Operations & Hospitality
Operations leader with 25+ years of experience
I have spent the majority of my career in hospitality operations - managing teams, running sites end-to-end, and hiring the people that make them work. That operational foundation is what I bring to everything I do.
What I have done
Operations Manager - Emilia’s Crafted Pasta, London (January 2022 - January 2024) Managed end-to-end operations across three restaurant sites overseeing circa 60 employees. Conducted operational reviews and implemented process improvements across food preparation, customer service, inventory and financial controls. Monitored labour costs and scheduled staff to maintain ideal ratios during peak hours.
General Manager - Leon, London (February 2016 - July 2018) Directed daily operations across a high-volume site. Implemented quality control measures, analysed sales data to forecast demand and staffing needs, and coached and mentored team members with ongoing development opportunities.
New Site Openings - Pizza Express and Gelupo/Vico Responsible for hiring, onboarding and training for new sites. Built operational systems from scratch and ensured sites were trading confidently from day one.
Earlier roles Operations Manager and General Manager positions across Wands and Wizard Exploratorium, Rotisserie on the Rise, Pret-a-Manger, McDonalds and Barburrito.
Key achievements
- Directly managed a team of 120 people at a flagship site during peak season
- Oversaw a further 8 sites simultaneously with a combined workforce of 120, managing through the site management teams
- Delivered 50% above annual revenue target within the first four months of the financial year
- Taken new sites from zero to fully trading in as little as two months
- Awarded the Golden Purse Strings at Leon - recognition for exceptional financial performance
- Developed and promoted hundreds of people throughout my career, including one team member who progressed from entry level to management in just three months
My approach
I build teams through honesty, integrity and leading from the front. My job is to empower managers and staff to make better decisions themselves - not to make every decision for them.
When I walk into a struggling site I take it back to fundamentals: People, Product and Process. In my experience most operational problems trace back to one of those three things, and fixing the root cause is always more effective than treating the symptoms.
A new opening succeeds or fails before the doors open. Savvy site selection, the right team in place from day one, and clear operational standards set early are what separate a strong launch from a difficult one.
What people say
On a quarterly review early in one of my roles, a director noted that before I had even met anyone in the business I had already identified that I needed three months to get the operation running on track. That self-awareness and structured approach to bedding in has been a consistent feature of every role I have taken on.
Brands I have worked with
McDonald’s - Pret-a-Manger - Barburrito - Leon - Pizza Express - Gelupo & Vico - Wands & Wizard Exploratorium - Rotisserie on the Rise - Emilia’s Crafted Pasta
Underpinned by an MBA
I completed an MBA at the University of Essex to sharpen the commercial and strategic side of what I do - bridging the gap between floor-level operational decisions and the business context they sit in.
A note on my technology background
If you have come here from a hospitality role and are curious about the rest of this site - yes, I also work in technology. I am a consultant placed at the National Crime Agency applying operational discipline to digital infrastructure delivery. Those two worlds are not as separate as they look.