I didn’t join Whitbread with a master plan.
Seventeen years ago, I walked down London Road in Nottingham, turned right instead of left and asked if the Premier Inn needed help in the kitchen. They did. I started the next day as a Kitchen Assistant.
What I couldn’t see then was that I’d just stepped into a business that would let me move across operations, leadership, technology and innovation – without ever needing to leave.
Today, I sit in Central Operations, helping shape what the hotel of the future actually looks like. And somehow, it all still makes sense.
________________________________________
At its simplest, my job is to make sure big ideas land properly.
I sit in that middle ground between strategy and reality – translating large-scale technology programmes into something that genuinely works for our teams and guests. That means implementation, change, adoption and long-term improvement, not just rollout.
Right now, that spans everything from:
• Rolling out next-generation self-service kiosks across the estate
• Evolving Copilot into something far more ambitious
• Replacing legacy F&B systems with a modern Oracle stack
• Introducing multi-use devices that simplify work for frontline teams
• Shaping the next chapter of housekeeping technology
All of it feeds into one thing: the Hotel of the Future 2031.
The Birmingham NEC is our model site; a place where we can test, prototype and learn faster. Digital keys. Smart key drops. Robotics in F&B. AI-supported operations. Not concepts on a slide but things that teams and guests are using right now.
And the point isn’t the tech.
The point is what it removes, simplifies or improves for the people and teams doing the job.
________________________________________
If it doesn’t remove friction, it’s not worth doing.
That’s the lens I apply to everything. Whether it’s AI reducing admin, devices cutting down double-handling, or systems surfacing the right information at the exact moment it’s needed – the goal is always the same: less effort, more clarity, better experiences.
We’ve seen it already:
• Housekeeping starting earlier because departures are confirmed automatically
• Teams hosting instead of firefighting because kiosks handle the basics
• F&B teams moving faster with a single device instead of five systems
• Managers planning properly because they can finally see the year ahead
None of that happens by accident. It only works if you understand operations deeply which is why my background matters.
I’ve done the jobs. I know the pinch points. And that gives you credibility when you’re asking teams to change how they work.
“I’ve gone from washing dishes to helping design how thousands of people will work in the future… and I’ve never once had to leave the business to do it.”
________________________________________
I didn’t jump careers, I layered them. Kitchen. Front of house. F&B management. Operations leadership. Regional roles. National programmes. Tech implementation. Central Ops.
At every point, someone backed the move with development programmes, stretch roles and secondments, working with senior leaders who created space to learn and teams who trusted me to figure things out.
Moving from operations into the Support Centre was terrifying, I can’t pretend it wasn’t! New language. New ways of working. New expectations. But I wasn’t thrown in cold. The foundations were there; all the coaching, support and time to learn properly. And once you’ve made that leap once, you realise how much bigger your career can be.
________________________________________
What you need is curiosity, credibility and care.
Some of the best people in Central Ops come from operations because they understand impact. They ask better questions. They challenge assumptions. They notice where change will hurt (or help) first.
There’s project management, yes. There’s change management, definitely. But more than anything, there’s responsibility. These programmes touch thousands of people. You don’t get to be casual about that.
If you care about how work actually feels on the ground, you’ll do well here.
________________________________________
Because I’ve never stopped moving.
Whitbread has always had another chapter ready – not promised, but possible.
I’m proud to work here. Proud of Central Operations. Proud that we’re not just talking about the future of hospitality – we’re actually building it, testing it and learning from it in real time.
And honestly? I still pinch myself. It’s what happens when a business backs ambition with action.