HOSPITALITY CONSULTANCY
For kitchens and food businesses that want to do it better
Most kitchens run on depletion. They burn through people, produce, and goodwill, and call it the cost of doing business.
It doesn't have to be that way — and the places that work this out tend to be the ones worth working in, and worth eating at.
I've spent many years in and around kitchens — founding an award-winning café, training chefs, lecturing in organisational behaviour, and cooking everywhere from social enterprises to private dining. That mix is the point. I work on two things, and they turn out to be the same thing.
The culture
Kitchens don't have to be toxic to be excellent. The old idea that good food requires a bad atmosphere is wrong, and expensive — it costs you your best people. I help teams build something better: clearer leadership, healthier ways of working under pressure, and a culture people actually want to stay in. This draws on my work in organisational development and years teaching leadership and people management — applied to the specific, demanding reality of a working kitchen.
The operations
The craft side: cooking with the seasons, cooking from scratch, sourcing well, cutting waste, and building the back-of-house structure — process, hygiene, systems — that lets a kitchen run calmly instead of lurching. Done properly, this isn't a cost. It's where quality and efficiency come from at the same time.
How it works
Every kitchen is different, so every engagement is. Some want a fresh pair of eyes for a few days; some want to work together over a season. Get in touch and we'll work out what would actually help.