Industry Insights

Environmental sustainability has moved to the forefront of hospitality in the UK. With an eco-conscious public, hospitality businesses face increasing pressure to reduce waste, conserve resources, and minimise environmental impact. Recent data shows…

In today’s world, minimising food waste is a critical responsibility for UK hospitality. With food waste costing the sector around £682 million annually, according to WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), hospitality businesses ar…

The UK culinary landscape is evolving as customers seek new, multicultural flavours. A notable trend on the rise is fusion cuisine, especially the blend of Eastern European and British dishes, creating dynamic new flavours and experiences. As more p…

With hospitality’s rapid digitalisation, cybersecurity has become a top priority. Hospitality businesses handle sensitive data daily, from guest information to payment details, making them prime targets for cyber-at…

In the early days of the pandemic, Talking Hospitality—then cheekily called "Timothy Put the Kettel On"—was born out of a need to stay connected, to share insights, and to support the hospitality industry in one of its darkest times. Rec…

In Season 1, Episode 3 of the Talking Hospitality podcast, titled The Heart of Hospitality: Kemi Akinola’s Fight Against Food Poverty, we had the privilege of exploring how Kemi and her team at Be Enriched swiftly pivoted to support communitie…

In the bustling world of hospitality, it's easy to label the youngest members of our workforce as "lazy" and "snowflakes"Recent data would seem to back this up:98% of Gen Z workers report experiencing burnout.23% face unmanageable stress lev…

Seasonal highs and lows are part of life in hospitality, but balancing them effectively can be challenging. With changing occupancy rates and operational costs, many hospitality businesses are turning to data-driven forecasting to keep things ru…

This third and final installment of our Talking Hospitality mental health series of blogs rounds off an essential conversation that began with supporting employee well-being and continued with insights into creating psychologically safe workplaces.…

Following the article, "Supporting Employee Mental Health in Hospitality", we delve deeper into how the hospitality industry can tackle mental health issues.  Reflecting on Episode 5, Season 1 of the Talking Hospitality podcast, titl…

As highlighted in many of our episodes, mental health is a critical challenge within hospitality. Season 1, episode 4 despite being recorded in lockdown, brings fresh relevance to supporting employee mental health. The hospitality industry …

In our second-ever episode of Talking Hospitality, initially known as Timothy Put the Kettel On, we explored hospitality’s challenges and innovations during lockdown, from local sourcing to new tech solutions.Fast-forward to today, and it&rs…

Managing Rising Labour Costs: 5 Tips for Hospitality BusinessesWith the minimum wage increasing to £11.44 per hour from April 2024, many UK hospitality businesses are feeling the pressure. Labour costs already make up a significant portion o…

New Compliance Requirements in UK Hospitality: 5 Essential Tips for 2024The start of 2024 has brought a wave of new regulations to the UK hospitality industry. From Martyn’s Law, which bolsters venue security, to updated wage and tip rules, …

When the war broke out in Ukraine, I had the privileged ability to put Ukrainian refugees into Hospitality work. During this time, I will never forget this, one 4-star hotel employer said to me:"I have vacancies for waiters, but I need th…

LGBT. LGBT.The “T” bit seems to be a hot topic right now if the mainstream and social medias are to be believed.There also seems to be a lot of ignorance or, rather, misunderstanding about what the “T” stands for. …

How boring.It’s Pride Month and everyone has changed their logos to rainbow.It’s not even needed any more.Unfortunately, this is not the case. Not even remotely. Homophobia In HospitalityEven an industry such as our belo…

The Collaborative Advantage: Treating Competitors as Allies in the Hospitality IndustryThere is power in collaboration.But often, when it comes to business, there are people I know who tend to overlook the potenti…

Ah. There are team players and there are not team players and then, there are the mavericks.Mavericks are defined in the Oxford Language dictionary as: "an unorthodox or independent-minded person."There comes a point in any evolving team where…

The first answer is because, otherwise, they won't stay.One of the biggest resistances I hear from leaders over investment into training is "What if I train them and they leave?".To which I normally reply:"What if you don't train them and they…

"I'm too busy to train my team"Many, many times I have heard Hospitality business owners or managers complaining about how busy they are and that they just don't have time to train their staff. Does this sound familiar?Maybe you yoursel…

If my previous blogs have failed to capture your imagination, and you still need convincing that we (as Hospitality industry professionals) should be approaching schools right now in a bid to educate them about potential careers... then read on!&n…

It's not too late, but Hospitality needs to act NOW.It's very true that we are very close to having a "lost generation" of young people as a result of the lockdowns and disruptions to their education (and social skills).Speaking to, sitting down…

Ugh. School kids. 😨 Young people. Bleurgh. 🤢 This is quite often the reaction I get from some hospitality professionals - who (most of the time) are too busy to be distracted by things like this....Which is unfortunate as following on from B…