Hotel Operations

🏨 The Coniston Hotel Country Estate & Spa, a family-run business for over 50 years located in Skipton, North Yorkshire, partnered with Journey to enhance its commercial strategy and increase direct revenue. The hotel offers 70 bedrooms, a 1,400-acre estate with amenities like a private lake and the Nàdarra Spa, and activities including fishing and off-road driving. Director Louise Bolton, with 25 years at the hotel, emphasized the need for digital expertise to attract a wider customer base.

🍴 Vodka sauce, a tomato-based pasta sauce with vodka for flavor depth, varies in color from reddish-orange to pink, appealing for social media. Named "New European" cuisine of 2024 by Datassential, it's gaining popularity on restaurant menus. Present on 5.5% of US menus, 35% of Americans have tried vodka sauce, a traditional Italian-American dish.

🍳 Lifetime, the UK's largest training provider, reports a 47% rise in female chef apprentices during 2022-2023, with 373 out of 1241 new starters being women. The hospitality sector faces a 21% vacancy rate. The number of female chefs has grown by 46% since 2018, reaching 24% in 2023. Stella Carter, 18, with Crohn's disease, began a Level 2 apprenticeship at The Boot & Slipper in Amersham in 2022 and aims to own a restaurant. Nyla, 20, from Nottingham, embraces the industry's diversity. Bianca Martens, 36, in Liverpool, leads a team after completing chef apprenticeships. Lifetime Training emphasizes changing workplace culture post-pandemic to attract diverse talent, while Marston's and Mitchells & Butlers promote inclusive cultures and development programs.

🍴 Chef Dani García recounts his unconventional journey into the hospitality industry, driven by childhood experiences and learning from renowned chefs along Costa del Sol. His process for blending traditional Andalusian recipes with global flavors involves structured work and adaptation to local ingredients. Successfully managing multiple restaurants worldwide, García emphasizes the importance of team dynamics. His transition from a Michelin-starred restaurant to more accessible dining formats like BiBo Andalusian Brasserie & Tapas involves creating a relaxed atmosphere. Media exposure has broadened public perception of his culinary scope. Adapting menus to local tastes—alcohol-free in Qatar, pork-free in Dubai—García's group tailors to each location while maintaining concept essence. Smoked Room, born from Leña, earned two Michelin stars within six months through constant culinary evolution. Global expansion of Dani García Group focuses on launching Leña globally, with new projects underway in Miami, and plans for London, New York, Barcelona, Ibiza, and Morocco.

🍴 JÖRO, an acclaimed Nordic/Japanese-inspired restaurant, is relocating to Oughtibridge Paper Mill on the edge of the Peak District, opening September. The renovated 19th Century paper mill will feature two bars, an all-day dining terrace with live fire cooking, seven rooms (five studio rooms and two one-bedroom apartments), and SHÖP by JÖRO deli. Luke French and Stacey Sherwood-French, the married duo behind JÖRO, will continue offering their signature tasting menus and introduce a global grill menu in partnership with Big Green Egg. The expansion will allow guests to enjoy a foodie stay with Scandi-inspired accommodations and homemade continental breakfasts. House of JÖRO will still provide boutique city stays while Konjö takes over the original Krynkl site.

🍴 First industry job as a kitchen porter in a local restaurant; admires Gordon Ramsay; cooking style - nice defined flavors, simple; worst review involved a burnt onion broth; essential kitchen equipment - Thermomix; favorite meals at Chapter One in Dublin and McDonald’s; prefers MasterChef over Great British Menu; dislikes avocados; would ban vegans as a restaurant dictator; enjoys Instagram; relaxes at Discount Suit Company near Spitalfields; drinks Guinness or rum and ginger; pairs Coke with spicy pizza; signature dishes include cuttlefish lasagne or buffalo oyster at Pearly Queen.

🍴 Paddy Maher, head chef at Pearly Queen, admires Gordon Ramsay and would choose a big hungover Chinese meal as his last. He started as a kitchen porter, despises bad attitudes in the kitchen, and values simple, well-defined flavours. Maher suggests hard work is key in the industry and cannot live without a Thermomix. He opts for à la carte over tasting menus, favours Chapter One in Dublin for his best meal, loves McDonald’s, prefers MasterChef, and would ban vegans as a hypothetical restaurant dictator. His signature dish is cuttlefish lasagne or buffalo oyster.

🍔 Hawksmoor, a UK steakhouse group founded in 2006 by Will Beckett and Huw Gott, could be valued at £100m in a potential sale. Stephens investment bank is handling the sale, targeting potential buyers. The group has 10 UK locations and is expanding internationally, with the latest opening in Chicago, following a New York City debut in 2021 and a Dublin site in 2023. Since 2013, Graphite Capital has owned a 51% stake after investing £35m. Beckett and Gott retain minority ownership and intend to lead the company post-sale.