How to Build a Happy and Engaged Team

How to build a happy and engaged team?

There’s an oft-cited phrase that people don’t quit a bad job, they quit a bad manager. So how can you be the best leader you can be, so that people will stick with you through thick and thin?

Every sector I speak to at the moment from hospitality to tech, from plumbing to law, is finding it harder to recruit than ever before. It’s a job-seekers market with plenty of opportunities for people looking for something new. So the challenge for business leaders is to create an environment where your staff want to stay with you, who will go over and above to achieve the business objectives and don’t disappear when the going gets tough.

When your team feel engaged, inspired and valued, they will be much more willing to go above and beyond to create the best possible experience for your customers.

So as a manager, how do you build a happy, committed and successful team?

The short answer is, it’s not just about paying them more!

Building an engaged team begins with creating a connection and a community and a culture around a common purpose and values. This creates a sense of belonging and commitment.  

Culture

Culture is that mysterious thing, that is hard to put into words and you can only really understand by experiencing it. You can break it down into the things you can see or have written down, in retail this includes things such as the uniform you might wear, the shop design (formal, informal, contemporary, traditional) and any written policies and manuals - but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The juicy bit is beneath the surface - the way you behave with each other, how you talk to customers, any rituals and routines you have - how you greet each other at the start of the day, how you communicate (formal meetings or casual chats) and any ceremonies you have - going out for a drink to celebrate or publicly rewarding staff for a significant achievement.

Facets of employee engagement

Beyond culture and community, there are several key facets of employee engagement. I suggest reviewing each of these - what do you do well, where are the gaps, is there anything that could be tweaked?

1. Do you have a positive culture? Are the purpose, values and aspirations of the business clearly communicated to everyone? How good is communication between management and staff

2. Do people feel that staff are making a valuable contribution, do they have a manageable workload?

3. Do your staff get recognition for what they do?

4. Do they have the right balance of support, autonomy and challenge?

5. Do people have the right resources and training to do their job? 

6. Do people have the right work-life balance for them and how do you support people’s wellbeing? Of course, people have different needs and expectations and flexibility isn’t always possible in a retail environment, but be mindful of what else people have going on in their lives - whether it’s school runs, relatives to care for or exams to revise for.

7. What rewards do you offer? Of course, competitive pay and benefits come into it and security of income is important, especially in the current economic climate. Do you also offer incentives for higher performance although this doesn’t have to be a financial bonus, it could be a small gift for making a difference to a customer, or a voucher to spend with you (a bonus as it encourages them to get familiar with your products too).

8. What opportunities do you offer for personal growth and development? How do you support your staff to be the best they can be? This might be skills training for the job or mentoring from a colleague to develop soft skills, it might be just giving informal feedback to encourage them to push themselves forward or it could be knowing that there are opportunities for promotion.

Running through these questions will help you to identify any potential improvements you can make, but if you really want to know how engaged your team are, and what more they need - ask them. This could be through informal chats or perhaps a short questionnaire which can be completed anonymously. This gives people the opportunity to show what they appreciate and voice any concerns. If you can respond to these and you’ll show you care about your people and they’ll reciprocate with their commitment.

When to lead and when to manage

Think back to the most inspiring managers you’ve had in your life, or even the most inspirational teachers. How did it make you feel and how did it impact your commitment on the job or the subject?

I imagine the leaders you remember inspired and motivated you, you will have felt they listened to and valued and as a result, you felt more committed and focussed.

Now reflect on what kind of a leader you are. Are you an inspiring leader or hands-on manager?

Let’s explore the difference between leadership and management.

What’s the share purpose?

Imagine your vision is to create a wild flower meadow and you have a team of people to do the hard work. A manager would give a specific list of instructions and tasks to each person - ask them to drill the soil, to plant the seeds in a specific way and to water it precisely. While a leader will share his vision of a beautiful colourful meadow, rich in biodiversity and ask the team how you can work together collectively to make that dream a reality. Which do you think will get the best results?

A manager’s job is to set operational objectives and standards, but as a leader it’s your role to communicate the vision, the big picture, and share a purpose and values in a way that will appeal to your team and that will motivate them to get out of bed in the morning.

If your ambition is to offer the best most memorable customer experience or to create the most delicious quality cakes, what difference is that going to make to people, how are you going to do it and why should anyone believe you? In the corporate world this usually means creating and communicating mission, vision and purpose statements - what we do, why we do it and what we want to be known for; and communicating your values - then how do we do it?

Your Mission & Vision

You don’t need the carefully crafted statements you might see from big brands like Wholefoods or Waitrose, but do take time to answer those questions and share the results with your employees.

Another important quality of a good leader is to empower and enable staff, consulting with them, seeking and valuing their input and encouraging them to stretch and grow. 

There is no right or wrong here, there’s a time and a place for both management and leadership. A good leader will be able to adapt depending on the person, the task, the context and the urgency. If you have a new starter with little experience or none of the technical skills required for the job, then you will need to be more manager, giving clear instructions and checking in on progress. In an urgent situation, for example dealing with a difficult customer, again you many need to step in and manage the situation more closely. But when you are dealing with someone who is highly committed, whether or not they have the experience of skill, you can step back to a more supportive, coaching role, ask for their ideas and help them develop their skills. 

Many of the managers I work with find themselves more at the directive managerial end of the spectrum, telling, showing, instructing, and often admit to micromanaging because it’s easier and quicker, but this is the fast track to creating low morale and unengaged teams.

So to develop more committed staff who will help you build a successful business, start to build a partnership with them, share your vision, encourage shared ownership of the big picture, be transparent in communication, trust, listen and value their views, foster collaboration and together you will see great results.

10 Tips for launching a food & drink brand

Launching a new food or drinks brand or adding a new product to an existing range is exciting but challenging.

Whether you are setting up a start-up business, hustling a side project, or introducing a new brand or product range to an existing business, it’s essential to have a clear value proposition and USP (unique selling proposition), a defined target audience, a robust business plan and identified your routes to market.

Here are my 10 Top Tips - well 11 tips in fact, for launching a food & drink business - or a business in any sector.

1. Work out your value proposition

How does your product make customers happy? What is the value you offer? You are unlikely to be launching something completely new and unheard of, but what is unique about what you do? 

Robert Breakwell of of Suffolk-based Niche Cocktails says:

“Know your market and competitors; what makes you different / better / relevant / what is your USP? What are you offering the consumer that no-one else is doing?”

2. Start with Why

Ok, so we’ve nicked this title from best-selling business guru Simon Sinek’s popular book. When you start to talk about your brand and product don’t just focus on WHAT you do, the product details like the taste, or HOW you do it - like your environmental measures, but WHY you do it. If you can clearly communicate why you exist, what’s your purpose or belief and why should anyone care, you will stand out from the crowd and build loyalty.

"If you believe in what you are doing so will everyone else.” says Breakwell.

3. Identify your target audience

As the old adage goes, if you are marketing to everyone, you are going to reach no-one! So be as specific as you can about what type of consumer you are trying to reach - whether it’s based on demographics (geography, gender, age) or their tastes, values and lifestyle. You can even create profiles of your typical customer to help build up their personality.

Robert Breakwell says: “Understand your consumer and focus everything on making your promise to them sincere.”

4. Create a business plan

You need to have a destination in mind and a plan of how to get there, how will you know where to start and how will you know if you’ve succeeded?

Think about the time and resources you need to launch your brand or product, what are all the steps, process and measures of success? It might be to sell a certain number of units or to launch in any number of stockists.

Alan Ridealgh, founder of Humber Doucy Brewery says “Have the best business plan you can create: think about the time and resources you need to build your business: do you need a space to create your product, equipment to make it, a website, packaging and marketing. Try and think of every element of your business from start to end.”

5. Ask for help in the right places

There is a huge amount of support out there for businesses of all sizes whether you are starting from scratch or a long-established. Look for what’s available regionally, your local Growth Hub is a good place to start and perhaps your region has a Food Innovation Centre.

6. Formulate a budget

How much is it going to cost you? What are the fixed costs or those that vary on how many units you are producing? Can you calculate a breakeven point - so you know how many units you have to sell to cover your costs? The reality is that the most common reason businesses fail is because they run out cash - so don’t forget your cashflow forecast.

"Have defined finance in place before starting and formulate a budget. Work how much it will be to set up, make your product and break even? How much can you charge and ensure you have the funding to ensure it survives.” Continues Alan Ridealgh, Humber Doucy Brewery.

7. Build a memorable brand

Your brand is far more than your name, your logo, your packaging, it’s about every connection that your customer has with you. Brand is what makes people remember you and why they will recommend you to their friends, so make it unique, genuine and consistent.

9. Identify your routes to market

Are you going to sell direct to your customers through a website or at events, or are you going to seek listings with independent retailers or aim high at supermarkets?

10. Tell the world

Social media is an amazing free resource to grow a community of fans. Focus on the right platform for your audience rather than spreading yourself to thin by being on all of them.

11. Work fast

Finally "Work fast – Being small gives you the opportunity to make decisions quickly and get there fast.” says Robert Breakwell.

How to do your own PR

Have you ever wondered how to get your product or service featured in the national press, featured in a glossy magazine or reviewed online?

If you have some exciting news to share, a brand new product or service, opened a new restaurant or shop, won an award or anything else you want the world to know about your brand, this workshop is packed with ideas of how to get your story into newspapers, magazines and digital media without the cost of investing in a PR agency.

In this workshop, I will share:

• What is PR

• How to tell your story and what makes it news

• Ideas for how to get your brand and product into the media

• Insight into how the media works

• Tips on how to approach and build relationships with journalists

• How to write a press release

• How to maximise the PR you receive

This workshop was delivered for the Norfolk and Suffolk Food Innovation Cluster - which provides networking, training and support for food and drink businesses in the region.

If you have questions about PR or do need a bit of help, get in touch.

How to do your own PR workshop

Hospitality Mavericks Podcast interview

I’ve long been a fan of the podcast Hospitality Mavericks, so I was really excited to be asked by its host Michael Tingsager, to join him to chat about my work as an executive coach and running leadership development programmes.

We talk about the difference between leadership and management, how to build a strong, happy and engaged team, changing expectations of work life and just some of the challenges facing business leaders today.

I also share my own story of how I moved from hospitality and food & drink branding and communications to become a business coach, and how I build healthy routines and lots of exercise to look after myself.

You can listen to the podcast on all the usual podcast channels from Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon and below on YouTube.

I highly recommend all the podcasts on Hospitality Mavericks!

Find them all here: Hospitality Mavericks >

Shift Your Perspective

Shift your perspective

Moments of high stress can warp your perception of reality, making you feel like the world is out to get you.

Our brains are hard-wired to sense threat and tend to overreact in stressful situations.

Changing perspective allows us to release thinking patterns that no longer serve us and to see the world through fresh eyes. 

What can you gain from looking at things another way?

Imagine you are a fly on the wall, or a bird in the sky - how would things look from up there?

HOW TO SHIFT YOUR PERSPECTIVE

• Stop and notice how you feel.

•  Accept that feeling, don't push it away.

• Create distance by naming it out loud or writing it down.

• Change your surroundings.

• Breathe

• Ask yourself how much this will matter in a month, what about a year?

• What are you grateful for?

• What would your wisest most supportive friend say about this?

• What's a different way to see it?

• Now move forward.

How to manage stress & build resilience

How do you deal with stress and build personal resilience?

Are things getting too much at work or at home, or juggling work and home life?

The first step is to be aware of when things are getting on top of you and stress levels are rising.

You might start feeling resentful, you might notice things are keeping you awake at night, or impact your mood more than they should. Do you find yourself complaining about things to family and friends? Have you tried asking for support or a change to find nothing improves?

When this happens it’s time to start to focus on your well-being.

What’s within your control?

You can’t control your emotions, but you can start to be aware of them and choose how to respond. If you’re under a lot of pressure, become aware of how much time and energy you spend worrying about things you can’t control. This will help you to reduce feelings of overwhelm or uselessness.

• What is within your control?

• What can you influence?

• Let go of the things that you can’t control or change.

Tips to manage stress At Work

1. Take breaks, even if it’s just for a walk around the block.

2. Remember to have fun. Laughter makes us feel good.

3. When you feel stressed, step away for a moment and focus on your breath.

4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when things get too much. You don’t have to do it alone.

5. If it’s getting too much, is there someone you can talk to? If not your manager, a colleague, a partner, a friend?

Tips to look after yourself At home:

1. Make time to get outside - fresh air and sunlight are good for our health and our brains.

2. Find some form of exercise that you enjoy and can make a habit, it doesn’t have to be running a marathon, it could just be a short walk.

3. Build good bedtime routines to promote good sleep.

4. Make time for your friends and family, connecting with other people is vital to our wellbeing.

5. Just do NOTHING sometimes.

Is it time to review your purpose for the year ahead?

Is it time to review your purpose for the year ahead?
The Christmas holidays and the start of the New Year are a time when we all tend to think about what matters most to us, we reevaluate and set ourselves ambitions for the year ahead. 

As business leaders, it's a good time to do the same for our business, not least because this is a time when your employees often decide "New Year, New Job... and in this recruitment crisis you probably want them to stick with you.

A clearly articulated purpose achieves two things:

• Defines and clarifies your strategic objectives

• Inspires and motivates your team and gives meaning to what they do

Do you have a clearly defined purpose?

Putting man on the moon

There's a frequently quoted story (it may be apocryphal) about a cleaner at NASA being asked on a visit by President John F Kennedy what his job was. His answer: "I'm helping to put a man on the moon."

Why it matters

Studies have shown that companies with a well-articulated purpose have lower turnover rates and higher levels of employee engagement. They: Attract and retain the best people Boost productivity Improve morale and engagement

Reality... we're not there yet

According a 2019 survey of over 540 worldwide businesses by Strategy&, PWC:

• More than half weren’t even “somewhat” motivated, passionate, or excited about their job 

• 28% reported feeling fully connected to their company’s purpose. 

• 39% said they could clearly see the value they create, 

• 22% agreed that their jobs allow them to fully leverage their strengths 

• 34% thought they strongly contribute to their company’s success.

What goes wrong?

Too often purpose statements are generic, non-specific and lack authenticity, which leads to : a lack of direction, people feeling lost, disengaement and low motivation How can your team help your business to achieve its goals, if they don't know where they fit in?

Ask yourself

• Why do we exist? 

• What value are we giving our customers? 

• How and why are we unique? 

• Could someone differentiate our purpose from our competitors? 

• Could our team say what it is?

Live & Breathe it

Defining your purpose is just the beginning. If you can't live and breathe it, it's worthless. So make sure it's relevant, and achievable, and that you and your employees have the resources they need to deliver it.

10 Marketing Tips for reopening hospitality in 2021

After months of closure restaurants, pubs, cafés and hotels now have a roadmap for reopening in spring 2021.

With hospitality managers and operators under huge pressure to get everything right for reopening, it’s all too easy to put marketing down as an unnecessary time and cost, but the restaurants, pubs and other hospitality businesses that will get back on their feet fastest will be the ones who communicate regularly with their customers.

With constant changes to the rules and regulations and understandable nervousness on the part of some consumers about being in busy public places again, it’s vital that hospitality businesses communicate regularly with customers to show you are ready to welcome people back, have thought about their safety and that they can come out and enjoy themselves.

Here are my Top 10 marketing tips for reopening:

1. Create an emotionally rich and engaging relationship

   
   One thing that the last year of lockdowns has taught us is to be grateful for things we have always taken for granted - not least being able to pop out to meet friends at the pub or enjoy someone else’s cooking at a restaurant. People have started to appreciate the emotional connection they have with their local pub or neighbourhood restaurant or with somewhere they hold fond memories of or dream of visiting.
   Understand that emotional connection with your customers (past, current and future) and use it to bond with them. Marketing communications should be honest, empathetic, generous and authentic. Develop the personality and story of your brand and share your experiences of the last year and your hopes for the future in a way that makes your audience want to be part of your story and support your future.
   
   

2. Review your target audience

   
   Has your audience changed over the last 12 months due to travel restrictions:
   - can you gain new customers who are staying in the UK for their holidays. How do you reach with them?
   - can you connect with more local customers who are staying closer to home and now recognise what they have on their doorstep?
   - have customer expectations changed? If you traditionally have an older audience they may need more reassurance about how you will keep them safe. A younger audience may be more concerned about things they are now restricted from doing.
   - do review your offer, your menu and your price points and make sure they are right for your current audience.
   
   

3. Sell the dream through good photos and videos

   
   What we all need right now is to get out of the house, see friends and family and have someone else do the cooking and washing up! Use photos and video to appeal to this emotion and show people that they can go out and relax - photos speak a 1000 words.
   Update images or create a short video of your outside space if you have it or of your ‘social distanced’ indoor dining area. Film a virtual tour - on your phone is fine.
   It goes without saying that photographs of dishes and ingredients whet the appetite of hungry diners - but think beyond the obvious and give a sneak peek behind-the-scenes.
   
   

4. Communicate a clear and consistent policy

   
   While nobody really wants to read all the rules and restrictions any more than you want to enforce them, do make sure you have published your policies on your website and link back to them from elsewhere. There are so many ongoing changes that people do need to be reminded what the general rules are as well as anything unique to your venue and it can avoid awkward and embarrassing moments when guests arrive.
   Communicate with customers about any new safety precautions you’re taking and the government rules and regulations you need to follow (mandatory reservations, gathering information for contact tracing, etc.) Remember to review your cancellation policy too.
   
   

5. Keep your audience updated everywhere you can

   
   During the next few months your competitors will be vying for your customers’ attention, so make sure you are front of mind and that they can find out what they need to know about you wherever they connect with you. Make time to update your website with your plans for reopening including your new opening hours, menus and anything else that’s new (garden bar, gazebo, marquee?). It’s quick and easy to post on social media, but also make time to refresh your Tripadvisor, Facebook and Instagram bios and any listing sites you appear on.
   
   

6. Review your Google Business Page

   
   Make sure you’re set up on Google My Business. It’s free, easy to use, and allows you to manage your online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. It is often the first place people find your information when searching specifically for your business or just searching your town or location for somewhere to visit. Add fresh images, and make sure your introduction is up to date and relevant.
   
   

7. Get the best out of social media

   
   Social media is perhaps the easiest and most effective way to keep your audience up to date and engaged as it’s easy to post regular updates. On Instagram use stories or reels to tell the story of reopening your venue and give your audience an insight into everything that is going on behind the scenes. This will create a sense of anticipation but can also be a relaxed way to convey the measures you are taking to make people safe. If you dare go there, TikTok is starting to play a part in developing brand stories and audience engagement. Here are some ideas try:
   - Create recipe videos
   - Take followers on a virtual tour
   - Create a “behind-the-scenes” video of the kitchen staff preparing meals
   - Interview employees and share their experiences
   - Hold a live stream Q&A session with followers
   
   

8. Create long-form evergreen content

   Create long-form evergreen content for your website whether that’s telling your story on an ‘About us’ page or creating a news section or blog. This is content that isn’t time-sensitive and includes keywords that you want to be known for that will drive traffic to your site. Begin by drawing up a list of three to five keywords you want to improve your rankings for – terms that people may search for and that are relevant to your business.
   Blogs can help your website appear authoritative. You can write content that answers common questions, helps customers understand something, or solves problems (like things to do on a rainy day in your location or introducing them to your team or favourite food & drink producers.
   
   

9. Don’t forget email marketing

   Email marketing is a really useful tool for driving customer loyalty and engagement as well as keeping people updated. If you capture customers email addresses on booking (online or in person) invite then them to sign up to receive email news from you. You can also ask people to sign up via your website. Use an email marketing service like Mailchimp which will help you comply with GDPR data regulations and enable you to create a professional looking template.
   -  Don’t make emails ‘salesy’ or pushy – share other news about what’s going on in your area or things you’ve been doing, reading or listening to.
   - That said don’t be afraid to include a clear call to action to book.
   - Link your email newsletter content to your website and blog, including short excerpts in the newsletter with links to read more on your website, this encourages people to engage more with your brand.
   - Send to many, write to one – approach every email as though it’s personal.
   - Be consistent in email frequency and make sure you keep topics varied and interesting.
   - Save time and effort by planning a couple of months topics in advance. 
   
   

10. Encourage reviews

    Reviews on platforms such as Facebook, Google My Business and TripAdvisor are powerful ways to build your reputation. Your business is more likely to show up in Google’s local pack if it has reviews that mention keywords you’re trying to rank for and the town/area where you are based. I often speak to businesses who understand that these reviews count but don’t know how to generate them, one way to do this is to include a call to action on your website, you can download a Google Review widget from your google. Another way ask people in a fun way on your menus or other signage. See our blog on managing your online reputation>

2021 UK Restaurant Trends and Predictions

How the world has changed in a year! When I look back at my restaurant and hospitality predictions for 2020 they seem to come from another world where we took for granted being able to pop to the pub or meet friends for dinner. As a society, we have come to recognise that restaurants, pubs and hotels help to fulfil the basic human need to connect with others and to shape social relationships.

Boom or Bust for restaurants in 2021?

If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that it’s impossible to predict the future, so the idea of making any predictions or looking at hospitality trends for 2021 seems like a foolish exercise. There are those who predict a boom in the hospitality sector in the second half of 2021. Jay Rayner wrote in The Observer in early January: “There will be a desire to spend, which has to be good both for the economy in general and hospitality in particular.”. In July and August after the first lockdown, people flocked back to support hospitality businesses, albeit gradually at first and encouraged by the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. As soon as it’s permitted and safe to do so, we can expect to see a pent up demand to eat out, meet friends for a drink and enjoy the warmth of hospitality again.

Yet, starting the new year in another full lockdown with expectations that it will last until spring, the hospitality industry faces enormous challenges in 2021 and is at risk of losing almost 50% of normal revenue streams and seeing huge numbers of redundancies. The British Beer and Pub Association and the British Institute of Innkeeping and UKHospitality have published findings that suggest:

• 72% of members expected to operate at a loss and to be unable to survive because of the collapse in trade.

• Seven out of 10 UK pubs and restaurants fear they will become financially unviable and forced to close in 2021 as a result of damaging Covid-19 restrictions

• By February 2021 there would be 750,000 fewer jobs in the sector compared with earlier this year.

The Future Shock report, from CGA and UKHospitality, outlines the difficult year for the pub, bar and restaurant sector and sets out the challenges and opportunities facing the industry into 2021 indicates:

• A £53.3bn year-on-year drop in sales between the start of April and the end of September.

• Falling consumer confidence, with 78% of British adults concerned about the long-term financial implications of the pandemic.

• 21% of consumers said they would eat and drink out less frequently than before

• Hesitant business confidence, with 27% of leaders of multi-site groups predicting they will be unviable by mid-2021 with current levels of support.

• insight from recent research commissioned by Marcus Wareing found that 34% of consumers expected to spend less when they returned to restaurants.

2021 will be about settling into a new rhythm and catering to diners in new and innovative way. Here are some of our predictions for the UK restaurant trade in 2021. Several of the predictions for last year seem even more relevant today than they did 12 months ago.

1. Home delivery and finish-at-home meals become the norm.

2020: We predicted that restaurants and pubs should do more to tap into the trend for home delivery with the potential to reach new audiences and increase turnover at quieter times. We wrote: “There’s particular scope for more sophisticated options from high-end restaurants. Yet operators will face a challenge to adapt to this fundamentally altered business model.
“

Lockdowns forcing the closure of hospitality since March have forced hospitality businesses to switch their business model overnight to offer take-home meals in order to keep some of their staff employed and their businesses afloat. New businesses have sprung up, such as Restaurant Kits, to facilitate this trend without the high costs of delivery platforms like Deliveroo and Uber Eats.

2021: We expect to see more businesses find new revenue streams through diversification into take-home meals, cook at home kits and restaurant branded products on the shelves. With no end in sight to restrictions, taking the restaurant experience home or giving yourself a night off cooking, has never seemed more important. While there seemed to be some saturation in demand for home delivery/restaurant kits during autumn, we can expect to see growing demand in 2021 and the launch new platforms and technologies that make it easier for restaurants to improve systems for ordering and management.

2. The Rise of Ghost Kitchens

Until this year ghost kitchens where food is prepared and distributed, but no customers are served were perceived as a niche phenomenon in our cities. In 2021 they will become part of the next normal. While high rents in city centres are unsustainable more hospitality businesses and chefs will move away from the high street towards more affordable ghost kitchens. The beauty of a ghost kitchen is that it allows your operation to run leaner and meaner than ever before.

Before the pandemic, revenue for online food delivery in Europe was experiencing double-digit growth and was expected to exceed £19bn by 2023. In the UK, Foodstars, Jacuna Kitchens and Deliveroo are just a few of the third-party delivery platforms to have entered the game. Yet virtual kitchens are not just for the big operators, with kitchens offering hired spaces they can be a great stepping stone for new businesses in a similar way to businesses which tested a concept through a street-food offering, people will start a virtual kitchen first and then open a bricks-and-mortar site when the hospitality sector can open up again.

2. Provenance, Sustainability and tackling food waste

2020: We predicted an increased awareness in reducing the use of single-use plastics and reducing food waste and encouraged operators to demonstrate the steps they were taking to make improvements. The reality has been that we’ve gone several steps backwards and seen wide-spread use of disposable cups and packaging with take-away drinks and meals. The constant stop-starting of operations as lockdowns and closures have been imposed at short notice has seen an increase in food waste.

2021: With Brexit complete and increased customs tariffs the price of imported ingredients will increase and the importance of sourcing locally will become all the more critical. We should expect to see more British grown produce on our plates. Hospitality businesses will have to rapidly adapt their supply chains, their workforce and shift their long term planning. How they will do this is still uncertain, but many businesses will have to become more reliant on local communities and markets.

3. Eating for Immunity

2020: We suggested that consumers were likely to seek healthy options on weekdays and treat themselves at the weekend and that operators should offer healthy options as well as occasional treats.

2021: Immunity will be the new buzzword for 2021. The pandemic has caused us all to think more about how a good diet can improve our health and immunity. While heavily emphasing the nutritional value of dishes on your menu

4. Contactless technology everywhere

2020: Our 2020 predictions for the importance of technology have been critical this year to reduce contact and enable online orders. We predicted that consumers would more regularly use apps and mobile technology: “Technology will transform the way consumers order food and drink and to change how we book too. It’s clear that personal devices will play a critical role in the restaurant experience, from QR-code enabled menus, to mobile order-ahead options, minimizing contact is important to consumers and has effectively gone from short-term fix, to key priority.”

2021: There has been significant investment in developing new and improved technology to help hospitality operators improve safety for staff and customers and we will continue to see new apps and technology rolled out in 2021. Even operators who have previously been reluctant to adopt systems such as QR codes, remote ordering and contactless payment will be forced to implement these new technologies due to customer expectations. The aim is to make the entire process contactless, so consumers can feel safer and enjoy a convenient, hassle-free experience.

5. Keep engaging with your customers

With prolonged closures and constant changes to rules and restrictions, hospitality operators have been forced to communicate regularly with customers whether through social media, email newsletters or PR. If the experience you offer your customers is one that makes them feel looked after and treated when they visit your pub, restaurant or hotel, it follows that you need to continue to do this even while you are closed.

While the pressure facing operators for both time and budget means it’s all to easy to put marketing down as an unnecessary time and cost, it’s vital that you continue to communicate with your customers (current and future) and maintain an emotionally rich and engaging relationship with your followers.

The most successful hospitality businesses that will emerge from the train wreck of 2020, will be those who understand the emotional connection and use it to bond with their customers. Marketing at its best should be honest, empathic, generous and authentic. It combines brand building with narrative to develop your business into a character with its own personality – one that customers want to see progress and support through the challenges that 2021 holds, and whose story they want to be a part of.

6. Family-friendly dining

2020: We suggested that restaurants and pubs should review their family-friendly dining options, while not necessarily offering children’s menus, but making the experience as welcoming as possible to parents and children. With restrictions on meeting and dining with people from outside your household, restaurants became dependent on bookings from single households and bookings from families have become all the more important.

2021: While it seems unlikely that we’ll be able to dine out with friends and colleagues in the first half of 2021, restaurants and pubs must develop ways to appeal to families and give people a strong incentive to dine out, when permitted, to celebrate family occasions or just for a break from routine.

7. Eat and drink local

City centre footfall is at an all-time low, even during periods when restrictions have eased, office workers based at home and no international tourists, town and city centre venues have taken the biggest hit during the pandemic, while restaurants and pubs in residential areas and the countryside have been supported by customers staying local. While footfall may increase in our cities in the second half of 2021, consumers will remain inclined to stay local and support businesses on their doorsteps.

This is a real opportunity for community-based businesses, which are often independent operators. To survive operators must may more attention than ever to their local audience and not rely on attracting customers even from the other side of the city. With many vacant spaces and potentially lower rents, as landlords look to fill their properties again, this also creates new opportunities for brave start-up businesses, chefs going it alone for the first time and entrepreneurs who’ve been held back before by the high costs of starting a bricks and mortar business.

8. The return of warm hospitality

Even when open, the need for strict hygiene measures, social distancing, and rules on household mixing, have put hospitality operators under huge stress and required them to prioritise policing the rules over offering warm hospitality and personal connections. The requirement to wear face masks and, in some cases, the introduction of contactless ordering and payment has taken away so much of what customers love about going out to eat and drink and the reason why people love working in the industry. In the short periods, restaurants and pubs were open in 2020 we all had experiences of overly officious and understandably stressed staff, being a bit abrupt and sometimes plain rude.

Yet we all crave the warmth of human contact, a bit of friendly banter at the bar or with the waiter, or some nosey people-watching of the next table. Restaurant and pub operators who can find ways to inject the usual warmth and conviviality into dining out will be the first to bounce back. It will be vital to give staff the training to manage any rules or expectations with grace and charm and to look for those extra touches which make the customer feel welcome and valued.