in reality is a real challenge. I personally re...
2020-06-1357 minHumans of HospitalityRobert Walton MBE - President Restaurant AssociationRobert has an MBE, is a Restauranteur, a patron of Hospitality Action, president of the Restaurant Association, founder of the Nth Degree Global, and has even been covered in the FT as a power dresser with his very dapper suit collection. He’s also got a very active instagram account where he also interviews a number of other great humans of hospitality. We have a fantastic chat about his past experiences in hospitality, which have been many and varied. Robert gushes about London’s place as the hospitality and tourism world champion, and his enthusiasm is infectious. W...
2020-06-091h 00Humans of HospitalityNat Alexander - Shanghai China - Homeslice PizzaWe are looking to china for some inspiration as they are running a good couple of months ahead of us from a pandemic timeline perspective. Nat is from London, but has been living in Shanghai for a number of years and runs Homeslice Pizza across 3 local outlets. He was therefore very well place to discuss the operational aspects of coming out of the other other side of lockdown in the hospitality sector. I found Nat’s descriptions of the challenges of acquiring PPE in china fascinating, in part due to the timing of the crisis around Chinese New Y...
2020-06-0656 minHumans of HospitalityCharlie McVeigh - #ProjectPint and Bunker ProjectsCharlie sold his group ‘Draft House’ to Brew Dog and now operates as a chairman and investor through his business ‘Bunker Projects’. Charlie is currently chairman of the Breakfast Club and Butchies fried chicken in London. We chat about 'project pint', what it stands for and how it evolved. Project Pint is a fun and inclusive way of helping Britain shift from a FOGO, to a FOMO mentality as soon possible, when it is safe, falling back in love with the Great British pint and going out with a mate. I also take the opportunity to get his...
2020-06-031h 11Humans of HospitalityPeter Ducker - Institute of HospitalityIn this weeks conversation I catch up with Peter from the Institute of Hospitality. Now I have to confess to not knowing a huge amount about the IOH but I thoroughly enjoyed this chat with Peter. Clearly he's been in the industry long enough to know what he's talking about and have a very rounded and objective perspective on quite a diverse range of topics that cropped up. We touch on OTA's, graduate training, VAT, the opportunity for independent hospitality, the impact of the pandemic and how we can find a way to trade through. As...
2020-05-2759 minHumans of HospitalityPhilip Eeles - Co-Founder Honest BurgersI really enjoyed meeting Phillip Eeles from Honest Burgers on a previous episode back in December 2019 with co-founder Tom Barton. This time it was just Phillip and he was equally as enthralling and honest and happy to speak the truth. We touch on his role of late, looking after the out of London venues and his 180 degree turn on how those out of London venues should be managed. We then get into the impact of the pandemic from charity and longterm integrity where Phillip tries desperately hard to walk the fine line between honesty and pol...
2020-05-2458 minHumans of HospitalityJonathan Downey (JD) - Hospitality UnionLots has changed since I last caught up with JD. Hospitality Union has become more grown up from its early WhatsApp group days and now has a website, brand and a more disciplined and structured voice representing over 3000 independent hospitality owners and senior operators. Through Hospitality Union JD has been campaigning for a number of national support measures to help the sector navigate the pandemic, and fundamentally save as many jobs as possible. Next to the JRS and furloughing scheme some sort of plan on rent is essential to save the industry and jobs. #NationalTimeOut has gained nat...
2020-05-2152 minHumans of HospitalityLogan Brouse - Tacoliscious Shanghai - ChinaLogan is from Logan's Punch and tacolicious, venues of varying size in Shanghai. As a prior F & B consultant from San Francisco, Logan has been living in China for ten years and has had a ring side view of the pandemic roll out from there and across the globe. I was fascinated during this chat to hear the importance of the timing around Chinese New Year and the impact that had on how the virus was transmitted across China. Interestingly their has also been some government business support, as in Europe, but not to the same scale, with...
2020-05-1939 minHumans of HospitalitySimon Mitchell - CEO Kerb FoodThis is the first post pandemic episode I’ve done representing what is such a vibrant, energised, important and all too neglected part of the incredible hospitality sector - the street food traders. And when I say neglected I mean that so many of them are small, independent operators with no premises and no staff, so generally don’t qualify for grants or furloughing cash. It’s heart breaking to imagine the hardship that some of these incredible hospitality humans are facing during this crisis. As well as their members we touch on some of the Kerb challeng...
2020-05-1553 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Rupert Holloway - Conker SpiritThis is the week where Rishi has given much of the industry a further life line by extending the furlough scheme through to October. Though we wait nervously for the details of the ‘joint’ funding he mentioned from August onwards and wether our sector may qualify for further support once the scheme is removed for much of the country. Today’s guest is Rupert from Conker Spirit, a gin distiller in Bournemouth. I’ve seen a number of distilleries moving into the sanitiser market and I really wanted to find out more about how and why. I think it de...
2020-05-1345 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Andrew Stephen - Sustainable Restaurant AssociationAnother week and something is clearly in the air with more and more restaurants or hospitality venues trying to re-open in some guise. Maybe it’s the frustration of sitting idle, maybe it’s the recognition that the industry is very broken and some sort of pivot for survival is going to be essential for those businesses that can do so. And many cannot. I’ve seen a number of posts from the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) offering practical support, not only for members, but for anyone visiting their website. Whilst much of this is really useful and deta...
2020-05-0649 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Steven Lamb - River Cottage and moreWith the continuing backdrop of hospitality recognising just how hard it is going to be to open up post lockdown I’m catching up with Steven Lamb. Steven is particularly well known for having worked with River Cottage right from it’s foundation years, and now makes a living consulting, presenting, training, writing and more. As a freelancer falling between the gaps of all personal and business support in this crisis I wanted to see what Steven was doing to try and navigate a way through the challenges. Particularly his moves into the online world trying to run vi...
2020-05-0250 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Michael Bremner - 64 DegreesThere seems to have been a bit of recognition this week in just how long the hospitality sector is going to be effected by this crisis. First in and last out seems to pretty much be the case. That’s tough news to process for many operators, but we are a resilient and creative bunch. Much of people’s headspace is now moving from how do we close, minimise outgoings, furlough and pay the team, to what on earth does re-opening look like. And if we can’t re-open how do we pivot and do something to pay both the person...
2020-04-2552 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Mark Cribb - Urban GuildOur most unusual episode yet in that I am going from host to interviewee. I recorded an episode last week with a friend, accountant and fellow podcast host 'Warren Munson' from Evolve. Warren interviewed me about the impact of the Coronavirus closure on my personal hotel and restaurants. Having interviewed many people on similar topics in the past few weeks Warren was happy for me to share this story on my own podcast. A number of listeners and contacts have been in touch recently asking how things are going at Urban Guild, so this seemed the ideal way...
2020-04-2144 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Andrew Stembridge - Chewton Glenin this Coronavirus special I'm catching up with Andrew, Executive Director of some incredible hotels under the Iconic Luxury Hotels group. I first met Andrew on this very only podcast a few months ago. Since then so much has changed in both of our lives that I wanted to catch up and discuss how he and the business are navigating through the pandemic. Initially it was thought that the country hotels may ride out the storm as guests looked for long term stays away from the city. But soon all venues were closed, over 800 of the team are...
2020-04-1548 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Guy Singh Watson - Riverford Organic FarmersIn this episode I'm joined by Guy from Riverford Organic Farmers chatting about the surge in demand for their vegetable boxes. Guy is always good for an opinion or two and I thought it would be interesting to chat to someone incredibly busy, rather than quiet, as a result of the Coronavirus impact. We chat about how Guy and his team are simplifying their offering, going back to their original roots as a veg box delivery company. Guy in many ways hopes this will be a long term move since he has always wanted to sell more seas...
2020-04-1334 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Jack Stein - Chef Director at Rick SteinIn this episode I catch up with Chef Director Jack Stein at his family's Rick Stein restaurant Group. Whilst Rick Stein is locked down in Australia I'd seen alot in the past ten days with Jack defending a pretty negative article in the Daily Mail. Jack has been very honest with his team and customers about the financial challenges the business is facing as a result of it's current coronavirus related shut down. We discuss the challenges of meeting £300k a week in payroll costs with £0 revenue coming through the door, and some of the unfair accusations arou...
2020-04-0955 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Giles Henschel - Olives Et AlThis is a shorter special edition of the podcast looking at how Giles Henschel is trying to pivot his business during the coronavirus challenge. Giles has been in business for many years and has a background in the military so I was very keen to see if he had any wise words on how to navigate his business through the crisis. Many of us in hospitality have been advised to offer home delivery, either of produce or finished products. But this has its complexities and I've felt that the wholesalers are better placed to offer this than th...
2020-04-0640 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Kate Nicholls - UK HospitalityThis is a shorter special edition of the podcast looking at how Kate and UK Hospitality are working hard to represent the UK hospitality industry, with a direct ear to the UK Government. Kate and I have a wide ranging chat covering their early involvement in keeping the government abreast of how quickly the hospitality sector was being impacted as the coronavirus travelled at pace around the world. The sector was an early warning barometer of what was about to come to others, as occupancy rates and visitors to bars and restaurants dropped, long before they were t...
2020-04-0333 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Mitch Tonks - Seahorse & RockfishThis is a shorter special edition of the podcast looking at how some humans in the hospitality sector are coping with changes as a result of the coronavirus. Mitch is an utter gentleman of our industry who has created a small group of restaurants that have an exceptional reputation for being part of the local community, generally in seaside resorts of South West England. Along with his chairman Will from Hawksmoor, they are a couple of wise brains who really understand the hospitality sector, and operate for the right reasons with strong values and a passion for se...
2020-04-0238 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Mark Lewis - Hospitality ActionThis is a shorter special edition of the podcast looking at how some humans in the hospitality sector are coping with changes as a result of the coronavirus. Hospitality Action are a charity established in 1837 that has since offered vital assistance to all who work, or have worked within hospitality in the UK. They are there for the chefs, waiters, housekeepers, managers, concierges, receptionists, kitchen porters, sommeliers, bartenders, catering assistants and cooks across the UK. They also launched an emergency appeal just after Boris Johnson's announcement in mid March asking the public to st...
2020-04-0118 minHumans of HospitalityCVIRUS SPECIAL - Kirsty Loveday - Love DrinksThis is a shorter special edition of the podcast looking at how some businesses in the hospitality sector are coping with changes as a result of the coronavirus. In this chat I catch up with Kirsty who I first spoke with about her story back in September 2019. Kirsty's company 'Love Drinks' represents some incredible high end drinks brands with genuine authentic stories behind their stunning products. Kirsty provides another example of the ripple effects back up the supply chain as bars and restaurants across the country closed. As entrepreneurs Kirsty points out that we are used...
2020-03-3135 minHumans of HospitalityCORONAVIRUS SPECIAL - JENNIFER - CANTON TEAThis is a shorter special edition of the podcast looking at how some businesses in the hospitality sector are coping with changes as a result of the coronavirus. In this episode Jennifer from Canton Tea explains how her normal customer has completely disappeared almost overnight and her entire team have been furloughed. However, Jennifer and her team have pivoted the business fast, both to help them service the crisis, but also to support both Hospitality Action and frontline hospitality teams directly. Jennifer is the kind of human that reassures me we will come out of th...
2020-03-2531 minHumans of HospitalityCORONAVIRUS SPECIAL - Will Beckett - HawksmoorA bonus episode and new idea to release shorter regular podcasts specifically around what people in the hospitality sector are doing, or some advice around some of the fast paced legislation changes. These CORONAVIRUS special podcasts are slanted towards people in hospitality or who are interested in hospitality, but will overlap with business people in general and what they are doing in the current crisis. Other episodes you can find and more orientated around everyone interested in food and drink. In this episode, Will Beckett from Hawksmoor chats about the journey in the...
2020-03-2437 minHumans of HospitalityCORONAVIRUS SPECIAL - JD - Street Feast / London UnionA bonus episode and new idea to release shorter regular podcasts specifically around what people in the hospitality sector are doing, or some advice around some of the fast paced legislation changes. These CORONAVIRUS special podcasts are slanted towards people in hospitality or who are interested in hospitality, but will overlap with business people in general and what they are doing in the current crisis. Other episodes you can find and more orientated around everyone interested in food and drink. In this episode, JD who has a background as a corporate lawyer, is...
2020-03-2439 minHumans of HospitalityBen Jackson - Fluffetts Farm (eggs)This week’s guest has a brilliant way of describing his striking career change in 2008, when he went from ‘birdless flight to flightless birds’. I’ll explain! For more than a decade, Ben Jackson had been the MD of the London Beach Store – a business he loved, because it focussed on his fascination for kite surfing, which had begun when he was 3 years old. Then, just over a decade ago, he got involved in running his family’s farm and has never looked back. Fluffetts specialises in what it calls ‘genuinely free range eggs’ and Ben has built up enc...
2020-03-221h 15Humans of HospitalityVince Noyce and Dich Oatley - British RumCraft beers and gins have come into their own in the last few years – alongside artisanal bakeries and independent coffee roasters. So what’s going to be the next big thing amongst small, specialist food and drink businesses? If you listened to my podcast with Keterina Albanese at the Pub Show, it could be cider, English whisky or rum. If it’s rum, then Giles Collighan, Vince Noyce and Dich Oatley will be leading the way. I caught up with Vince and Dich at the Portsmouth Distillery, where I discovered that the word ‘rum’ is really an umbr...
2020-03-151h 11Humans of HospitalityMark Rogers - Twinways Orchard & BeesI’ve waited a very long time to interview this weeks guest. But patience paid off, and I’m utterly sure this programme will blow, or at least open your mind just a little bit more. It’s about those tiny little creatures without whom this podcast would not exist, in the sense that so much of the food and drink we eat is dependent on this insect’s ability to pollinate plants. Mark Rogers, owner of Twinways Orchard, has immersed himself in the world of bees for years. Whilst I knew bees were important, and I knew t...
2020-03-081h 37Humans of HospitalitySue Quinn - Journalist and Cookbook WriterI always wanted this podcast to be pretty eclectic in it’s range of guests, all hung under this idea of hospitality in its broadest sense, where food and drink is the common denominator. This weeks guest, Sue Quinn is a food writer and cookbook author. I wanted to chat to Sue about the importance of the written word in hospitality, and I guess life in general. The reviewers, the critics and the influencers are all having an impact on our venues and our daily lives. From the ghee butter in Olivia Coleman’s Oscar-winning goody bag, and the ri...
2020-03-011h 15Humans of HospitalityAndrew Stembridge - Executive Director of Iconic Luxury HotelsI love the challenges of operating hotels... well, even if I don’t necessarily love them, because it’s really hard, I do at least find them utterly fascinating. We’ve not been to a hotel for a while, but I so enjoyed chatting to Gareth Banner from The Ned a fair few episodes ago, I thought it was time to return. This time, instead of one super huge hotel in the city, we’re taking a look at a few stunning properties spread over a somewhat larger area. And If you want examples of how hotels can evolve...
2020-02-231h 45Humans of HospitalityJames Cochran - Great British Menu & 1251There is no getting away from the fact that James Cochran is a dude. He’s the chef with no name and his restaurant is named after a song from The Strokes, and if that’s not cool enough, he also happens to be an epic chef, and an all-round entertaining chap. If you look at James Cochran’s sample menus – from pheasant sausage to buttermilk jerk spiced chicken – you can see the influences that shape his brilliant cooking: Scottish from his dad; Vincentian from his mum. When James was honing his chef’s skills alongside Brett...
2020-02-161h 09Humans of HospitalityJohn Rensten - Forage LondonMushrooms, who knew? Well, some people do, but most us will be doing some intensive learning in this episode. Mushrooms do some amazing things and cover miles and miles of the forest floor without us even knowing. By the time you finish listening to this interview with John, you’ll be wondering why on earth we don’t do more of what he does, and why restaurants and cafes don’t feature more food sourced in this way. I’m talking about foraging. To me, foraging is a no brainer. The foods you come across, whethe...
2020-02-091h 29Humans of HospitalityWill Beckett - HawksmoorIf there is one restaurant on this planet that embodies purity of intent and an obsessive eye for detail, it’s Hawksmoor. Whether you’re in London, Manchester, Edinburgh or New York (which will, or has opened, depending on when you listen) you know you’ll be given exceptional food, but with none of the stuffiness that used to come with such wonderful dining. As regular listeners will know, I have the privilege of interviewing dozens of hospitality legends. Without fail, whenever the Hawskmoor name crops up, people express their appreciation for the awesome, well deserved...
2020-02-021h 22Humans of HospitalityKeterina Albanese - The Pub Show 2020Here’s a cheeky little bonus episode for you this week. The quintessential British pub is changing. Is that good, bad, or just necessary? Well, pause a minute and let’s imagine that you’re sitting in a pub, and on the drinks menu you find a delightful rose cider, served by the wine glass; a fine small batch English whisky, described as having notes of cherry; and an impressive selection of mocktails and botanical-based soft drinks and cordials. Then you notice that the pub isn’t just open at lunch time and in the evenings: it offers art a...
2020-01-2934 minHumans of HospitalityHarry Lomas - Head of Culinary Wembley StadiumPeople often say, in an off-the-cuff way, that something they organised was ‘like a military operation’. Well, this week’s guest, Harry Lomas, really does know what it’s like to run a kitchen as a huge, well-oiled military machine. Harry’s strategic skills have been honed by the 34 years he spent with the British Army. His amazing career included a stint with The Royal Household; the position of Master Chef with the Parachute Regiment in Cyprus and, to round off, being responsible for feeding troops around the world, including Afghanistan. There he was involved in rebuilding the kitchen at...
2020-01-261h 28Humans of HospitalityJody Scheckter - F1 Champion and Laverstoke Park FarmTwo things come up regularly on the podcast. Firstly, quite a few of my podcast guests have gone through significant career changes to become food, drink and hospitality entrepreneurs. I’m thinking Rupert Holloway at Conker Gin, who gave up surveying to set up his own distillery, or Claire Burnet at Chococo who swapped marketing for freshly made chocolates. As the winner of the 1979 Formula One world championship this weeks guest, Jody Scheckter certainly knows a thing or two about a second career, and in fact even a third! Secondly, obsession, maybe William Curley creating the ve...
2020-01-191h 07Humans of HospitalityAndrea Rasca - CEO of London's Mercato MetropolitanoAs the casual dining sector in general continues to navigate through turbulent times, it is fascinating to see the continued growth of the street food scene. There seems to be a trend in specialising in one or two dishes and being great, rather than big. But whilst the consumer is loving the informality, quality, regularly changing dishes, a keen price point and an ethical impassioned owner, they still desire a space to sit, somewhere to enjoy some drinks with friends and spend a couple of hours on a night out, or a longer lunch, rather than just a few mi...
2020-01-121h 22Humans of HospitalityAndrew Parry Norton - New Forest CommonerI think it’s fair to say that, from a global perspective, we’re living through uncertain times. In particular I hope as a listener of this podcast you are asking questions about what to eat, where to purchase our food and how our food choices are impacting the environment and world around us. Whilst sometimes these are complicated questions, what’s been inspirational about many of the podcast conversations I’ve now had, is how – despite the politics and complexity – many food and drink producers are just getting on with it, and making a big difference to their local...
2020-01-051h 11Humans of HospitalityCemal Ezel - Founder Change Please - BONUS episodeIs it possible to change the world, simply by changing where you buy your coffee? This was just one of many questions discussed at Alex Chisnall’s Entrepreneurs’ Summit in Bournemouth. It brought together a group of inspirational speakers, including Cemal Ezel, founder of the award-winning social enterprise, Change Please. If you’ve not yet come across Change Please coffee, you soon will. It’s stocked in Sainsbury’s nationwide and it is Virgin Trains’ beverage of choice. If you live in London, Cambridge, Birmingham, Coventry, Manchester or Edinburgh, you might have spotted its distinctive grey carts with...
2020-01-0131 minHumans of HospitalityTom Barton and Philip Eeles - Co Founders of Honest BurgersThere’s a feeling in hospitality that when an independent restaurant is successful and starts replicating itself, it’s in danger of losing its soul – especially when it reaches 20 sites. That’s why I was keen to chat to this weeks guests, the co-founders of Honest Burgers, Tom Barton and Philip Eeles. I’d heard a few times that they are living proof that this doesn’t have to be the case. Regular listeners will know that I am passionate about the little guy, and the humans, rather than the brands of hospitality. So with 36 venues and a team of 7...
2019-12-291h 45Humans of HospitalitySteve Groves - Head Chef of Roux at Parliament SquareWe’re diving deep into the wonderful world of restaurant kitchens this week. Watching this chef’s career take off has been an inspiring experience for me, not least because Steve Groves started his culinary life working by the sea in Dorset, where we shared a town, and even a seafront some time ago. If Steve’s name doesn’t ring an immediate bell, maybe the fact that he was a winner of ‘MasterChef: The Professionals’, will nudge your memory. It also gives you an idea of the exacting standards he works to, and why Michel Roux Jr snapped him up...
2019-12-221h 24Humans of HospitalityRob Wilson - CEO Toast Ale - bread into beer!Imagine buying a fresh loaf of bread, cutting it in two and immediately throwing half of it in the bin. You eat what’s left and then you buy another loaf the next day and do exactly the same thing again. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it – and not something any of us would do deliberately. But, across the world, that is what the human race is doing. OK, it’s not quite half. It’s actually 44%, which is still an eye-watering proportion. 44% of all the bread we produce is not eaten, at all. That is why Toast...
2019-12-151h 39Humans of HospitalityJames Mansfield - Field and Flower - grass fed meat by postJames Mansfield, is a master at learning on the job. When he and James Flower, a friend from agricultural college, decided to set up their meat box business, both of them had to perfect the art of butchery from a standing start. They also had to scale up their culinary skills very rapidly, so they could serve mouth-watering dishes to 2,000 VIP guests at Richard Branson’s V Festival. I was excited to chat to James since with alot of press recently about eating less meat for the sake of planet earth, I was intrigued to explore some issu...
2019-12-081h 14Humans of HospitalityGriff Holland - Co-founder of FriskaGriff Holland, co founder of Friska, epitomises the enthusiasm and energy you all too often find in some of the awesome humans of hospitality. Spending a couple of ours in Griff’s company was an utter pleasure. His level of obsession about just the right amount of avocado that should be any one bite of a sandwich reminded me of why a life of hospitality is so all consuming and almost impossible to nail. So many details to obsess about. One of the great things about setting up a food or drink business is that you have the pe...
2019-12-011h 22Humans of HospitalityGuy Singh-Watson - Riverford Organic FarmersWhen, in the 1990s, Guy Singh-Watson started delivering boxes of organic veg to neighbours and friends, he realised he was onto a winner. People loved the fact that the vegetables tasted great and were grown locally. He probably didn’t realise just how big a winner it was. Today Riverford Organic Farmers supply boxes to between 50 and 60 thousand households a week and have a team of 700. I was very excited to get to speak with Guy since I've read a number of his blogs about the impact of modern farming and monoculture. Guy really brings to life...
2019-11-241h 17Humans of HospitalityThe inspiring Rosalind Rathouse - London Cookery SchoolAt 75 years old, when most people are thinking about taking their foot off the gas, this week’s guest has plans to shake up the school curriculum. Forget ‘Home Economics’ or ‘Food Technology’. Rosalind Rathouse’s vision is to offer every child aged between 5 and 15 the chance to go on an annual week-long intensive cookery course. She believes immersing the younger generation in the delights of baking bread or preparing a roast, would set them up for the rest of their lives – and give them real insight into nutrition and sustainability. Rosalind knows what she’s talking about. Her t...
2019-11-1759 minHumans of HospitalityMatt Grech-Smith - Swingers, The Crazy Golf ClubIf you think ‘pop-up’ is a cheap and cheerful way of testing a business idea, then this week’s guest, Matt Grech-Smith, might just challenge that. Matt is the co-founder of ‘Swingers, The Crazy Golf Club’. Their pop-up covered 7,000 square feet and took the best part of half a million pounds of investment. Luckily, their genius combination of crazy golf, cocktails and street food has led to two even bigger, and permanent sites, in the City and West End of London. New York is next on the list. But, as you’ll hear, Matt and his co-founder Jer...
2019-11-101h 16Humans of HospitalityJennifer Wood - Canton TeaIn the last 15 years, the way we drink coffee has gone through a revolution: from an instant brew in polystyrene cups to beans with known provenance, carefully selected and lovingly roasted. Could tea soon follow in coffee’s footsteps? Yes, if this week’s guest, Jennifer Wood, founder of Canton Tea, has anything to do with it. To build her business, Jennifer has travelled to remote mountainous regions like the ‘wild, wild Yunnan’, where tea bushes live to a thousand years and grow 40 feet high. The tea producers and masters she works with take the ritual of grow...
2019-11-031h 18Humans of HospitalitySteven Lamb - River Cottage - Part TwoIf I say ‘River Cottage’ to you, what comes to mind? Perhaps one of its campaigns: Fish Fight, or Chicken Out or War on Waste. Or maybe you’ve got one of the River Cottage handbooks, diving deep into foodie topics, from cheese to charcuterie. That’s the striking thing about River Cottage and its team: the variety of what they do. What started as a docu-drama, following Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s attempts to set up his own smallholding 20 years ago, has now grown into a cookery and chefs’ school; three award-winning kitchens and the base for amazing banquet-style get...
2019-10-2848 minHumans of HospitalitySteven Lamb - River Cottage - Part OneIf I say ‘River Cottage’ to you, what comes to mind? Perhaps one of its campaigns: Fish Fight, or Chicken Out or War on Waste. Or maybe you’ve got one of the River Cottage handbooks, diving deep into foodie topics, from cheese to charcuterie. That’s the striking thing about River Cottage and its team: the variety of what they do. What started as a docu-drama, following Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s attempts to set up his own smallholding 20 years ago, has now grown into a cookery and chefs’ school; three award-winning kitchens and the base for amazing banquet-style get...
2019-10-2758 minHumans of HospitalityJethro Tenant - The Dorset Sea Salt CompanyOn a massive rock that juts out into the English Channel, there’s a young man who cleverly mimics the salt lakes of the Camargue. Ok, what Jethro Tennant has created in the last two years is actually a mini version of these salt plains: carefully extracting the salt from the pristine water around Dorset’s Chesil Beach, and drying it in artificial heat which is powered by solar, wind and biomass energy. And in just 24 months, demand for his product – Dorset Sea Salt – is growing steadily, from discerning delicatessens, farm shops and restaurants to big names like Selfri...
2019-10-2057 minHumans of HospitalityAlex Kammerling - Founder Kamm & SonsBefore we start, I wanted to let you know that we had a smidgen of a sound problem with this recording, so the audio quality is not where I usually like it to be... but I think the sheer determination of this week's guest will see us through. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, for good reason: the world of food and drink would be a much duller place without the dogged perseverance and amazing palate of people like Alex Kammerling. For around 3 years, the flat he shared became home to countless litt...
2019-10-1353 minHumans of HospitalityMiranda Martin - Independent Hotel Show MIDWEEK BONUS EPISODE - Although this podcast is aimed at anyone who loves food and drink it has a natural slant towards people who work in or around hospitality. And If you listen to these conversations regularly, you’ll have noticed that certain issues keep cropping up. So as well as chatting about these issues, and trying to get people to think about them when choosing where to spend there money, it’s pretty awesome to also be able to give some advice as to how as an industry we work together. One way we do this is to me...
2019-10-0943 minHumans of HospitalityMitch Tonks - Award winning chef, author & TVThis week you meet a champion of the sea and of preparing seafood simply and sustainably. Whether you’ve got one of his cookery books, visited his award-winning Seahorse and Rockfish restaurants or watched him on TV with world class rugby player Matt Dawson, you’ll know that Mitch Tonks is one of the country’s most fervent ambassadors for fish You’ll hear just how fervent, when he talks about the planetary benefits of freezing fish; whether prawns should be on or off the menu and what he’s doing to make sure that the rubbish his trawlerma...
2019-10-061h 00Humans of HospitalityJane and Dave Endean: Mum and Dad’s KitchenA cheeky little mid week bonus episode this week from the lovely Jane and Dave who left the NHS and the MET Police to show hospitality makes a great choice of career change... So, have you heard the one about the nurse, the police officer and the award-winning pies? You’re about to. Dave and Jane’s journey to what they now call ‘Pie Land’ was not conventional. It began when they bought a convenience store in Worcester, thinking it would be a nice retirement project after busy careers in the Met and NHS. But with 600 c...
2019-10-0231 minHumans of HospitalityAndrew Stephen - CEO Sustainable Restaurant AssociationI think it’s fair to say that over the last decade, we’re all trying to do our bit to help the planet. Whether it’s getting rid of single-use plastic or recycling, we know what we should be doing. But actually, there’s one area of our lives that trumps all that effort: what we eat. As you’ll hear in this week’s conversation with Andrew Stephen, the CEO of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, the power of your appetite is phenomenal. As an individual, what you choose to eat, and where and when you choose to eat...
2019-09-291h 11Humans of HospitalityDhara Thompson - Sail Boat ProjectThis week we’re learning about how to move food around planet earth via just the power of the wind. Awesome produce, better for the environment, direct from the producer to the consumer, delivered by the wind. I'm going to take you back in time, when beautiful tall ships criss-crossed the sea to deliver foods we couldn't grow ourselves. You might think I'm describing the 18th or 19th century. Actually, I'm only turning the clock back by a few months, when a former herring logger called The Gallant sailed serenely into Newhaven, with a cargo of olive oil...
2019-09-221h 07Humans of HospitalityMichael Bremner - BBC Great British menu winnerGetting to chat to Michael was awesome, like meeting my brother from another mother. But he has a way cooler accent! I share Michael's views on a great deal of issues around hospitality...not least his thoughts around reviews, tripadvisor and the like. This really was an utterly delightful conversation. You may already know Michael from the BBC's Great British Menu programme. In 2016 he did pretty well, getting to the finals. A year later, he went one better, winning the entire competition and the chance to prepare a banquet for Wimbledon Tennis Club. Actually, Michael Bremn...
2019-09-151h 35Humans of HospitalityTom Foot - Co Founder of the Open Air DairyIn this episode we're going to learn alot about dairy farming, milk and happy cows. Grab a notebook, there is a lot to learn! Tom Foot and Neil Grigg are too humble to say this, but in building up their Open Air Dairy, they've become true pioneers in their industry. What they do is awesome. Cows that live 13 years instead of 3 in intensive farming, less antibiotics, happier cows, happier humans, happier fields, awesome milk and cheese...what they've achieved is exciting for the future of farming. Like many tenant farmers, they didn't have hundreds of th...
2019-09-081h 17Humans of HospitalityKirsty Loveday - Love Drinks - incredible spirit storiesLove Drinks, has two clear strands to it: first, to share the amazing stories behind the spirits portfolio Kirsty has built up since 2007. Whether it’s an organic cachaca or a cold-brew coffee cut with wheat vodka, all the independent brands distributed by Love Drinks are created with dedication and craftsmanship – and they all feed into Kirsty’s philosophy of drinking less and better. The second – Love Well - goes back to when Kirsty was in her early 20s. The late nights and long hours triggered a series of panic attacks and a realisation that she had to look a...
2019-09-0156 minHumans of HospitalityHugo Hardman and Arthur Voelcker - ChalkstreamIn this episode we're going to learn about farmed fish. When Hugo Hardman and Arthur Voelcker launched ChalkStream® in 2015, people tended to dismiss farmed trout as small, bony and muddy; salmon's much poorer cousin. That's why, in the early days, they had to get right in front of chefs, and show them what farmed trout could really become - if it was grown in fast-flowing clear waters that mimic the conditions of the fish's natural habitat: the Test and Itchen chalk stream rivers in Hampshire. As you'll hear, their so-called 'power point presentation' of a framed...
2019-08-2550 minHumans of HospitalityJames Golding - The Pig restaurants with roomsJames Golding’s impressive chef career has come full circle. Yes, he’s worked with some very big names in London and New York. He learned his craft under Anton Edelmann at The Savoy and then moved to Le Caprice, working for Mark Hix. And as Head Chef at Soho House in New York, his team cooked for A list actors, music stars and royalty. But he began his culinary journey in and around the New Forest, foraging for mushrooms with his dad, and getting ‘bored out of his mind’ at Mr Bartlett’s, the butchers, when his parents...
2019-08-181h 13Humans of HospitalitySimon Tolson - Rumsey Holiday Homes Simon Tolson has had his fair share of highs and lows to get to where he is now in hospitality. An early high point was his first paid day as a fisherman. Since the age of 3 he’d wanted to fish and he felt like an astronaut when he stepped onto the deck…. But several years later, now married and with a mortgage, he had to switch careers. He left the sea for a surprisingly different job - selling printers and photocopiers for Pitney Bowes. That led to a new high, because the sales skills Simon de...
2019-08-111h 06Humans of HospitalityMark Hix - Hix RestaurantsIf you decided to open a restaurant that focussed on oysters and meat- on-the bone, you probably wouldn’t have done it in 2008. First there was the financial crisis and credit crunch. Then there was a lingering memory of the meat-on-the-bone ban, triggered by BSE several decades before. Mark Hix’s decision was perhaps all the more surprising because the job he was leaving – Executive Head Chef of Le Caprice restaurant group, which included famous venues like The Ivy and J Sheekey – was the sort of plum role other chefs would give their eye teeth for. But it turned...
2019-08-041h 06Humans of HospitalityPete Joy - Bakehouse 24For someone who had no business plan, but thought he’d be alright because there was a Waitrose round the corner, Pete Joy, at Bakehouse 24 is doing pretty well. Pete’s love of mixing and kneading emerged out of the blue, one night, when his housemates were at band practice. Having the place to himself, he decided not to do a normal thing like ordering Chinese, but to make a cake instead. This wasn’t a one-off: Pete soon developed a serious baking habit, which led to a 3am-to-midday job at a pioneering sourdough bakery under a Hackne...
2019-07-281h 06Humans of HospitalityJason Barber - Black Cow VodkaMy guest this week, Jason Barber, puts it like this: if you’ve been sitting behind a cow for 15 to 20 years, your mind has time to wonder about the best way to use the milk you’re producing. The Barbers are the world’s oldest surviving family of cheddar makers. They’ve been making cheese and producing milk for over 200 years – and up until recently, conventional dairy products had done them proud. But then, in 2012, Jason launched something very different: the world’s first and only vodka to be made entirely out of milk. In the last 7 years s...
2019-07-2148 minHumans of HospitalityGareth Banner - Soho house / Sydell group, The Ned There has never, ever, been anything quite like The Ned in the UK before. Created from the former headquarters of the Midland Bank, in the heart of the City Of London, the Grade I listed building is now home to 10 restaurants, 250 bedrooms, 6 private event spaces, a spa, a gym and a club with over 3000 members… In any given week, 30,000 meals are served on the ground floor alone. As its managing director, Gareth Banner, says modestly, ‘for a single address there are a lot of moving parts….’ Just three years ago, when he was looking through the dust and t...
2019-07-141h 28Humans of HospitalityEmily Davis - Blue Vinny Cheese ‘Unique’ is often misused as a word, but this week you’ll hear about a delicious food product that really is one of a kind. In the early 1980s, dairy farmer Michael Davies resurrected a 300 year-old recipe for Dorset Blue Vinny – a subtly veined cheese which is much more delicate than Stilton, its nearest relative. Nowadays, Michael’s daughter Emily is in charge of production – overseeing the only farm in the world that has the legal right to produce this type of blue cheese. Today you’ll hear how the patient Davies family had to put up with blue mo...
2019-07-071h 03Humans of HospitalityJonathan Downey - Street Feast & Milk & HoneyThe world’s disused car parks, markets and office blocks need Jonathan Downey. In Street Feast he’s taken the idea of street food to a whole new level. At night, what were neglected sites come alive with tantalising smells of pizza, steamed buns, tacos and chicken wings ...along with the buzz of conversation and glowing light boxes of all shapes and sizes. JD's hospitality journey over 20 YEARS is exceptional. Match Bar, Sosho, Milk and Honey, Street Feasts, 2 million visitors a year, Dinerama, Giant Robot, Hawker House...hold on tight...it's quite the adventure! The four...
2019-06-301h 29Humans of HospitalityAlex Aitken - The Jetty & self taught Michelin star chefImagine. You’re about to open your first restaurant to the public. Your wife, who’s front of house, is 8 ½ months pregnant. You’re the chef –and you’ve never cooked professionally before. But you buy a couple of recipe books and some chef whites, and off you go. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Yet this is what Alex Aitken did in 1983. It was the start of a Michelin-starred career which has evolved in incredible ways and is still going strong. Today, Alex is spreading his love of locally sourced food – whether foraged, fished or farmed –through a growing number...
2019-06-231h 23Humans of HospitalityJoy Michaud - Sea Spring SeedsMichael and Joy Michaud at Sea Spring Seeds are chilli growing experts who took the world by surprise one April 1st, when they revealed they’d developed the world’s hottest chilli plant, the Dorset Naga. It wasn’t an April fool, even though it seemed absurd that this world record-breaking chilli had been reared in a lush, damp corner of Dorset, far removed from its original Bangladeshi home. The patience and dedication it takes to develop a unique and world first type of chilli was a real eye opener. The Dorset Naga is just one of many wo...
2019-06-1651 minHumans of HospitalityWilliam Curley - Searcys, Harrods, Claridges +When it comes to chocolatier-patissiers, William Curley is a world-class player. He’s one of only 7 chefs in the UK to have achieved ‘Master of Culinary Arts’. The chance to earn this accolade – which is the culinary equivalent of a Nobel Prize – only comes round every 4 years…and it took William three attempts. Gruelling, as you’ll hear… Perhaps it’s not surprising that William has done so brilliantly. As well as having natural talent, he’s fostered that talent by working with the best, from the moment he became an apprentice at Gleneagles, followed by stints with acclaimed chefs s...
2019-06-091h 12Humans of HospitalitySimon Robinson - Hattingley Sparkling WineBritish wine use to have a reputation, but not one we wanted. Now it's taking on the French at their own game with some of the best sparkling in the world. As chair of Wine GB Simon is the perfect guest to chat to to find out why and how. If you’d said to Simon Robinson in 2008 that his Hattingley Valley vineyards would have the capacity – in a really good year – to produce 580,000 bottles of wine…or that his sparkling rose would be crowned a world champion, he would have said you were crackers. And ye...
2019-06-021h 11Humans of HospitalityMichael Stoates - Stoate & Sons flour Michael Stoate is a fifth generation miller in Dorset, whose family have been producing stoneground flour since 1832. That means he knows a lot about flour. It was the era when sailing ketches would carry the flour across the Severn to Swansea and return with coal for the mills. As a teenager he thought he’d be an engineer but he had so much fun getting his hands dirty in the holidays he couldn’t help but join the family business. In this conversation you’ll learn about the wonder of wheat germ – the embryo of life, which gives bread its gorgeous flavour – and w...
2019-05-2653 minHumans of HospitalityKaren Richards - Capreolus CharcuterieWhen David Richards was made redundant from his sales director role, finding a new one at 50 was very hard. Luckily, he had always loved cooking and smoking cuts of meat in the garden, so when his wife Karen suggested that there might be a business in curing, they gave it a shot. 10 years later their company, Capreolus, has won countless awards for its ever-increasing range of mouth-watering charcuterie and smoked foods, from pancetta and air-dried pork loin to the magnificently named Rampisham Tingler Salami. In this edition you’ll discover why it’s so important to g...
2019-05-191h 01Humans of HospitalityNick Leach - Fellow of the Institute of HospitalityIn terms of career variety, I doubt if many can match Nick Leach’s 4 decades in hospitality. One of his first jobs was working as the King of Saudi Arabia’s personal chef on a £9 million motor yacht. After that he found himself ‘catering to excess’, for merchant bankers in London, where £25,000 a week was set aside for caviar alone – served in huge swan ice carvings. This was in stark contrast to his next role as General Manager at Kings College Hospital, where his daily budget per patient was £1.76 – and that had to cover 7 hot drinks a day, in addition...
2019-05-121h 15Humans of HospitalityCeri Cryer - Brinkworth DairyIn 1910 Ceri Cryer’s great-grandfather established the country’s first ever pedigree Friesian herd of cows, in a beautiful corner of Wiltshire. A hundred years later, Ceri is doing her family’s farming history proud: the Friesian descendants produce the milk which Ceri turns into award-winning cheeses – from the traditional Wiltshire Loaf to newcomers, such as the oozilyunctiuous Royal Bassett Blue. In this conversation we discover where Wiltshire cheeses feature in Jane Austin’s novels…and how each batch of Ceri’s cheese is influenced by a mind-blowing number of factors, starting from the herbs her cows nibble...
2019-05-051h 04Humans of HospitalityNick and Tom - Barefaced BrewingTravel is what makes Barefaced Brewing tick: Nick Horne and Tom Cooper have been friends since they were 3. But in their 20s they were working in bars and breweries at opposite sides of the world – Tom in Edinburgh, Nick in Sydney. When Tom sent a Facebook message saying he was really keen to set up an indie brewery, Nick flew across the globe a few days later, rocked up in the bar where Tom was working and said, ‘Let’s do it’. And they have. They choose their hops not only for their distinctive taste but because they conjur...
2019-04-281h 02Humans of HospitalityJames Whetlor - Cabrito GoatsCabrito’s mission is to put all billy goats born in to the dairy industry into the meat industry. Ex-chef James Whetlor knew he could something about the plight of the male billy goats, who are historically euthanised at birth in the dairy industry. James realised that goat meat had potential when his roast goat leg with lentils, salsa verde and chive flowers flew off the menu at the River Cottage Canteen around 8 years ago. Soon after, James sold his first kids to one of the Great British Chefs, Jeremy Lee at Quo Vadis. Since then his custom...
2019-04-221h 21Humans of HospitalityEmma Goss-Custard - HoneybunsFor Emma Goss-Custard, baking without flour came naturally to her as a student in the 90s. She much preferred the luxurious texture and taste of cakes made from ground almonds and polenta. And she kept going – even when well-meaning friends said her approach of replacing wheat with premium ingredients would never work. People wanted cheap cakes with a long shelf-life, didn’t they? Luckily, her friends were wrong. In this conversation you’ll hear how Emma managed to win over customers like John Lewis and Harvey Nichols early on in her business career… and how, 20 years on, her gluten-fr...
2019-04-141h 09Humans of HospitalityOli Perron - Lunch'dOli Perron, founder of Lunch’d, which delivers beautifully put-together salads, stroganoffs, stir-fries and more to your office…. Zingy, punchy flavours packed into a handy box. Hear how the early days were, in his words, ‘a bit of a car crash’, preparing 65 lunches in the kitchen which he shared with his long-suffering flatmate, Tom… AND he was having problems paying the rent. Find out how he survived that car crash: he’s now successfully delivered 24,000 lunches. He is confident that people love his food enough to subscribe to his lunchboxes… and that he can give Uber Eats and Deliveroo a run for their
2019-04-071h 13Humans of HospitalityClaire Burnet - ChococoTeenage memories of choosing individual mouth-watering chocolates in Belgium, France and Holland are behind Claire Burnet’s jokey suggestion that she and her husband Andy leave their London jobs and make chocolates in Dorset instead. Soon after, they’d converted a small hairdressing salon in Swanage into a chocolate kitchen, complete with viewing window… and a tiny shop upstairs. Yes, that’s right: upstairs! It was 2002, and Chococo found itself in the vanguard of pioneering chocolate makers: only using fresh ingredients from local producers and sourcing chocolate with a clear provenance from countries like Madagascar, Venezuela...
2019-03-311h 21Humans of HospitalityGiles Henschel - Olives Et AlWhen Giles and his wife Annie took a late gap year and went on a 38,000 mile motorbike trip round the Mediterranean basin, they had no idea it would be the start of a successful business. 26 years later, Olives Et Al has created 400 products and they still use recipes given to them by the families they met on that original trip: generations of history that span 6000 years, harvesting olives from trees that are two and a half thousand years old. As we chat you’ll discover why it’s a good idea not to tick off a cu...
2019-03-241h 20Humans of HospitalityJimmy Cregan - Jimmy's Iced CoffeeFind out why looking at a builder’s backside was the catalyst that led to Jimmy's version of iced coffee, now stocked in pretty much every UK supermarket… and with its sights set much further afield, including Ireland, Sweden and Dubai. Hear the crazy things Jimmy does to spread the word about his drink, including talking to audiences of 300, dressed as a carton… and orchestrating what’s known as a ‘massive activation’ at a mainline railway station. (Sounds like a security alert, but actually it’s a neat way to promote your products). Find out how he felt about stepping away fr...
2019-03-171h 02Humans of HospitalityHumans of Hospitality TrailerIn this trailer Mark Cribb, your host, introduces the concept of Humans of Hospitality, why he's set it up, a few sample clips from guests, what he's hoping to achieve from these conversations and even why a pineapple is in the logo. It's a great place to start before diving into an episode.
2019-02-0406 min
Screw It Just DO It with Alex ChisnallIgnorance, Bullshitters and Thieves with Urban Guild's Mark Cribb"We get to November, we lose £24k in 30 days and I'm like "holy shit". I've been flying by the seat of my pants, investing more money than we've got. I've been blagging the bank to give me more money, and now we're losing nearly £1k per day going into the winter. And I've got a big team of chefs, two venues to run and genuinely shitting myself at this point. Maybe the bank were right, maybe I shouldn't have blagged and pushed this. It's lucky I didn't get into drugs..because I got into business and I got addicted to...
2017-11-1542 min