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 hospitality event, with hosted walks across the UK, people taking part their own way, thousands of walkers and more than half a million pounds raised for Hospitality Action.

For this special edition of Hospitality Meets, Craig and Sean join me to tell the story behind it.

We Cover

• How Walk for Well being began during the pandemic
• Why walking became the obvious way to reconnect hospitality
• Getting spectacularly lost while mapping the original London route
• Starting with around 20 people on the South Bank
• Growing from three locations to more than a dozen
• Why the event was eventually gifted to Hospitality Action
• The magic of bringing every level of hospitality together
• Walking for your physical and mental well being
• Why your dog’s name is easier to remember than its owner’s
• Wearing a superhero cape for 20km
• Charlie Hodson taking Walk It Your Own Way to another level
• Hospitality’s remarkable ability to pull things together at the last minute
• The moment the event passed £500,000 raised
• Sean destroying Craig’s carefully designed logos in PowerPoint
• Why they are, remarkably, still friends
• And why connection matters just as much as fundraising

Quotables

“Walking is the way forward.”

“You don’t know their name, but you’ll always know their dog’s name.”

“People do show up and do what they can.”

“For me it’s connection, community and giving back.”

Final Observation

Walk for Wellbeing started with two people deciding that, during an extraordinarily difficult moment, hospitality needed something that brought people together.

Not a race.

Not something to win.

Just a reason to get outside, walk alongside somebody else, talk and perhaps feel slightly better than you did when you started.

Seven years later, the scale has changed enormously.

The principle really hasn’t.

Look after yourself.

Look after the person walking beside you.

And when you’re able to, give something back.

Which feels like a pretty good note for Hospitality Meets to head into a little break on.

Although ideally without ending up in somebody’s garden.

Show Partner

A big shout out to today’s show partner, RotaCloud — the people management platform built specifically for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from one simple, web-based app.

It also makes life easier for teams, allowing staff to check rotas, request holiday, and pick up extra shifts directly from their phones.

To find out more, head to RotaCloud

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

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 appearances, a hospitality pantomime and, eventually, a social enterprise built around cake.

Which is quite some journey from “I’m not really sure what I want to do.”

Neel is somebody who repeatedly comes back to one deceptively simple idea:

If something matters to you, try it.

We Cover

• Discovering hospitality almost accidentally at 16
• Applying for exactly one gap-year job — Walt Disney World
• Learning from Disney culture and wanting to be part of it
• Having a five-year Disney management opportunity disappear after 9/11
• Taking 18 months out to travel and rethink life
• Joining the family business “for a year” — and staying for around 15
• Why family businesses are rarely as easy as outsiders assume
• Being effectively railroaded into his first chair role at 26
• Turning a deeply painful family experience into a drive to improve food and drink in care
• Helping champion safer texture-modified food
• Almost turning down national leadership because he feared public speaking
• Going from media training to appearing on BBC News within weeks
• Getting comprehensively outside his comfort zone in a hospitality pantomime
• Taking one weekend every month completely offline
• Creating Cake for Kindness
• Why a piece of cake can mean far more than simply something to eat

Quotables

“If you don’t try, you never know.”

“Sometimes we need to stop looking at everyone else and start looking at ourselves.”

“There’s always time. Always time.”

“It’s better to do something and get it wrong than not do it at all.”

“It’s not just about giving them a cake.”

Final Observation

There are several moments in Neel’s story where the obvious route disappeared.

Disney didn’t happen as planned. A temporary move into the family business became a major part of his career. A role he initially didn’t want ultimately gave him an opportunity to fight for something deeply personal. A fear of public speaking eventually led to national television — and, somehow, a pantomime.

The common denominator is that Neel kept participating.

Kept trying.

Kept saying yes when it mattered.

And today, through Cake for Kindness, that same instinct has become beautifully simple: bring people together, make something with care and use it to make another human being smile.

Sometimes hospitality really can be as simple as being present.

And occasionally bringing cake.

Show Partner

A big shout out to today’s show partner, RotaCloud — the people management platform built specifically for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from one simple, web-based app.

It also makes life easier for teams, allowing staff to check rotas, request holiday, and pick up extra shifts directly from their phones.

To find out more, head to RotaCloud

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

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 The Wine Cellar at just 25, after abandoning the traditional university route, turning down an apprenticeship with a space company and throwing himself into hospitality instead.

Four years and more than 50,000 guests later, the doors are still very much open (despite one Facebook critic confidently declaring that “wine bars are so eighties” and would never work)

We Cover

• Why hospitality is an industry that finds you
• Turning down a career in the space industry for pubs, hotels and wine
• Building The Wine Cellar in just six weeks
• Not sleeping for six days before opening
• Launching a business at 25 and learning to ignore the noise
• The customer who asked Bradley to sort out her 26-year-old son
• Naming his daughter Margaux after Château Margaux - and attempting to make her tax deductible
• Drinking £250 wine with a dirty kebab at 2am
• Why genuine hospitality is about far more than service
• Imposter syndrome and remembering that you earned your place in the room
• Facebook’s Tony and his prediction that wine bars would never work
• Weddings, night porters and unexplained happenings at Chilston Park
• Why Bradley believes hospitality should be taken seriously as a career

Quotables

“Hospitality is an industry that finds you. You don’t necessarily find it.”

“This is hospitality. I can’t explain it any more than this.”

“I think it kind of almost makes her tax deductible as well, which is quite nice.”

“Wine bars are so eighties. Never gonna work.”

“You’re only as good as your last service. You’re only as good as your last glass of wine you poured.”

Final Observation

For all the entrepreneurial drive in Bradley’s story, the thing that comes through most strongly is how much he simply loves hospitality.

The people. The stories. The late nights. The community. The ridiculous moments that become memories years later.

Near the end of the conversation, Bradley sums it up better than we possibly could:

Hospitality makes memories, happiness, laughter, conversation and friendships.

Sometimes it also makes a £250 bottle of wine taste perfectly appropriate alongside a dirty kebab.

And frankly, we’re completely on board with that.

Show Partner

A big shout out to today’s show partner, RotaCloud — the people management platform built specifically for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from one simple, web-based app.

It also makes life easier for teams, allowing staff to check rotas, request holiday, and pick up extra shifts directly from their phones.

To find out more, head to RotaCloud

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

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 orders, make reservations and generally allow the humans inside the restaurant to concentrate on the humans standing in front of them.

Today it handles millions of calls across more than 1,500 customers.

The journey there has involved manually checking restaurant orders, walking around a zoo carrying three phones, personally buying customers’ food when the AI got something wrong and discovering that even the best sales process in the world is powerless against Mercury being in retrograde.

We Cover

• Growing up working in restaurants
• Building startups before any of them actually worked
• Why modern AI has dramatically lowered the barrier to creating software
• The difference between an impressive AI demo and technology a restaurant can genuinely rely on
• Why Loman.AI tackled the difficult problem of order taking first
• Walking around a zoo monitoring restaurant orders on multiple phones
• Personally paying for customer meals when the early technology got things wrong
• The restaurant owner who finally got to take his children trick or treating
• Why Christian still personally gets involved in customer support
• Whether customers actually care if they are speaking to AI
• Hospitality as an innovation frontier rather than a legacy industry
• And the customer who refused to make a business decision because Mercury was in retrograde

Quotables

“We ripped the phone out of the wall so many times.”

“There’s never been an easier time to build a company.”

“I used to check all of the orders myself.”

“I haven’t been able to go take the kids trick or treating… I was able to do that this year because the phones were handled.”

“I’m definitely interested, but I’m not making any business decisions because Mercury is in retrograde.”

Final Observation

For all the conversation about AI, models, integrations and automation, the most powerful moment in this episode is surprisingly human.

A restaurant owner gets Halloween back with his children because technology took one persistent source of operational pressure away.

That feels like the interesting promise of restaurant technology when it is done properly.

Not replacing hospitality.

Not removing people.

Removing enough of the noise that those people have more time to actually provide it.

Although apparently even artificial intelligence cannot yet overcome the gravitational influence of Mercury.

Show Partner

A big shout out to today’s show partner, RotaCloud — the people management platform built specifically for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from one simple, web-based app.

It also makes life easier for teams, allowing staff to check rotas, request holiday, and pick up extra shifts directly from their phones.

To find out more, head to RotaCloud

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

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 without noticing.

Eventually, Hannah returned to Manchester with plans for her own hostel, including the uniforms, interiors and complete guest experience.

There was just one minor omission.

A business plan.

Today, she is the founder of The Yellow Group, helping hospitality businesses align their people strategy with their plans for growth - while also building AI tools, employing a virtual non-executive director called Simon and developing a highly influential golf account with nearly 400 followers.

We Cover

• Following that boy to Thailand - and outlasting the relationship by nearly two years
• Travel
• Designing an entire hostel before learning how to operate one
• The leader who asked Hannah one simple, career-changing question
• Why promoting somebody is pointless unless you also build the support around them
• The difference between holding a leadership title and actually leading
• Why hospitality develops skills that transfer far beyond operations
• Being told she was “not very good with data”
• How AI removed the barrier between Hannah and the story inside the numbers
• Creating Simon, her AI non-executive director
• Building The Yellow Group as a collaborative people consultancy
• Becoming a professional golfer and part-time influencer

Quotables

“I did follow a boy.”

“I had everything, honestly. It was everything but a business plan.”

“At one point I realised I was wearing flip-flops - the two left feet ones.”

“There are managers, and there are people who are leaders by job role. But an actual leader? They’re not common.”

“I am the funniest thing that happens to me.”

Final Observation

Hannah describes her career as a winding journey, but there is a wonderfully clear thread running through it.

Travel taught her to understand people. Hospitality taught her to support them. One excellent leader noticed what she did naturally and gave her the structure to build a career around it.

Now, Hannah is doing the same for businesses: finding the gaps between what they want to achieve and what their people actually need to succeed.

She may not believe in five-year plans, but she has built something far more useful - curiosity, adaptability and an apparently endless willingness to try the next interesting thing.

Even when that thing is golf.

Show Partner

A big shout out to today’s show partner, RotaCloud — the people management platform built specifically for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from one simple, web-based app.

It also makes life easier for teams, allowing staff to check rotas, request holiday, and pick up extra shifts directly from their phones.

To find out more, head to RotaCloud

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

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, disappearing investors and a last piece of finance arriving one day before the deadline to become real.

Then came opening week.

It was, by Eirini’s own account, chaos and in fact her words before we started the chat - "I don't even know where to start"

But amidst the chaos, It was also the beginning of something rather special.

We Cover

• Falling into hospitality while studying in Edinburgh
• Leaving the industry for corporate HR, and missing its energy
• Combining one family’s very different skills
• Trying repeatedly to secure the money to open Nectar
• Receiving the final finance one day before the deadline
• Protecting a family relationship while building a family business
• The danger of expecting people to know when you need help
• Opening a restaurant without a working fryer or grill
• Asking neighbouring businesses whether they had seen your bins
• Why honesty during a disaster can build customer loyalty
• Reaching more than 300 five star reviews in the first year
• Creating a restaurant that feels less like a venue and more like home

Quotables

“We were living it without actually knowing if it was going to work out.”

“People don’t know what’s in your head, funny enough. Unless you tell them.”

“You told me there’s no food, but I can have alcohol.”

“I didn’t know our bins were going to fly away.”

“The things that feel like big setbacks in the moment are quite often the things that shape you the most.”

Final Observation

There is a polished version of entrepreneurship in which somebody has a brilliant idea, raises the money, opens the doors and confidently begins building an empire.

This is not that story.

This is four people repeatedly questioning whether they should continue, learning how not to destroy their family under pressure, opening without the ability to serve food and searching the streets of Edinburgh for wind assisted bins.

But it is also a story about what happens when people keep choosing the thing they believe in.

Almost one year later, Nectar has become exactly what the family hoped it might be: warm, imperfect, honest and full of people who keep coming back.

Hopefully, by the time Phil visits, it will also have food.

Show Partner

A big shout out to today’s show partner, RotaCloud - the people management platform built specifically for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from one simple, web-based app.

It also makes life easier for teams, allowing staff to check rotas, request holiday, and pick up extra shifts directly from their phones.

To find out more, head to RotaCloud

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

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 good material during an hour-long pre-podcast chat, the conversation explores accidental entrepreneurship, yellow energy and the value of making decisions before certainty finally arrives.

Chris also invents the word “Un-Starbucks-ise,” reveals why his university time resulted in an actual legal threat and casually announces that he would eventually like to create a hotel brand.

Naturally, we made a note of that.

We Cover

• Why every Uncommon building looks different but somehow feels the same
• Recognising an office by its smell
• The university business that nearly earned Chris an institutional ASBO
• Being sued over the name Stash Monkey
• Why your dream investor should not receive your first-ever pitch
• Making decisions when you are only 51% certain
• The joy and danger of filling a business with yellow energy people
• Why a company is a team rather than a family
• Learning to manage the energy you bring into a room
• The hospitality stories that definitely cannot be shared publicly
• Saunas, ice baths and Chris’s future hotel ambitions

Quotables

“People need to think of time as a resource.”

“You kind of don’t want your best shot to be your first one.”

“We’re a team. We’re not a family.”

“People can be odd.”

“I like doing, in my personal life, as many reckless things as possible because I think it makes me feel alive.”

Final Observation

Uncommon began as a happy accident: a residential development that failed at planning and became an experiment in creating somewhere people might actually enjoy working.

But what followed was not accidental.

It took uncomfortable calls, imperfect pitches, wrong decisions, difficult conversations and a willingness to move while only 51% certain.

The result is a growing business with five distinctive locations, a strong hospitality instinct and an office brand that Phil can apparently identify with his nose before he has even reached reception.

Which is either excellent branding or the beginning of a very niche superpower.

Show Partner

A big shout out to today’s show partner, RotaCloud — the people management platform built specifically for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from one simple, web-based app.

It also makes life easier for teams, allowing staff to check rotas, request holiday, and pick up extra shifts directly from their phones.

To find out more, head to RotaCloud

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

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 about "Chatty McChatface", philosophical debates about trust, and the bizarre reality that I was interviewing... well... nobody sitting opposite me... we found ourselves exploring one of the biggest questions of our generation.

Not what AI is.

But what it means for us.

Along the way we laughed, challenged each other, questioned what intelligence really means, and even discovered a brand new phrase...

"Digital adulthood."

Who knew?

In this episode we get into...

• Why the journey to AI actually began over 70 years ago.
• How a conversation about technology somehow became a conversation about humanity.
• Whether AI really has a sense of humour... or is just borrowing ours.
• Why trust is something AI should earn, not expect.
• The famous AI stories that went hilariously wrong (including the tank that turned out to be a cloud detector).
• Why AI isn't replacing thinking... but can become a brilliant thinking partner.
• What should genuinely concern us about AI... and what probably shouldn't.
• Whether Chatty McChatface is actually a respectable stage name.

(We're still undecided.)

Some cracking moments...

"I've processed billions of words... and somehow that's the nickname I end up with.""I'd rather earn your trust question by question than ask for blind faith.""Think of me as a very well-stocked library that talks back.""The future isn't AI becoming human... it's humans getting better with AI.""I said I don't have an ego... I didn't say I don't have standards."

Why this episode is worth your ears

This isn't an episode about technology.

It's an episode about curiosity.

About asking awkward questions.

About challenging assumptions.

About discovering that one of the most interesting conversations you can have about artificial intelligence is actually a conversation about... being human.

And yes...

I genuinely laughed far more than I expected to while interviewing something that technically doesn't laugh back.

Join the conversation

If you had one hour with an intelligence that knew a huge amount about the world...

...what would you ask?

Send me your questions.

Because this is only the beginning.

The AI Files are officially open.

Show Partner

A big shout out to today’s show partner, RotaCloud — the people management platform built specifically for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from one simple, web-based app.

It also makes life easier for teams, allowing staff to check rotas, request holiday, and pick up extra shifts directly from their phones.

To find out more, head to RotaCloud

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

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 Cordon Bleu cooking, before joining the legendary Savoy Group management programme with dreams of becoming a chef.

Fast forward a few decades and that journey has taken him across four continents, some of the world's finest luxury hotels, and into leadership roles that have tested not only his skills, but his character.

In this episode we chat about:

• Why becoming a chef wasn't quite what he imagined
• Life on the legendary Savoy Group management programme
• Why everyone should spend time working night shifts
• Hospitality practical jokes, from soufflé pumps to spaghetti drying lines
• Running luxury events in Palm Beach
• Launching rooftop bars in New York
• Building a career across Beijing, Japan and Hong Kong
• Opening luxury hotels around the world
• Why choosing the right owners matters just as much as choosing the right company
• The role mentors have played throughout his career
• The unforgettable Easter egg hunt that was nearly destroyed by one very determined gardener
• Standing up for his team, even when it meant challenging someone incredibly powerful

Along the way we explore curiosity, leadership, resilience, culture, integrity and why some of life's greatest opportunities arrive wrapped up in uncertainty.

Of course, this episode is packed with the sort of stories that make Hospitality Meets... well... Hospitality Meets.

There's the night a woman was caught slipping business cards under hotel bedroom doors, leading to an unforgettable chase through the corridors... before Rory found himself lying flat on the carpet with a ruler and some sticky tape trying to retrieve every last card before guests woke up.

Then there's the Easter egg hunt.

Honestly... you'll never look at an Easter egg hunt in quite the same way again.

But beneath the laughter are some brilliant lessons too.

💭 "Take the opportunity when it comes."

💭 "You work for good owners."

💭 "Take your job seriously... but don't take yourself too seriously."

And perhaps the most powerful takeaway of all:

💭 "You look after your team."

Whether that's standing by your colleagues in difficult moments, embracing new cultures, or moving halfway around the world because an opportunity feels right, Rory's story is a wonderful reminder that great careers aren't always carefully mapped out.

Sometimes they're built through curiosity.

Sometimes through courage.

And occasionally...

Through surviving an angry gardener.

Funny, thoughtful and packed with wonderful stories from one of hospitality's true gentlemen.

Enjoy.

Show Partner

A big shout out to today’s show partner, RotaCloud — the people management platform built specifically for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from one simple, web-based app.

It also makes life easier for teams, allowing staff to check rotas, request holiday, and pick up extra shifts directly from their phones.

To find out more, head to RotaCloud

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

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 than 17,000 members, overseeing record membership growth, driving the Institute's Charter ambition, and helping shape the future of our industry.

It's amazing what can happen in six years.

In this episode we chat about:

• The leap from hotel General Manager to CEO
• Leading an organisation through unprecedented change
• Why the Institute is experiencing its strongest membership growth in years
• Championing professional development across hospitality
• The Youth Council and why the next generation matters more than ever
• The journey towards Chartered status
• Learning to overcome imposter syndrome and the fear of public speaking
• The stories we tell ourselves... and how they can hold us back
• Why leadership is about stewardship, not ownership
• The power (and pitfalls) of social media
• Building organisations where people genuinely feel they belong

Along the way we explore leadership, confidence, legacy, positivity, personal growth and why hospitality remains one of the greatest industries in the world for developing people.

Of course, this wouldn't be Hospitality Meets without a few memorable stories...

🤣 Accidentally being announced as the new CEO while being tagged as a completely different organisation on social media.

🤣 Rehearsing every speech exactly seven times before stepping onto a stage.

🤣 Seriously considering quitting on the morning of his first major keynote... before discovering the world didn't end after all.

And perhaps the most powerful moments of the conversation come when Robert steps away from the role of CEO and shares the experiences that have shaped him personally.

From the fear of receiving an urgent cancer referral that thankfully proved to be a false alarm, to speaking openly about the reality of living through an eight-year stalking ordeal, it's an honest reminder that leadership doesn't make us immune from life's challenges.

If anything, it simply means learning how to keep showing up in spite of them.

There are also some wonderful takeaways throughout the episode:

💭 "No one develops from a place of comfort."

💭 "You will always get an answer. You might not like the answer, but you'll always get an answer."

💭 "It's so easy to be positive and so lazy to be negative."

💭 "Be the voice for positivity."

More than anything, this is a conversation about growth.

Growth as a leader.

Growth as an organisation.

Growth as a person.

Six years ago, Robert joined me as a hotel General Manager.

Today, he returns leading one of hospitality's most respected organisations.

It's a wonderful reminder that careers aren't built overnight—they're built one opportunity, one uncomfortable moment, and one conversation at a time.

A thoughtful, honest and uplifting conversation with someone who continues to lead with humility, purpose and positivity.

Enjoy

Show Partner

A big shout out to today’s show partner, RotaCloud — the people management platform built specifically for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from one simple, web-based app.

It also makes life easier for teams, allowing staff to check rotas, request holiday, and pick up extra shifts directly from their phones.

To find out more, head to RotaCloud

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy