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Britain has been good to me. It gave me a fair shot, though not without its fine print. It gave me access, took me seriously and offered me a fair shot at moments that changed the course of my life. But it also came with fine print: glass ceiling…
South Asian Heritage Month should create space for people to tell their own stories, in their own words. Ranji Thangiah, founder of Tooting Mama and host of Tea with Tooting Mama, uses food to explore Sri Lankan heritage, identity and belonging thro…
South Asian Heritage Month Series There is a tired story that keeps being told in Britain. You know the one. People come here. They take jobs. They claim benefits. They change the country. They do not contribute. It is usually said with great ce…
Brand Isn’t the Logo. It’s the Reason People Come Back. South Asian Heritage Month Series Featuring Sachin Parmar and Sanj Naha, Graphic Kitchen South Asian Heritage Month is not an invitation for me to explain someone else’s lived experience. T…
Pride Month Is a Check-In, Not a Campaign Pride Month is here. Cue the flags, posts, panels, themed events, colourful graphics and at least one brand somewhere discovering, with great urgency, that it has always cared deeply about inclusion since …
Support Local Drag Here's Why A companion piece to "What Can We Learn From Drag Queens?" Drag is often treated as the loud bit of the night. The funny bit. The eyelashes. The heels. The jokes. The song choice that starts as camp fun and somehow …
Trans Inclusion in Hospitality Start with Curiosity, Not Assumptions (Companion to: Trans and gender episode with Che Young Gender. Trans. Pronouns. Identity. For some hospitality leaders, those words are familiar. For others, they can feel like…
Are Rainbow Flags Enough for LGBTQIA+ Inclusion? The business case for making Pride practical, not performative A rainbow flag in June can be a nice gesture. But it cannot be the whole strategy. For hospitality businesses, LGBTQIA+ inclusion need…
Does Pride Still Matter in Hospitality? Yes, but not as wallpaper Suggested category: EDI / Pride Month / Hospitality LeadershipCompanion to: PrideWide conversation with Tris Reid-SmithSEO keywords: Pride Month hospitality, LGBTQIA+ hospitality, P…
International Women’s Day conversations often focus on women. That makes sense. But progress in hospitality leadership does not sit solely with women. It sits with those who already hold influence. In UK hospitality, women make up well over half …
In recognition of International Women’s Day, we are continuing a series exploring the key issues women identify within hospitality. One theme appears consistently across research, exit interviews and leadership conversations: Work-life balance. H…
In recognition of International Women’s Day, we are continuing a series of blogs focused on the issues women tell us matter most in hospitality. One of the most consistent themes raised across research, industry reports and lived experience is safe…
In our recent Talking Hospitality conversation with Mex Ibrahim, co-founder of Women in the Food Industry, one theme surfaced again and again. Visibility. Not visibility for applause.Not spotlight for ego.Visibility as infrastructure. Because whe…
In recognition of International Women’s Day on 8th March, for the whole of the month, we’re opening up the conversations about the issues women in hospitality consistently tell us matter most. One theme surfaces again and again. Women make up arou…
In the hospitality industry, we sell a dream of seamless luxury, excitement, and flawless experiences. But behind the scenes, the reality of our daily operations can sometimes feel like an endless loop. Whether it is polishing a hundred wine glass…
In the hospitality industry, we are trained from day one to look outward. We are conditioned to anticipate the guest's needs before they speak them, to scan the dining room for raised hands, and to gauge our success by the immediate feedback loop of…
It is the most common question in the modern world. You meet someone new, shake hands, and within seconds, one of you asks: "So, what do you do?" In hospitality, we often answer with a title—"I’m a Chef," "I’m a GM," "I’m in Housekeeping." We hear…
In the high-pressure world of hospitality, some would argue, we have long subscribed to a specific, grueling formula for life. It is a blueprint that has been drilled into every chef, hotelier, and service professional from day one since time immem…
Most organisations still treat happiness at work as a cultural add-on. A nice-to-have. A morale initiative. Something delegated to HR, posters, or Friday afternoon gestures. That framing is already obsolete. In 2026, happiness at work is no longer…
If you were to believe the news, everything in Hospitality is broken. Guest contributor Aaron Barnett argues that this is nonsense. *** Usually, January is the month when we all sit in the office staring at P&Ls, moaning about the "quiet," and tr…
Sometimes you think you’re saying yes to a challenge. Only later do you realise you were saying yes to a turning point. That’s what comes through so clearly in Paul Cook’s story. What begins as a casual conversation in a pub about climbing Mount K…
So barely a week in, how you doing on those goals? If you've already lapsed, don't worry. January often begins with good intentions. Fresh plans. Clear goals. A quiet determination that this is the year things will feel more balanced. Then the se…
January always arrives with that familiar mix: hope, ambition, and the quiet dread of what “big goals” actually mean when you’re still catching up from December. Here’s the honest truth: most goal-setting fails, not because we lack commitment, but …
Christmas is often sold as joyful and effortless. In hospitality, it reveals something else entirely. Long shifts, emotional labour, and the quiet determination of people who keep showing up while the rest of the world slows down. Always Open for Ch…
