Blogs & Insight
Discover the latest thought leadership from the worlds of mystery dining and reputation management.
Order-at-the-table-apps should generate more engagement, not less.
Order-at-the-table-apps should generate more engagement, not less. Tim Martin wrote an article about how apps are reducing customer engagement. But I actually see them as a fantastic opportunity to do the absolute opposite. I’m sorry, but how is having a stressed or disengaged server pressing buttons on a handheld device at your table any better than you inputting your own order into an app? No – apps are a great opportunity to save money on
Do GMs have a parental role?
Do GM’s have a parental role? In a word – Yes. Adults are really just grown-up children. We might not throw ourselves on the floor anymore, but we still have our versions of tantrums. Most of us keep them inside; a few make their displeasure known. Either way, angst and tears rarely help anyone. Remember Super Nanny? The meltdowns were almost always for the same reasons: 📍Parents hadn’t set clear expectations 📍They hadn’t modelled the
Q: Why are my Google reviews disappearing?
A: In 2025 and 2026, Google has dramatically increased its moderation of business reviews. It appears this has ramped up in late January 2026. This means that many reviews – both positive and negative – are being removed from business profiles across all industries. This is a widespread issue affecting businesses globally, including restaurants, automotive, home services, retails and insurance agencies. The main reasons for these removals include: Automated moderation by Google’s systems, which uses artificial
What is complex feedback and why do I need it?
Machine Learning v Human Learning. Machine Learning (AI as it has been branded) has been around for 20 years. It just didn’t have the funding or commercial focus to make money until recently. Currently, it tells us stuff that we tell it. It needs information and instruction to give an output, which mostly comes from us humans. The AI the majority of us have access to doesn’t learn further than how it has been programmed.
Okay, it’s Fortnum’s, but EVEN SO!
This is Meghan and me on our annual Christmas pilgrimage to Fortnum’s. We do the rounds and then have a glass of bubbles and some mini sausages in the 3’6 Bar (never thought to ask why it’s called that). Anyway… later that day, I realised I must have left my phone on the sofa there. Doh! Mind you, if you’re going to leave your phone anywhere in London, right? The phone call. I phoned Fortnum’s,
Behind the Scenes at Silent Customer: Experience, Resilience, and Real Service
Personally, and business-wise, it’s been an absolute bugger of a year so far. My mother passed away in Feb after a short battle with Cancer. The day after she died the GP ‘fast-tracked’ my other half for suspected cancer. (It wasn’t – thankfully). At the same time, I was suffering from awful bladder plain which has since been diagnosed as chronic and incurable. I’ve had hand surgery, and there’s more besides.
