As we close out 2025, I wanted to share this Christmas edition of the newsletter – a reflection on a year that many expected to break UK hospitality, but somehow didn’t. Rising wages, higher NICs and escalating costs created what was widely described as an “April cliff edge”. The pressure was real, the fear palpable, and the job losses significant. Yet despite everything the numbers suggested should happen, the industry neither collapsed nor walked away. Instead, it adapted,

Plans are comforting. They’re neat, polished and reassuringly precise.  But in hospitality, they might also be quietly dangerous. In this week’s issue, I explore a counterintuitive idea borrowed from President Eisenhower and Winston Churchill: plans matter far less than planning . A plan is a document. Planning is a capability. One fixes your thinking in time; the other prepares you to adapt when the market inevitably shifts. If that sounds abstract, it isn’t. The pub sector’

The latest Budget didn’t just raise costs for hospitality, it quietly rewired the strategic landscape. Operators now face a three-way squeeze: soaring premises costs, rising labour costs and delivery economics that no longer add up. The old categories of “restaurant,” “dark kitchen,” and “retail” have collapsed, but government policy hasn’t noticed. In this week’s issue, I explain why many operators are now stuck in a strategic trap.  The real risk isn’t choosing the wrong mo

Last week’s Budget sparked the predictable headlines about a “two-speed economy.” But after digging into the numbers, it’s clear that this tidy metaphor misses the real story  and the operators carrying the heaviest load aren’t who ministers seem to think. In fact, hospitality is now running at three very different speeds, and the middle tier — the ambitious multi-site operators without big-chain cushioning or owner-operator flexibility — is being squeezed harder than anyone

When the Eat Out to Help Out scheme launched in August 2020, it felt like a lifeline. It was  bold, clever and for a brief moment, wildly successful. But five years on, the UK COVID-19 Inquiry has revealed a very different story behind the scenes… and it’s one that reshapes what we thought we knew. In my latest piece, I revisit what I wrote in real time during 2020 — the optimism, the booming August, the sudden stall, the November collapse — and set it against what the Inqui

The conversations around the industry have started sounding like a stuck record. “Business is bad.” “Christmas won’t save us.” “Costs are out of control.” None of this is wrong — but none of it moves us forward either. What does matter is what people are actually doing. Because despite the headwinds, this sector isn’t collapsing into defeatism. It’s doing the opposite. Every operator, supplier, and leader I speak to is fighting on every front — cutting costs, reworking menus,

Every so often, the industry gives us a moment that quietly redraws the map. Starbucks’ decision last week to sell a 60% stake in its China business is one of those moments.  It’s shocking on the surface, inevitable underneath and packed with lessons for anyone watching the future of foodservice. What looks like a corporate reshuffle is actually something bigger: a signal of how global coffee, hospitality and even the UK’s out-of-home market are being reshaped by slowing grow

The other day, a newcomer to the UK market asked me a simple question: “ What’s the difference between a wet pub and a dry pub? ” It turns out, the answer isn’t simple at all. In My Insight , I look at why terms like ‘ wet led ’ and ‘ food led ’ still lack consistent definitions – and how that ambiguity affects operators, investors, and policymakers alike. When everyone’s using the same words to mean different things, performance comparisons and strategic decisions become muc

The food world isn't dividing into three neat sectors. It's revealing itself as a seven-position spectrum and most businesses don't know where they actually sit. At one end: Pure Retail (supermarkets, butchers, ingredient shopping). At the other: Pure Restaurant (table service, dining experiences). Between them lay five distinct convergence zones where the real battle is happening. Peak Convergence sits at the centre. Pret, Greggs, meal deals, food trucks, takeaways, ready me

Walk into a Wagamama in Edinburgh or Exeter and the katsu curry will taste identical. It’s not luck, but the result of two decades of professionalisation in British casual dining. Food safety, staff training and allergen protocols are all executed with precision across hundreds of sites. It’s a remarkable achievement. But it’s also quietly reshaping how, and what, Britain eats. In this week’s insight, I explore how our national obsession with reliability has raised the floor

The summer sun may still be hanging on, but Christmas menus are already appearing, and not just because restaurants are feeling festive...

Jamie Oliver’s 2019 restaurant collapse proved the simple truth that fame doesn’t guarantee success.  While celebrity chefs dominate...

Gen Z is the most digitally connected generation in history but how has this impacted physical socialising? Walk into a pub and you’ll...

More than 54% of foodservice businesses say they avoid systematic data analysis entirely.  At first glance, that seems like a technology...

In this edition of WBR, I take a look at the latest ONS Family Spending Survey; it’s a wake-up call for anyone in foodservice.Whilst...

Will today’s thirty-somethings eventually morph into tomorrow’s sixty-somethings, dining in white-tablecloth restaurants just like their...

Headlines are screaming about job losses and industry chiefs warn of “near-collapse,” but a deeper problem may be unfolding for the...

In this week’s Weekly Briefing Report I challenge conventional wisdom about digital transformation in foodservice – with thoughts on why...

In this week's Weekly Briefing Report I reflect on what I have written in Augusts past and I uncover uncomfortable truths about...

Ever wondered why some restaurant names just feel "right" while others make you cringe? In my Weekly Briefing Report, I explore 120 years...