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Grateful for Hospitality

Grateful for Hospitality

Von: Mason Potter
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The Grateful for Hospitality Podcast features candid conversations with founders, operators, and experts shaping the sector. Practical insights, honest stories and ideas to make you think.© 2026 Mason Potter Kochen Kunst Lebensmittel & Wein Management & Leadership Ökonomie
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  • EP: 07 - Inside Ibiza's Night Economy - Danny Whittle on Pacha, Chinois and 25 Years of Organising the Party

    EP: 07 - Inside Ibiza's Night Economy - Danny Whittle on Pacha, Chinois and 25 Years of Organising the Party
    Sep 24 2026
    When Danny Whittle arrived in Ibiza his VIP room was Mick Jagger, U2 and Madonna. Today it's old ravers with a credit card - and he thinks that's the best thing that ever happened to the island. Mason sits down in Ibiza with the ex-Royal Navy sailor and firefighter who spent 14 years as Pacha's music and brand director, co-founded the International Music Summit, and now programmes Chinois - a 1,500-capacity club competing with 7,000-cap giants. Expect the marketing stunt that hijacked DJ Mag, why he'd never ban phones, why he pulled a 300 grand airport ad spend, and the lessons any UK hospitality operator can take from the world's most competitive nightlife market.Episode summaryThis one is a bit left field, and it's a belter. Mason travels to Ibiza to sit down with Danny Whittle - six years on aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, ten years as a Staffordshire firefighter, then straight into the Wild West of 90s rave promotion. He landed in Ibiza in January 2000 to programme Pacha, took a two-nights-a-week club to seven nights and 22 franchises, launched a magazine and a record label, and co-founded IMS with Pete Tong. Now he's doing it again from a standing start at Chinois. This is a masterclass in content, positioning, timing and building a brand people tattoo on themselves - with every lesson pointing straight back at UK hospitality.About the guestDanny Whittle was music and brand director at Pacha Ibiza for 14 years, growing it from a nightclub into a lifestyle brand spanning hotels, Lío, Destino, a magazine, a record label and franchises from New York to Marrakech. He is a co-founder of the International Music Summit (IMS) alongside Pete Tong, Ben Turner and Simeon Friend, now in its 17th year with around 2,000 delegates. Today he books and runs Chinois, the 1,500-capacity club in Ibiza Town that is part of the Island Hospitality group alongside Beach House, Zuma, Hotel Mi Casa and Finca La Plaza. Before all of that he served six years in the Royal Navy, including the Falklands in 1982, and ten years in the Staffordshire fire service.Key topics coveredWhy "content is king" applies to every F&B business, not just nightclubs - and how to get the components around it rightHow to position a small venue against giants: the supermarket vs delicatessen playThe "nursery or retirement home" talent model - booking people on the way up and on the way down, and what to do when they outgrow youWhy banning phones is theatre, and why social media is the biggest free marketing engine hospitality has ever hadWhere to actually spend your marketing budget - what happened when Chinois pulled 300 grand of airport screens and moved it to paid socialThe timing rule for negotiating with agents, suppliers and partners: don't look desperate, don't be lazyWhy every venue in a destination should want its competitors busy - rising tides and the Ibiza United storyHow to build a brand that outlives the founder: cherries, magazines, hotels and going direct to talentThe two-sided hospitality problem: looking after the talent and looking after the guest at the same timeSeasonal staff accommodation and why gentrifying your whole market kills your pipeline of future customersWhat we discussed[1] Introduction - who Danny is and why Mason flew to Ibiza[2] From HMS Hermes and the Falklands to ten years fighting fires - and the woman at the job centre who told him to go away for six months[3] Landing in the Wild West of 90s rave promotion at Renaissance and being the one who got out of bed[4] What Ibiza was like in the mid-90s - free, open and dangerous - and why "it's not like it used to be" really means "I'm old"[5] The phone debate - why Danny would never ban them and what he saw at Circle in Paris[6] The 22-hour party at Space, Bondi Beach for the millennium, and the call from Ricardo that moved him to Ibiza in ten days[7] "You have a lifestyle brand" - taking Pacha to 22 franchises, the magazine with Mick Jagger on the cover, and why it had to be independent[8] Ibiza United - herding five club owners into one London party and funding it with a magazine[9] How Ibiza went upmarket - the superyachts leaving Saint-Tropez and Vegas copying the Ibiza model[10] Getting rid of outside promoters and going direct to artists - why it paid everyone more[11] Content is king - filling Pacha seven nights a week and why institutions are easier to maintain than to build[12] Chinois - finding a niche as the delicatessen among the supermarkets after four years from a standing start[13] Ibiza's ageing crowd, San Antonio as the gateway, and why old ravers with a credit card are good news[14] The nursery-or-retirement-home booking model and why loyalty is a two-way street[15] Why Chinois will never go fully exclusive - the group needs a playground for the next generation[16] Looking after DJs, agents and managers - professionalism and the art of timing[17] Looking after guests - what the VIP team does when someone important walks in[18] The best stunt he ever ...
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    1 Std. und 6 Min.
  • EP: 06 - Hospitality Doesn't Have a Recruitment Problem. It Has a Retention Problem.

    EP: 06 - Hospitality Doesn't Have a Recruitment Problem. It Has a Retention Problem.
    Aug 27 2026
    Everyone in hospitality talks about a recruitment crisis. Dawn Lawrence thinks we're solving the wrong problem. In this episode she makes the case that retention is the real issue - and that the fixes are cheaper and simpler than most operators assume. She unpacks why benefits belong at the top of every job ad, why free parking and a uniform count, why transparency on tips is now a competitive advantage, and where AI in recruitment quietly filters out brilliant people. She also opens up the CLEAR campaign - care, leisure, entertainment, attractions and retail - the parts of hospitality nobody thinks to advertise. Practical, blunt and full of things you can action this week.About the GuestDawn Lawrence is Co-Founder and CEO of Hospitality Jobs UK, a job board built around quality over quantity that also runs employer microsites, and Co-Founder of HUU - Hospitality & Universities United, a free platform connecting students, universities and hospitality employers. Before hospitality she spent her career at Dixons Stores Group (Dixons Carphone PLC), leaving as European Head of Recruitment covering the UK and Europe for 90,000 employees with a team of 53. She is a vocal advocate for structured hiring, transparent pay and tips, and the CLEAR campaign.Key Topics CoveredWhy your job ads are losing candidates in the first three seconds - and the one section that has to sit at the top.How to turn tips into a hiring advantage - what to disclose, how to explain the split, and why £100 a week changes the whole offer.Where AI helps in recruitment and where it costs you good people - the screening trap most operators walk straight into.How to keep your best people without spending more on pay - L&D as a retention tool, not a training line item.What great hospitality managers actually do differently - listening, succession conversations and handing over real projects.The five hospitality sectors you're not recruiting from - care, leisure, entertainment, attractions and retail.How to sell hospitality against a warehouse job - the benefits maths that wins the argument.Why brand awareness beats brand size - parent brands, sub-brands and what candidates actually recognise.What We DiscussedIntroduction - Mason sits down with Dawn Lawrence of Hospitality Jobs UK.The white-label graduate programmes Dawn built on HUU, and the 18-month rotation scored against a discipline matrix.Inside HUU: employer, academic and candidate sections, hospitality acronyms explained for international students, interview tips, charities and trade bodies.Why HUU isn't commercialised - universities pay nothing, and what employer sponsorship actually buys.The heat-map exercise that revealed candidates were leaving to research employers, and how microsites fixed it.Why every microsite must have a benefits section - uniform, food, tips, and in some cases live-in accommodation.What students actually want: the monthly university sessions with eight to ten employers across different sectors.The career story hospitality never tells Gen Z - head office, not just the shop floor."More than just a jobs board": quality over quantity, and the audiences other boards ignore - the armed forces career transition programme, universities, Springboard, the BII, the Institute of Hospitality and the care sector.Tips as a benefit, and why some operators still hide them - culture, transparency and where the money really goes.How to build a job ad that converts: benefits at the top, brand awareness as the second pillar, and the underrated wins like free parking.Mental health support as a benefit - and the free industry provision operators forget they already have.Retail versus hospitality: what Dawn found when she moved across from Dixons, and what has improved since.Tech and AI in recruitment - where it earns its place, where it has to be policed, and the case for human-to-human.The retention argument: why L&D is a retention tool, and why onboarding and ideas from the team matter more than pay rises.The Peach Pub Company "Peachy Parade" - fifteen minutes each morning that set the team up for the day.What makes a great hospitality manager: listening, succession conversations, giving away projects and hiring people better than you.The good news stories the industry doesn't tell - new openings, competitive socialising and pubs that are thriving.The report stat that stopped Mason: 72% said working with people they like mattered most - ahead of pay.Dawn's own career - from an hour and a half sat waiting on day one at Dixons to European Head of Recruitment, and why she left.Hospitality versus the warehouse: life-work balance, predictable hours, and the five to eight grand difference.The CLEAR campaign explained - care, leisure, entertainment, attractions and retail, and why people leave the industry without knowing it.Career waiters: what the UK can learn from America and Europe about front of house as a profession.What the armed forces career transition survey revealed about ...
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    45 Min.
  • EP: 05 - The Conversation That Makes Your Team Six Times Less Likely to Leave – with Korero’s Jo Harley

    EP: 05 - The Conversation That Makes Your Team Six Times Less Likely to Leave – with Korero’s Jo Harley
    Jul 29 2026
    In ShortYour engagement survey says everyone’s happy – so why do good people keep leaving? Jo Harley, founder of career conversations platform Korero, joins Mason to unpack why engagement scores don’t predict retention, what actually makes people stay, and the data showing staff who had a career conversation were six times less likely to leave. If you lead a team in hospitality, this is your playbook for keeping the people who matter.Episode SummaryFrom pulling pints on commission in a Greek bar to holding her own pub licence at 25, Jo Harley has lived every rung of hospitality – and since 2001 she’s been helping the industry keep its best people. In this episode, Jo and Mason get into why retention is still broken in 2026: engagement scores that don’t predict anything, managers who “don’t have time” to talk to their teams, and recognition schemes nobody uses. Jo shares the five things people actually want from work, why embedding beats engagement, and the client data showing career conversations made staff six times less likely to leave. Straight talk, hard numbers, and a proper dose of hospitality heart.About the GuestJo Harley is the founder of Korero, a tech platform that helps leaders at every level have great career conversations with their people. Her hospitality roots run deep – she held her own pub licence at 25, running the King of Wessex in Basingstoke, before moving into sales and marketing at Bacardi Martini during the Bacardi Breezer boom. Since 2001 she’s been helping organisations retain their talented people, and Korero runs the technology behind Best Places to Work in Hospitality.Key Topics CoveredWhy your engagement score won’t save your retention rate – and what the Pineapple Report data really showsThe five things your team actually wants from work – and where money really sits on the listHow to make performance conversations non-personal, so new managers stop dodging themThe first-six-months check-in structure that matters even more under the new Employment Rights ActRecognition that actually lands – individualised, peer-led, and chosen by your team, not head officeWhat We Discussed[1] Introduction – Jo’s journey from Loughborough and a summer working Greek bars to walking into a Camberley pub for a job[2] Getting her own licence at 25 – running the King of Wessex in Basingstoke, living in, and the 100 Club of remembering every regular’s drink[3] Bacardi Martini in the Breezer heyday – great fun, but no one invested in her progression[4] The job ad in the back of Caterer Magazine that, in 2001, started a career helping businesses retain their talented people[5] What Korero does – career conversations for leaders at every level[6] Not all retention is good – the shift back to an employer’s market and managed vs unmanaged attrition[7] Engagement vs embedding – why a happy survey score doesn’t mean people will stay[8] The five things people want from work – and why pay accuracy and transparency are the non-negotiable foundation[9] Why managers say they “don’t have time” – and why people-first culture has to come from the top[10] Consequences and expectation setting – defining what good looks like so conversations stay non-personal[11] Honest hiring – the Five Guys employer brand video and screening people out before they join[12] Check-ins at weeks 1, 4, 8, 12 and 20 – the first six months, fail fast, and the Employment Rights Act[13] Coaching managers to have better conversations – Korero’s new in-platform coach[14] The client data – staff who had career conversations were six times less likely to leave[15] Recognition in 2026 – peer recognition, values cards, and why top-down perks like discounted golf fall flat[16] Should reward link to performance? Fairness, transparency and being ready for it[17] Closing the gap between the best and the rest – talk to your people, treat them as individuals[18] What Jo is grateful for – the partnerships and people that surround the industryKey Quotes“People need to come to work to do a good job. And I think most people do want to do a good job. I think where organisations fall down is that they don’t know what good looks like.” – Jo Harley“There’s no correlation between an engagement score and retention.” – Jo Harley“It takes quite a strong leader to sort of say, ‘Yeah, we are a people-first culture,’ hand on heart, and actually mean it.” – Jo Harley“If your culture is the difference between the behaviours you reward and the behaviours you tolerate, then you have to understand what those behaviours are.” – Jo HarleyKey TakeawaysMeasure embedding, not just engagement. Surveys are a temperature check – belonging, fit and connection are what actually keep people. Ask what someone would be sacrificing if they left.Get the basics right first. Accurate, on-time, transparent pay is the foundation – nothing else you do about culture works ...
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    44 Min.
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