Hospitality · Hospitality tech · Sheffield
Thirty-five years in hospitality. Twenty-five building the tech that runs it.
Hello, thanks for visiting my personal website.
My first ten years were behind the bar, on the floor, and on the door, which included turning a derelict swimming baths into a 600-capacity music venue when I was 23.
The last twenty-five have been spent building the technology that supports our sector. An amazing team and I brought Airship back from the brink of bankruptcy to a SaaS exit, and we went on to build Toggle into a gifting platform that transacts £100m+ a year.
A bunch of good (and bad) exits in and I’m still obsessed with building and supporting tools that help operators succeed.
- 35+
- Years in hospitality
- £100m+
- Gift sales / year
- 9,000+
- Venues served
Welcome
Over the years, whenever I’ve been presenting or just chatting with people, someone has usually suggested I should have a website. Well, here it is.
I hope you enjoy it. It’s a work in progress, and I’m trying to make it as interesting and as funny as I can, because the last thirty-five years have been a bit of a journey. Not all of it was great.
I try to be honest with people about where I got things wrong and what I learned from it. And, like any other human, I don’t always learn from the first mistake. Often not from the second either.
Building platforms and advising businesses that support the hospitality sector
Explore
Where to next.
Thirty-five years, seven companies, one near-bankruptcy, and the pivots in between.
Read the story ↗ Things I’ve built, bought or backedThe Deep End, Airship, Toggle, and where I put my time now.
See the ventures ↗ The LinkedIn archiveTwenty-two posts on hospitality, marketing, loyalty and building the tech.
Browse the writing ↗ On stage, in print and podcastsKeynotes, awards and features across the hospitality sector.
See speaking ↗From the writing archive
“Gift cards are not just for Christmas. They can make people feel warm and fuzzy all year round.”
On gift cards · read the full post ↗