In this episode of Simply Hospitality, Ruth and Lucy are back on their own for a bite-size conversation, sharing real situations from the week and practical tips for handling them. From supporting new managers to navigating relationships with environmental health, this episode focuses on making confident, balanced decisions in hospitality.

What We Cover:

• Supporting newly promoted managers and helping them build confidence when there’s no clear “right answer.”
• Why hospitality is often about operating in the grey—and how to move away from fear-based decision making.
• A simple decision-making framework based on values like hospitality, family, honesty and community.
• Real-life scenarios, including how to handle team members turning up unfit for work, and balancing team support with customer experience.
• The importance of backing your managers and creating a culture where decisions are supported, not criticised.
• A fresh perspective on environmental health officers and why collaboration, communication and proportionality are key.
• The wider impact of enforcement decisions on businesses, employment and local communities.

Tune in for a practical, honest discussion packed with real-world examples and simple tools to help you make better decisions in your business. Enjoy and follow us on social media if you like what you hear! Instagram: @simply_hospitality_the_podcast.

The State of Hospitality

In this episode of Simply Hospitality, we sit down with Kate Nicholls OBE, Chair of UKHospitality, to discuss the realities of running a hospitality business in today’s climate. From rising costs to workforce challenges, Kate shares insight from across the industry and explains how UKHospitality is supporting operators on the ground.

What We Cover:

• What UKHospitality does and how it supports businesses, from independent cafés to national chains.
• The role of a trade body in influencing government, reducing red tape and providing practical guidance to operators.
• The concept of Primary Authority and how it helps businesses navigate inconsistent enforcement from regulators.
• The current state of the industry, with rising costs, shrinking margins and many businesses operating at or below break-even.
• Why resilience in hospitality is being pushed to its limits following COVID and ongoing economic pressures.
• The reality behind closures and openings, and what the data tells us about the sector right now.
• Hospitality as a career: tackling the “stopgap job” perception and the need for clearer training pathways.
• Plans for a digital skills passport and how it could transform training, recruitment and career progression across the industry.
• Practical advice for operators, including smarter pricing strategies and using technology to manage labour more effectively.

Tune in for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about the challenges facing hospitality today—and what needs to change to support the businesses and people at its heart.

In this episode of Simply Hospitality, we sit down with the team behind Slow Burn to explore how they’ve built a restaurant in an unconventional setting—operating from a shared space alongside a working jean factory. This honest conversation looks at how constraints can shape a concept, from menu development to day-to-day operations.

What We Cover:

• The story behind Slow Burn and how the restaurant operates within a shared industrial space.

• How the setup has influenced the business model, including a smaller capacity and the role of takeaway within the operation.

• Early menu development and the shift towards a more vegetable-led offering.

• Why the menu evolves gradually rather than changing completely, using a “one in, one out” approach.

• The challenges of balancing creativity with practical limitations like space, equipment and workflow.

• How customer feedback shapes the menu and helps refine the concept over time.

Tune in for a practical look at building a food business in a unique environment, and how thoughtful decisions can lead to a more focused and sustainable operation.

Enjoy and follow us on social media if you like what you hear! Instagram: @simply_hospitality_the_podcast.