Packed House Podcast

Ben Shaughnessy - Service Charge Dilemma, Growing a Destination Site, The Blend of People & Data


Published: 11 September 2024 at 08:21 UTC

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Episode notes

Colm talks to Ben Shaughnessy, owner and operator of The Kitchen At. With a storied 25+ year career in corporate ‘big business’ hospitality. We explore the differences in working for a big corporate versus operating independently. The operational stuff that translates and, importantly, the lessons you can only learn as an independent operator: -> Realising that everything starts and ends with people -> What it takes to grow a ‘destination’ site vs High Street -> How he obsesses over details to win in this tough environment -> Nurturing staff so they turn down job offers elsewhere -> His dilemma with introducing service charge in the business A really fantastic insight from someone with so much history and knowledge in hospitality, applied on an independent level. Enjoy!


If you want to chat about anything in the episode, or would like some help making changes to your independent hospitality business, drop Colm & Frankie a DM on Instagram or send an email to [email protected]