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Hospitality Life

Hospitality Life

The business of hospitality, from gross profit and recipe costing to allergens, staffing and the pressures the trade does not talk about often enough. Written from thirty five years in kitchens and front of house.
22
Jun
Title card reading The Summer VAT Cut, 5% on children's meals, 25 June to 1 September 2026.

Summer VAT Cut 2026: What the 5% Children’s Meals Rate Means

Children's meals drop to 5% VAT from 25 June. What that means for your pricing, your tills and your menu, worked through in plain terms.
7 min read
16
May
Promotional graphic for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

World Cup 2026: What UK Pubs and Hospitality Need to Plan For

England's first World Cup 2026 game is 17 June. What to plan now on stock, staffing, menus and screens, before the rest of the street does.
7 min read
12
May
Wet British high street at dusk with a row of small shopfronts, one of them boarded up.

4 to 6 UK Hospitality Businesses Close Every Day

Behind the closure figure sits a pattern. What the businesses still trading have in common, and what it costs to copy them.
7 min read
12
Apr
The fourteen named food allergens shown as a labelled grid, from celery and cereals containing gluten through to sulphites and tree nuts

Food Allergens

The 14 allergens, what the law requires of a catering business, and the habits that keep declarations accurate when service gets busy.
3 min read
12
Apr
A chef sitting alone on the step of an open kitchen back door at dusk, the empty kitchen behind him.

Mental Health in the Hospitality Industry

The pressures in hospitality are unlike most industries. An honest look at what the job does to people, and what employers can do about it.
3 min read
12
Apr
Why Your FOH and BOH Teams Are Working Against Each Other

Why Your FOH and BOH Teams Are Working Against Each Other

Why front of house and back of house end up working against each other, what it costs in service and turnover, and the training that closes it.
5 min read
12
Apr
A chef in a dark apron setting a plated dish down for guests at a dining table in a private house.

Private Chef's are no longer just for the elite

Private chefs used to be a luxury for the very wealthy. Changing lifestyles and flexible pricing have made them realistic for far more people.
4 min read
10
Apr
Chef and colleague working through recipe costings at a table with a laptop spreadsheet, calculator and notebooks, kitchen behind.

Recipe Costing From Scratch: Are You Guessing Your GP?

Food cost and gross profit are not the same number. How to cost a recipe properly, and why most operators are still guessing at their GP.
7 min read
30
Mar
A folded chef jacket, tongs, a service cloth and an empty mug on a stainless steel bench at the end of service, seen from above

When Is the Right Time to Bring in a Catering Consultant?

Five situations where a catering consultant earns the fee, and why the call made in a crisis is always the expensive one.
4 min read
20
Mar
Bowls of prepped ingredients laid out on a stainless kitchen bench, with green leaves, chopped tomato and grated cheese.

Do You Have a Grip on Your Gross Profit?

Gross profit is the number that decides whether a hospitality business survives. How to calculate it properly, and what to do when it slips.
7 min read