Captive Conversations, The Hospitality Podcast

In this episode of Captive Conversations, Adam Forman sits down with Massimo from Restaurant Keys to explore what it really takes to build, grow, and scale hospitality brands without losing their soul.Massimo shares his experience working with operators across the UK and internationally, from opening restaurants from scratch to helping brands expand nationally and abroad. The conversation covers relevance in marketing, the importance of listening to teams on the floor, and why hospitality remains a deeply human business.They also discuss how technology, design, and operational flow should support people rather than replace them, and why comfort, familiarity, and emotional engagement are becoming more important for guests.#hospitality #restaurantindustry #guestexperience #peopleandculture #hospitalityleaders #captiveconversations

The final episode of 2025. What a year it's been.In this one, Adam sits down with Oliver Pugh, founder of Yeti Pay, and Chris Jolliffe, their Sales Director, to explore how a simple observation about tipping behaviour sparked a payments revolution.It started with a question most people never ask. When a guest leaves a tip on a card, why doesn't the waiter feel it? Oliver noticed this disconnect years ago. And instead of accepting it, he built something to fix it. The result? Tips went up 300%.From the early days of Table Yeti to winning BrewDog and building embedded payments infrastructure, Oliver and Chris share the realities of competing in a crowded market by doing things differently.This is a conversation about listening before building, enabling partners instead of competing with them, and why hospitality deserves payments that actually feel different.Thank you to everyone who listened this year. Here's to 2026. 🎧#CaptiveConversations #YetiPay #HospitalityPayments #EmbeddedFinance #FinTech #Hospitality

As the year comes to a close, Episode 80 of Captive Conversations takes a step back to reflect on how hospitality makes decisions.Adam speaks with Mark from Tenzo about why instinct alone is no longer enough, how operators are overwhelmed by dashboards, and why better data frameworks matter more than more reports.They explore how context, experience, and curiosity still play a critical role, and how AI can support teams without losing the human side of hospitality.A grounded conversation for anyone thinking about how to approach the year ahead. ✨#hospitality #hospitalitytech #restaurantdata #leadership #captiveconversations

In this episode of Captive Conversations, Adam sits down with Jonatan from All Gravy to explore how frontline technology can feel more human, more supportive and far more connected to the reality of hospitality work.Jonatan shares the story of his early career, the leaders who shaped him, and the moment he realised frontline teams were being asked to juggle seven or eight different apps just to get through a shift. He explains how that insight led All Gravy to pivot, rebuild and create a single platform focused on communication, learning and engagement.They also explore the future of AI for frontline teams, the importance of real service, why user research came before sales, and what hospitality truly needs to support retention and development.A warm, thoughtful and practical conversation for anyone shaping the future of workforce tech.#hospitality #allgravy #peopletech #frontlineteams

In this episode of Captive Conversations, Adam sits down with Rosie Akenhead to explore one of the biggest challenges facing hospitality today: the covers problem. Rosie describes how changing guest behaviour, home comforts and broader societal pressures have reshaped the way people choose to dine out. She also reflects on the emotional weight this places on teams who are still expected to deliver energy and inspiration every day.Rosie draws on her experience in both tenanted and managed pubs to explain the realities of supporting operators, balancing brand consistency and enabling local creativity. She shares practical insight into CRM transformation, booking journey improvements and the value of simple, thoughtful personalisation such as avoiding irrelevant content for the wrong audience.Together they explore:✔ Why covers feel unpredictable and what drives guest behaviour✔ The difference between tenanted and managed pub challenges✔ How disconnected marketing creates confusion for guests✔ What Rosie learned from implementing full CRM and data journeys✔ Why simple personalisation still matters more than complex automation✔ The moment she realised it was time to build her own business---Packed with honest insight for operators, marketers and CRM teams, this episode highlights the human and operational realities behind modern hospitality.#HospitalityMarketing #CaptiveConversations #GuestExperience #HospitalityTech #CRM #HospitalityStrategy #RestaurantTech #OperatorLife