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Happy New Year

by | Jan 16, 2026 | Thought Leadership

happy new year - thought leadership article

I think this message rings hollow for a lot of hospitality operators. Over the last few years, we have seen our cost base increase massively, and for many people, waking up in the new year has meant worrying about their businesses.

Let’s not forget there are a significant number who live above the shop, so they’re worrying about their homes as well. Judging by my own business, the Christmas numbers were steady, not exciting. The good days were really good, but the off days were noticeably quieter.

And now, we’re all worrying what this month and the rest of the year will look like. Will everyone be saving money and dieting? We can’t do a lot about changing consumer habits, but what we can do is adjust our businesses to make them better and more suitable for the future market. So, what are we doing?

I’m writing this article sitting in my own village pub at 10.30am, with ten people in for coffee and breakfast. Growing breakfast and coffee trade has been a slow process – it isn’t easy to get people to realise we’re open at 10am every day. But now, it’s a profitable session for us, and it’s all growth from here. We’re even offering 50% off breakfast in January to keep driving awareness that we’re open!

The next thing we’re working on this year is corporate events. We’re developing our own collateral, and one of our team will focus on getting more corporate bookings. We’ll invest in someone going out to businesses to drum up trade. We’ve also bought our own darts board and now we have weekly darts – a new venture for us that’s proving popular with locals. And finally, something a bit more left field: we’re going to try selling local, high-quality meat to our customers. We have two local farmers keen to sell us their meat directly, which will hopefully give us another source of income.

The point is, the village pub needs to keep diversifying. As the government pushes up our break-even point by unreasonable amounts, we have to find ways to grow sales just to keep our heads above water. There are plenty of things we can do to expand our business, and that’s now essential for survival.

Of course, we also need to get better at everything we do – from maxing out Sunday lunch to delivering friendly, memorable service, and food and drink that works for our market. In our business, we’ll still be trying to raise quality and slightly decrease portion sizes for the next menu, as well as putting real effort into our barbecue offer.

But we also need to look at our cost lines and manage them even better. As I sit here now, we have chefs delivering food to tables because that menu allows us to run with only one front-of-house. We’re also focusing on shifting prep away from the morning – a constant battle! Labour is my specialist subject, and you might think after 12 years of running the same pub we’d have it nailed.

Sadly, no – we keep improving and need to keep finding every little item to make us more efficient. We’re also going to review all our cost lines and tighten up everything we do. Gardening, music, quiz costs and cleaning materials are all lined up for a good hard stare.

So, lots of work ahead to make the most of our business. It’s all hard work, but hopefully, it will yield more than just standing still from a profit perspective. We feel positive, but we’ll need to be ruthless and focused at every level of the business. We’ve written our objectives – now we need to deliver them!

I hope this article gives you something to focus on, and more hope and determination to tackle what needs to be done in your business. It’s certainly helped me just writing it.

Alastair Scott is chief executive of S4labour and owner of Malvern Inns

Why Habits and Behaviours Matter More Than Ever

by | Jan 7, 2026 | Thought Leadership

When January Runs Dry: Why Habits and Behaviours Matter More Than Ever

The festive season was always my favourite time of year to be front-facing in hospitality. Joyful guests, hardworking teams and tills ringing. Unfortunately, what often followed was quite the opposite. January is, without doubt, the time of year that can easily undo all of that good work if it’s not treated as an opportunity for scrutiny, planning and reflection. It’s far too often we see businesses drop the ball in the downtime, often caused by the optimism of a strong Christmas period and that age old “it can’t possibly get as quiet as last year” mentality.  

I’d like to think that, in my 13 back-to-back festive periods, I learnt a thing or two about how to combat these challenges – and even more so in the past five years, working alongside operations teams to really get into the detail of why managing quiet periods is just as important as taking the money when it’s there to be had. 

We all know that our industry is no doubt facing the toughest challenges we ever have. Without mentioning the dreaded “B” word, we were already in a situation where staffing shortages, high turnover and yearly wage bill rises have put pay to several businesses that would otherwise have survived.  

The good news is, we have seen multiple operators not only ride this wave but thrive off the back of implementing great practices and focusing on efficiency and productivity. I run the Operational Excellence team at S4labour, we’re all ex-operators that spend our time training, coaching and developing managers to put habits and behaviours at the core of everything they do.  

What Does Operational Excellence Mean to Us?

Habits & Behaviours Are at the Key: It’s not just about systems; it’s about embedding the right behaviours into daily routines.  

Embed a Culture of Continuous Improvement: Teams that consistently apply best practices deliver better service and reduce waste. 

Empowerment Through Clarity: Staff should understand what “great” looks like and how their actions impact the business. 

Anybody can implement a system, but without these behavioural focuses, nothing will change. We always focus on delivering three key measures: 

Consistency 

For anybody who has listened to GT (Gareth, a fellow S4labour and ex pub guy) and I chat in our webinars and podcasts, you’ll know I’m a huge believer that you cannot paint every business within your estate with the same brush. Every single site will have its nuances and as such, the time should be taken to understand why and how the GMs operate them the way they do.  

This does not, however, mean that standardised practices and ways of working should not be set in terms of service, product or compliance. We always implement best practice, making operators lives as simple as possible whilst maintaining brand promises. 

Engagement 

Habits‑based training, delivered by people who have been there and done it, gives managers the confidence that it’s all for their benefit… We implement tools from an operator and team perspective, giving managers the motivation to use everything at their disposal to succeed. We used to say it costs on average £1000 to recruit and train a new team member. Given this was back in my Ops days, I’d go as far as to say this is probably more like £1500 today. Adapting our training processes and working to our teams’ generational wants and needs in terms of learning principles and engagement, is key to retaining them. 

Our partners at Purple Story know a thing or two about this, having been through the day myself, I’d say the ‘generations’ workshop is a must for any GM – it’s certainly given us a few more strings to our training bow. 

Profitability 

Ultimately, this is the output of everything we do. Delivering margins under pressure is becoming increasingly difficult, (yes, I know I said I wouldn’t mention the budget), but getting hold of controllables is essential. We have delivered over 300 Goldilocks visits now, working alongside GMs, Head Chefs and management teams to ensure labour efficiencies are maximised without sacrificing guest service or team turnover. 

On average, we’ve seen a 4%-point reduction in labour margins across our visits, driven by slack reduction and cost saving in some instances, but investment in stress periods to drive sales growth in others. Hence my anti-one-size-fits all mentality.

So, what should we all be doing in the next 6 weeks before Valentine’s Day hopefully kick-starts the year? 

 

Audit Your Current Practices – Take the time to review everything labour. Attention to detail is key, so invest that time in really understanding your opportunities and use data to make the key decisions. Everything from briefing tactics to communication loops should be scrutinised whilst you have the time.

Invest in Behavioural Training – Don’t just dictate how things should be done – work alongside your teams so that they understand why the way they work is key to success. They may need to accept that doing things differently is not a bad thing, but you need to take them on the journey. 

Leverage Your Tech Stack – I’ll say it again – data-led decisions leave no room for excuses. Use your sales patterns, understand your admin and prep expectations and ACTUAL labour requirements to encourage proper planning and delivery. Prevent last minute decisions around rotas, ordering and stocks by using the tools at your disposal. 

 Programmes like ours will help embed excellence into your everyday operations, but it’s a journey, not a quick fix. I would implore everyone out there to take a step back and plan, don’t just react to the downturn with immediate, rash decisions. 

Start measuring your behaviours and KPI delivery will follow… don’t expect to measure KPIs to change behaviours. 

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Strong December Trading Sees Hospitality Sales Rise 3.4% Year‑on‑Year

by | Jan 5, 2026 | Sales Figures

The latest figures from S4labour show a strong finish to the year for UK hospitality, with overall like‑for‑like sales up 3.4% in December 2025. This marks a significant improvement on the 0.1% like-for-like increase recorded in December 2024 and builds on the 0.9% uplift seen in November, indicating growing momentum across the sector.

London once again outperformed the rest of the country, delivering a 10.5% rise in like‑for‑like sales compared to December last year. Trading outside the capital also remained positive, with non‑London regions reporting a 1.2% increase.

Dry‑led venues recorded a 3.5% uplift year‑on‑year, and wet‑led sites saw sales rise 3.3%, reflecting consistent spending across pubs and bars during the Christmas period.

Richard Hartley, Chief Growth Officer at S4labour, commented: “Consumer’s appear to have saved for the festive season which will have been a welcome relief to operators. However, we start a new year with government’s cost pressures on the horizon and the quietest time of year to navigate – hopefully it won’t be too quiet.”

Why the Rise in 18-21 Minimum Wage is Misguided

by | Jan 2, 2026 | Thought Leadership

I have spent a bit of time looking at minimum wage rates across different countries of the world and trying to get a deeper understanding of the purpose and effect of them. It is fascinating.

If we look at the core minimum wage for those aged 21 and over, the government has always aimed for it to be two-thirds of the median wage in the country. According to some research (although not all), this target has already been achieved, which is why the government is now trying to grow the core minimum wage in line with national wage growth.

At least this means the core minimum wage should now grow only in line with wage inflation. The target of two-thirds of median wages is among the highest in the world – only Mexico sets a higher benchmark.

Economic research has long suggested that the effect of minimum wage on unemployment is low, but increasingly, studies show while this holds true in the short term, it doesn’t in the long term. No surprise there – in the short term, we have to carry on as we are, but in the long term, we will find better ways to run our businesses and shed staff.

Another proven effect of the minimum wage is that it drives inflation – and that inflation hits the very people it is intended to help the hardest of all consumer groups, because it affects the goods they buy more than anyone else. As a result, the increases in the minimum wage produce no economic benefit for those people. The government could, and should, lower the target two-thirds of median wages to 60% and let the rate drift upwards more slowly – it would help everyone.

The government, now that it has hit the target for over-21s, is aggressively pursuing growth in the 18-21 rate so that this cohort have the same wage rates and standards of living as their elders. While this is admirable, it is somewhat academic. It only works if you have a job. If you don’t have a job, then the rate is irrelevant.

Surely the government’s most important objective should be getting more young people into work. With almost one million 16 to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training (NEETs), we face an even bigger and more worrying challenge. Our NEET rate has risen by 6% year-on-year and is now higher than both the US and Europe.

That must be the priority. If young people don’t learn to work at that age, they may never learn – and there is a serious risk that these million young people go through life without ever working. The UK cannot afford that, and it’s not good for those individuals who suffer as a result.

Hospitality is one of the key industries helping young people take their first steps into the workplace. By my calculations, we employ around 5% of the country’s 16 to 24-year-olds. When the government damages our industry, it also damages the prospects of countless young people trying to get that crucial first foothold on the working ladder. And as supermarkets move to cashless tills and the high street continues to contract, where else will young people learn their essential life skills?

In truth, the only reason the minimum wage is so politically acceptable is that it shifts the cost of supporting people on to employers rather than the government. If the government had to pay the difference, I’m sure it would be far less enthusiastic. The average age for leaving home in the UK is now 25, with more than half of 21-year-olds still living with their parents – so the economic need is not as pressing as some suggest.

So come on, government. Stop driving inflation by continually raising the minimum wage and give young people a real chance to get a job and start climbing the employment ladder. Make youth employment a primary objective and recognise that increasing the minimum wage isn’t helping – nor is making the hospitality industry suffer even more.

Alastair Scott is chief executive of S4labour and owner of Malvern Inns

Operational Excellence in Hospitality: Habits That Drive or Drain Performance

by | Dec 22, 2025 | Blogs

The Habits Gap: What Managers Are Really Doing

Every day, operators balance unpredictable guest volumes, fluctuating sales, and the challenge of keeping teams motivated and efficient. For ops teams, the difference between venues that thrive and those that struggle often comes down to one thing: the habits managers practice on the ground. 

Excellence is built shift by shift, habit by habit. When we surveyed hospitality professionals to uncover what managers are really doing, the results revealed a striking gap between what senior teams assume is happening and what’s actually taking place. That gap is where profit leaks, service falters, and opportunities are lost.

What You Think Is Happening vs. What’s Actually Happening

Many ops leaders assume their managers are forecasting sales, planning labour to match demand, and reviewing performance daily. But the data tells a different story: 

  • Only 46% of managers forecast sales on a day-by-day basis
  • 38% of managers don’t deploy their teams to maximise sales
  • 41% of managers don’t stagger start and finish times or deduct time for breaks
  • 26% don’t formalise their shift allocation when writing their rota
  • 15% of managers don’t use quiet periods productively
  • 54% do not review sales forecasts and labour schedules daily
  • 15% of managers don’t accurately track their hours for payroll

The Cost of Assumptions

Assuming your managers are doing the right things can be costly. Every missed forecast, every misaligned shift, every unreviewed rota contributes to profit leakage. The gap between the rota and reality is where money is lost — and where service suffers. 

“You can’t manage what you can’t see.” As an ops team, you need tools and processes that give you real-time visibility into what’s happening on the floor. That means: 

  • Seeing how labour is deployed hour-by-hour
  • Understanding how sales forecasts align with staffing
  • Identifying where shifts are overstaffed or underutilised

What Ops Managers Can Do Next

 Ask yourself: “Do I know what habits my managers are practicing every day?”

The truth is, excellence isn’t built on assumptions – it’s built on habits. That’s why we’ve developed our Operational Excellence Programme: a structured way to benchmark your venues, embed best practices, and turn good intentions into daily behaviours. By engaging with the programme, you’ll be able to:

 

  • Gain clear visibility into the habits shaping performance across your venues

  • Identify where good habits are strong – and where bad habits exist

  • Equip your managers with the tools and training to build consistency across every shift

Learn More

How Service and Culture Built a Pub Empire – with Hamish Stoddart

by | Dec 18, 2025 | Blogs

Service and Culture: Lessons from Hamish

In the hospitality industry, great food and drink is essential – but it’s not enough. What truly sets businesses apart is exceptional service delivered consistently. In a recent episode of our podcast, RAW, we spoke with Hamish Stoddart, co-founder of Peach Pubs, about how his team created a culture of world-class service that set them apart. Here’s what we learned. 

Listen to the Episode

The Peach Pubs Journey

Peach Pubs began in 2002 with a simple vision: to create gastro pubs that combined fantastic food with outstanding service. Starting with a single tenancy – the Rose & Crown – the founders wanted to build a scalable business that felt personal and welcoming. 

Hamish admits he wasn’t a typical industry insider. “I pulled my first pint at 38,” he says. But his passion for service and culture drove the business forward. From day one, Peach focused on shared ownership, giving general managers equity and encouraging every team member to feel like they owned the pub. This sense of pride became the foundation for exceptional guest experiences. 

Many businesses talk about values, but few make them stick. Peach Pubs embedded its purpose—“Making Life Peachy”—into every aspect of operations. For 15 years, the team lived by a set of values that weren’t just words on a wall. They were front-of-mind every day. Hamish explains: “We taught ourselves to create a structure around the values so people could remember and live them. We even worked with a world-class memory champion to help staff recall them.” 

This commitment meant that even short-term team members could recite the values and share stories about how they applied them. The result? Guests walked into a Peach pub and felt instantly welcomed—because the team knew why they were there and what they stood for. 

Practical Strategies for Hospitality Leaders

Building a culture of great service doesn’t happen overnight. Here are Hamish’s top tips: 

  • Define Your Purpose and Values Clearly – make sure everyone knows why they’re in the building. A strong purpose creates alignment and motivation.
  • Invest in Training and Reinforcement – don’t just announce values – embed them. Use creative techniques to make them memorable and actionable.
  • Create Joy Internally – hospitality is about passing joy to guests. That only happens when your team feels valued and enjoys their work.
  • Commit Time and Resources – culture requires meetings, training, and leadership involvement. It’s an investment that pays off in loyalty and reputation.

While service is fundamental, Hamish reminds us that success in hospitality requires more than smiles and great food. Finance, operations, and leadership all play a role. “You spin a lot of plates in this game,” he says. But if you get culture right in the first few years, it becomes easier to maintain – and harder for competitors to replicate. 

At its heart, hospitality is about creating moments of joy. “You pass joy on,” Hamish says, “but only if you’re enjoying yourself and know why you’re there.” When every team member shares that sense of purpose, guests feel it – and that’s what keeps them coming back. 

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