#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 become a kitchen porter.

The rest, as they say, is history.

In this episode we chat about:

🧽 How a car park sweeping job became a lifelong hospitality career

🍽️ Starting as a KP and working his way through the kitchen ranks

⭐ The pursuit of rosettes and the lessons learned in fine dining

🇸🇪 Why a move to Sweden changed his perspective forever

👨‍🍳 The unusual role that saw him wearing chef whites and a three-piece suit at the same time

📈 The leadership lesson that came from being rejected for promotion

🔥 Managing one of hospitality's most devastating crises when a hotel was destroyed by fire

🏊 The infamous swimming pool experiment that taught a painful lesson about guest perception

🧭 Why every leader needs a North Star

🤝 The impact of mentors, including hospitality legend David Guile

💡 Why curiosity remains one of the most underrated leadership skills

🚀 How Andrew Brownsword Hotels is building for the future whilst protecting its remarkable heritage

Along the way we explore leadership, resilience, commerciality, culture, curiosity, and the extraordinary opportunities hospitality can provide for those willing to keep learning.

One of my favourite moments came when John shared the lesson that transformed his career.

After being repeatedly overlooked for promotion, he was finally told the reason:

"If we promote you, who's going to look after this kitchen?"

It was a difficult conversation at the time, but it taught him one of the most important leadership lessons of all:

Your success is measured not by what you can do, but by what your team can do without you.

Another standout moment came when discussing leadership and performance.

"Consistency beats intensity."

A simple phrase, but one that underpins John's entire approach to leadership, culture and long-term success.

There was also a wonderful reminder of the mindset that has carried him from kitchen porter to CEO:

"There's always something else I didn't know. So I wanted to go and learn it."

And perhaps the most powerful takeaway from the entire conversation:

"Make the mistake."

Not recklessly.

Not repeatedly.

But don't become so afraid of failure that you stop trying new things altogether.

There are also stories involving Swedish adventures, luxury hotels, thousands of firefighters, frozen swimming pools, and enough leadership wisdom to fill a management textbook.

Funny, thoughtful, honest and packed with practical lessons.

A brilliant conversation with one of hospitality's most grounded leaders.

Enjoy.

Show Partner

A big shout out to today’s show partner, RotaCloud — the people management platform built specifically for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from one simple, web-based app.

It also makes life easier for teams, allowing staff to check rotas, request holiday, and pick up extra shifts directly from their phones.

To find out more, head to RotaCloud

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