#244 - Hospitality Meets Roddy Watt - Still Building
Still Building
Born in a hotel, thrown out of university
Built the UK’s biggest hospitality recruitment business, Lost control of it, Lost his driving licence, Broke his back.
You'd think this was a lesson in how not to do it?
But far from it!
This week on Hospitality Meets, I sit down with Roddy Watt, recruitment pioneer, hotel strategist, owner of one almighty black book and living proof that setbacks are not full stops, they’re commas.
In This Episode
- Why most careers start by accident
- “Aim at nothing and you’ll hit it” (a dartboard life lesson)
- Building a 200 person recruitment empire
- What happens when venture capital meets optimism
- The week that tested everything
- Why attitude beats experience
- Why high performers don’t get a free pass
- Relaunching again… because why not?
Built. Lost. Still Building
Roddy helped shape hospitality recruitment in the UK.
15 offices.
Hundreds of consultants.
Market leader.
Then came the flotation.
The numbers.
The pressure.
The reality check.
And a particularly memorable week involving:
• Losing his company
• Losing his driving licence
• Falling off a horse and breaking his back
His summary?
“That was a week.”
No violin music. Just perspective.
And learning that sometimes your worst week becomes the beginning of your next chapter.
This episode is funny, honest, slightly outrageous in places, and packed with lessons you only get from someone who’s been around the block a few times
🎧 Listen now: https://linktr.ee/Hospmeetspod
Show Partners
A big shout out to the first of today’s show partner, RotaCloud, the people management platform for shift-based teams.
RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from a single, web-based app.
It makes work simple for your team, too, allowing them to check their rotas, request holiday, and even pick up extra shifts straight from their phones.
Try RotaCloud’s time-saving tools today by heading to https://rotacloud.com/phil
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