Subjects: The freedom to be themselves, UK productivity, thinking differently about staffing can rejuvenate the industry, embracing data – a glimpse into the future of hospitality

My mum’s childhood was lived through the lens of poverty. Her dad was a heavy drinker, leaving as little money as he could on the mantelpiece every week for housekeeping and then drinking the rest away. My grandma secretly worked as a cleaner to earn more money to feed her three children. It was never enough. My mum bought the first pair of shoes that were hers, and not hand-me-downs from her sister, when she went to work at 14.



She tried so hard during that time not to show the signs of poverty. “Keeping up appearances” became a way of life to avoid stigma. This carried through to my upbringing. I conformed. “What will people think?” was a refrain in our house if I ever wore anything vaguely different. She didn’t want anyone to pass any negative judgement on me or our family. This fear (because that what is it was) was part of her DNA, but I didn’t want it to be part of mine. I never wanted to say that to my children. Ever.



She wasn’t alone. Many families who experienced poverty then (and maybe those who live through it now) may have felt the same – and there were a lot of families in the 1930s with drinkers in them. Or gamblers, like my dad’s father. Or simply those who couldn’t work for whatever reason. There was no safety net.



Her story came to mind over the weekend when talking to my daughter (30) and my son’s girlfriend (31). Their whole view of life is so very different to that of my mum. They don’t judge others, starting from the position that how anyone wants to be, dress or wear their hair is none of their business. It’s got absolutely nothing to do with them. They value everyone’s freedom to be who and what they want to be, and to do what they want to do. They don’t expect anyone to judge them either. It’s so refreshing, honest, caring – liberating even – to hear them talk about what matters to them.



These people are our customers. These people are our teams. It’s incredibly important for us to appreciate these attitudes, and many operators I know absolutely do. They understand the deep impact this generation (and others following after them) should have on site design in terms of customer freedom and flexibility; on how they recruit, train and inspire their teams; on menu design and content; on service style and other brand considerations.



This struck me with force last night when I went to a newly opened Ego just outside Woburn (a great experience, by the way). It was a young team, certainly younger than my daughter, all dressed in the same uniform and all working to the same operating standards. They were professional and courteous.



What was a delight though was seeing their personalities coming through so strongly when they came to the table – great touches of humour, a mischievous comment here and there, and a cheeky but professional relationship with us. Of course, they followed their brand rules of guest service, but the brand had given them the freedom to be themselves.



“Recruit for personality and train for skills” has always been something of a mantra for our sector. It feels to me that this is going to be even more critical going forward if we want to attract those who don’t judge others and don’t want to be judged themselves.



Those brands that actually develop their service proposition into a positive market differentiator based on these views and allow their teams to be themselves in front of guests will be successful going forward.

I used to think that Caravan, Yummy, Drake & Morgan and Dishoom (along with others) were among the brands that seem to do this really well. I would now add Ego to this list.

There are a few causes of the lack of improvement in UK productivity. Some research cites a lack of investment. Other research released recently suggests that working from home causes an 18% dip in productivity. 

We can’t afford to increase staff wages any higher, and our staff can’t make a return to a workplace they never left. So, what is it specifically that impacts productivity in our industry?

Productivity is driven in two parts: motivation and engagement and, secondly, deployment. In any case, we can expect that when people are under too much pressure, service levels drop. That’s where technology comes in.

Every hour of labour has a cost, but often it does not deliver the same return in sales. Over the years, a lot of industry tech has worked towards rectifying this. 

The biggest changes to technology have been payment processes. Tapping a credit card is so much faster than changing cash. Self-ordering has also had a major impact, with lots more to come in this area, I suspect.

Kitchen technology has changed less. The obvious move to using specialist machines to do the bulk of kitchen work has to be balanced against the loss of quality. 

It is early stages, but these innovations will take work out in bigger establishments over time. Work-reducing developments have led to a theoretical 10% improvement in productivity. But here, the rubber meets the road. 

If you only have three people on a shift, then a 10% improvement in productivity doesn’t allow you to save a team member, so no actual productivity is made because you’re not getting more done for less cost. It merely makes the job easier for the member of staff. 

How much can a team member deliver? Has it gone up as a result of technological improvements, or has it gone down because we can’t expect our teams to work as hard as we once did? 

The truth is if we put our people under too much pressure, then service levels drop. We fail to serve people at the bar fast enough; we fail to offer a second drink; we fail to get the bill down fast enough and turn the table; and most importantly, we fail to say goodbye.

Shift productivity can be boosted by 25% with effective deployment. It’s about telling your team when you need them, where you need them and what you need them doing. The rest will follow: great guest experience, upselling, improved team engagement and increased revenue.

So, there’s a real skill there, which is not asking our teams to work under pressure, but to match supply and demand as well as we can and help make our teams happy, fulfilled and productive. That is when they work at their best.

This week marks the five-year anniversary of Only A Pavement Away. Since the charity’s founding, my perception of what we are capable of achieving has changed significantly. However, over this period, I’ve also observed how the industry has changed in its approach to staffing and better business practices, and I’m delighted by the role Only A Pavement Away has, and will continue to play, in driving this change. 

For those who don’t know, Only A Pavement Away was founded by my wife Gill and I in 2018, when after a night out in London (and a couple of wines), walking along The Strand, we were shocked by the number of rough sleepers on the streets. When Gill said that someone needs to do something to help these people, I mentioned that the hospitality industry consistently struggles for staff.

This felt like such a natural solution. We set up Only a Pavement Away with the mission to connect forward thinking employers in the hospitality industry and charities working with people facing or experiencing homelessness, prison leavers and veterans; to help place them into long term, stable employment within hospitality.

I must confess, when we founded Only A Pavement Away, I thought placing just a couple of people into work would be a huge success. To date, we’ve got 405 people into work, with many of our members approaching four-year, three-year and two-year tenures in the businesses we’ve placed them in. Our ambition moving forward is to get 9,250 members into work by the end of 2028.

“Why has the Only A Pavement Away model worked?” I often ask myself, and I think primarily it’s because we do what it says on the tin. Ours is an approach that does good, but also makes sense commercially, both for the hospitality industry and for the wider economy. Homelessness is an issue people want to help with, but it needs to work from a business perspective, and often people don’t know how to help. What differentiates us from other initiatives is we work simply in a complex arena. 

The charity also works in part, I think, thanks to how the industry has evolved its position on purpose, in response to a more engaged and informed customer base. If you’re going to take up a cause in a way that comes across as sincere and drives cut through with consumers, it needs to be at the heart of everything you do. The very nature of Only A Pavement Away means that businesses can adopt a holistic corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy when working with us.  

All our partners, be it an operator, a referral charity or financial supporter, help to move us forward. Many of our supporters and sponsors who can work with us in a really joined up way by not only providing generous funding, but also working with us as an employer partner or by supporting with initiatives such as our one-week “Passport-2-Employment” programme, which fast-tracks a great many of our members into long-term employment.

It is an approach that really helps with buy-in from staff throughout these businesses – if the kitchen porter who you love to be on shift with was homeless three months ago and came through Only A Pavement Away, you’re going to be behind the business supporting Only A Pavement Away more than a charity that feels disconnected from your place of work. 

The final reason I believe businesses are increasingly wanting to work with us is we’re solving a real need. We’re never going to solve the staffing crisis alone, but we’ve seen operators have to pay big fees to recruit, particularly for back of house, with some opting to pay vast sums to sponsor chefs from abroad to take up roles. We can reduce this pressure; we’ve seen members we place in roles statistically stay longer than the industry average, and our job board is free to use. 

This is my 50th anniversary in hospitality and leisure and it has always been an industry of great diversity and meritocracy. When I started 50 years ago, we had eight different nationalities working in my Schooner Inn. This included George the pot wash, who lost his teeth every Saturday night in the dishwasher but was a key member of the team. No George, no clean plates. 

However, I don’t think I’ve ever known the conversation around hiring from alternate talent pools to be so loud, and I think that’s really exciting. Whether it’s older people, people suffering from a physical disability, people who are neurologically diverse or people facing homelessness, there are so many people in the UK eager and able to work, as long as they receive tailored support before and during their employment.

That’s the piece Only A Pavement Away and other initiatives can provide. Pulling from these alternative talent pools can help hospitality businesses financially and make the industry an even more enjoyable and aspirational place to work. I firmly believe this approach to staffing will increasingly form an important part of operators’ people and CSR strategies, and those who aren’t looking at it yet may get left behind. 

As I recently strolled through the bustling trade shows of Lunch! and Casual Dining, engaging with industry leaders and absorbing their insights, one overarching theme became crystal clear: the future of hospitality is destined to be data-led.

 

Reflecting on the journey of Pizza Pilgrims co-founders Thom and James Elliott, I couldn’t help but appreciate their perspective on their early days as street food vendors. They experienced an immediate feedback loop, witnessing the direct impact of their product offerings on customer preferences through sales numbers – a form of raw, tangible data. It was a vital tool during their humble beginnings.

 

Yet, as hospitality businesses expand and evolve, a new kind of data becomes essential. Beyond immediate feedback, they require insights that guide them to make informed decisions, whether it’s pinpointing optimal locations for new sites, formulating precise pricing strategies or assessing their performance within the broader market context. Quality data is the compass that guides these critical decisions, and it’s a resource that’s been in short supply in the UK hospitality sector for years. However, the winds of change are blowing.

 

Advancements in technology such as the availability of card spending insights and market pricing data are finally bridging the data gap in the hospitality sector. This newfound access to valuable information is a game-changer, but it’s crucial to understand that data alone cannot solve every challenge in this industry. Hospitality remains, at its core, a people-centric business.

 

James Elliott’s story of building a life-size pink flamingo with soft-serve ice cream on its back for Pizza Pilgrims’ Leeds opening serves as a delightful reminder of this fact. Entrepreneurialism and creativity remain the heart and soul of hospitality, guiding it to create memorable experiences that data alone could never suggest.

 

However, in the pursuit of excellence, data becomes a powerful ally. It’s the silent partner, providing insights and information to those who possess the critical thinking skills needed to decipher its meaning. In the fast-paced world of hospitality, where operational teams juggle a multitude of tasks, having the ability to extract meaningful insights from data is a prized skill.

 

Marta Pogroszewska, managing director of Gail’s Bakery, epitomises the winning mindset that’s essential for success in the hospitality sector. Her reflections during her talk at Lunch! on the power of a winning mindset, even in the face of rising costs and economic challenges, really resonated with me. She highlighted the need for continuous learning and improvement – a trait that aligns with the power of data.

 

Data isn’t just a tool; it’s a mindset. Just as Marta strives to unlock leadership capabilities in her managers, data empowers operators and suppliers to unlock insights hidden within their vast datasets. However, this requires not just data, but also the ability to interpret and act upon it effectively.

 

As someone who has transitioned from the data-rich world of retail to the data-scarce realm of hospitality, I can attest to the transformative potential of data in this sector. While the two worlds may seem worlds apart, they share more similarities than one might think.

 

Consider a restaurant or bar operator with multiple brands. The decisions – whether about site selection, menu development, pricing strategies or performance assessment – are akin to those made by the retail sector. The challenges they face – choosing the right locations, optimising offerings, understanding local market dynamics – are often parallel.

 

The question arises: to what extent should hospitality lean into data? A well-known adage in retail, “retail is detail”, underscores the industry’s data-centric nature. Almost everything is measurable – from product and category performance to an in-depth understanding of customer repertories and behaviour. Data is the lifeblood that informs decisions. It’s an integral part of retail’s DNA.

 

In the hospitality sector, the purpose is to provide a service based on hospitality itself, not just selling food and drink. Statistical information isn’t ingrained in its DNA. However, the times are changing. The availability of quality data is growing, driven by technological advancements.

 

The future holds promise and challenges. By 2030, millennials and Generation Z will dominate the workforce, and these digital natives are fluent in the language of data. In the world of hospitality, it’s not a choice between gut-feel and data-driven decisions; both have their place, and finding the right balance is the key.

 

In this ever-evolving landscape, one thing is abundantly clear: the future of hospitality is undeniably data-led. As we embrace this future, we’ll discover new horizons, insights and opportunities that will shape the industry for years to come. The time to embark on this data-driven journey is now.