Hospitality Meets is a weekly podcast that explores the stories and journeys of people from all walks of life in the hospitality industry.
If you're interested in a career in hospitality, or if you're simply curious about the world of hospitality, then Hospitality Meets is the podcast for you. Join Phil for a weekly dose of inspiration, insight, and humour.
Featured Episodes
If you are new to the show, here are some great episodes for you to get stuck into. Or, check out episodes by category in the navigation bar above ☝☝☝
Recent Episodes
271
Sept. 2, 2026
#271 - Hospitality Meets Walk For Well being - The story of the walk that kept growing
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 wa
270
Aug. 26, 2026
#270 - Hospitality Meets Neel Radia - The story of the Disney dream, the panto and the cake
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 quit
269
Aug. 19, 2026
#269 - Hospitality Meets Bradley Dorrington - The Story of Dirty Kebabs and Haunted Hotels
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 app
268
Aug. 12, 2026
#268 - Hospitality Meets Christian Wiens - The story of Mercury being in retrograde
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 th
267
Aug. 5, 2026
#267 - Hospitality Meets Hannah Swarbrick-Done in The Story of Two Left Flip Flops and the AI Non-Exec
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, includi
266
July 29, 2026
#266 - Hospitality Meets Eirini Tamousi - The Story of the Restaurant That Opened Without Food
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. The
265
July 22, 2026
#265 - Hospitality Meets Chris Davies - The Story of the Office that Smells Like Itself
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 entrepreneursh
264
July 15, 2026
#264 - Hospitality Meets Chat GPT - The Story of The Library That Talks Back
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 in
263
July 8, 2026
#263 - Hospitality Meets Rory Slater - The Story of the Angry Gardener
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 drea
262
July 1, 2026
#262 - Hospitality Meets Robert Richardson - The Story We Tell Ourselves
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,
261
June 24, 2026
#261 - Hospitality Meets Duncan Garrood - Putting Life in Your Years
What do a biochemist, a Chinese mansion house, Heathrow Airport, 250 burger restaurants, a pub turnaround, student accommodation, retirement living, and more than a few bottles of Mao Tai have in common? This week's guest... Duncan Garrood. And trust me... You're going to want to hear this one. Duncan's career began in a laboratory as a scientist with a PhD in Biochemistry. It then took him through Unilever, a decade living in China, Heathrow Airport, the Middle East, Punch Taverns, Bill's
260
June 17, 2026
#260 - Hospitality Meets John Badley - Make the Mistake
What do a kitchen porter, a Swedish adventure, a hotel fire, a freezing swimming pool, and the CEO of one of Britain's most iconic hotel groups have in common? This week's guest is John Badley, CEO of Andrew Brownsword Hotels. Today, John oversees a collection of some of the UK's most beautiful and historic hotels. But his story starts somewhere much humbler. A teenage job sweeping a car park for £10, a desperate desire to escape the cold, and a sister who eventually gave in and let him becom
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