Written by Paula Kaye, Founder — Boost Consultancy Hospitality, at its core, is simple—but delivering it consistently, at a high level, is anything but. True mastery of this craft requires obsessive attention to detail and an unwavering commitment to excellence. To be great in hospitality, you need to be a bit like a dog with a bone—tenacious, focused, and unwilling to settle for “good enough.” It Starts with the Right People One of the fundamentals? Hiring the right people. People who have an inbuilt desire to serve others. People with a natural warmth and friendliness that can’t be taught. From there, it’s about giving them clear standards to ensure quality and prevent details from being missed—but also enough freedom and empowerment to make real-time decisions that elevate the guest experience. Hospitality as a Noble Craft I recently had a great conversation with someone who, like me, learned the craft of hospitality and leadership under truly inspiring mentors—leaders who believed in the nobility of hospitality and constantly strived for perfection. We agreed: few other industries offer such a profound opportunity to impact someone’s day. The ability to turn a bad day around or make a good day great—just through your care and attention—is a truly remarkable gift. Functional Training Meets Cultural Impact To deliver consistently excellent hospitality, training must do two things: • Set the functional standards high • Inspire the culture and mindset needed to deliver emotionally meaningful service The Culture of Outstanding Hospitality Here are 10 key behaviours and mindsets I believe are essential to cultivating this kind of culture: 1. Show passion and pride in what you do—it’s contagious. 2. Use great manners—a simple thing, often forgotten. 3. Smile sincerely—people can’t help but smile back. 4. Show interest in others—we all want to feel seen and valued. 5. Be original and authentic—a genuine connection beats a script every time. 6. Spread kindness—actively look for chances to brighten someone’s day. 7. Treat others with generosity and care—make people feel truly valued. 8. Recognise each person as an individual—cookie-cutter service won’t cut it. 9. Go the extra mile—seek out opportunities to delight. 10. Deliver unexpected excellence by doing the small things that show care: o Removing pips from lemon slices for tea or garnishes o Positioning teacup handles and spoons for effortless use o Using quieter moments to engage more deeply or provide added touches, like delivering drinks to a table instead of counter service o Staying laser-focused on how your actions make your customers feel Leave People Better Than You Found Them That’s the ultimate goal: to leave every person feeling better than you found them. That is the art—and the reward—of true hospitality. About Me I'm Paula Kaye, founder of Boost Consultancy. I help hospitality and service-driven businesses elevate their customer experience, strengthen their culture, and build teams that deliver consistently memorable service. If you’d like to explore how I can support you with your customer experience strategy, leadership development, or team training— 📩 Let’s talk. Let’s build something unforgettable together

A New Era for UK Hospitality The UK hospitality scene is undergoing a remarkable transformation. Gone are the days when restaurants dominated the spotlight solely during dinner hours. Instead, we're seeing the rise of vibrant, all-day café and bakery-led experiences that reflect our evolving lifestyle. The 2025 Branded Bakery Report confirms it: customer preferences are shifting towards more informal, daytime-led venues like cafés, bakeries, and coffee shops. As someone who has embraced this movement, I see it as an exciting evolution in hospitality—where premium lunch offerings, local produce, and welcoming service take centre stage. Why All-Day Dining Is Gaining Ground From demographic changes such as aging population to the rise in remote working, the appetite for high-quality, relaxed, and accessible dining options has never been greater. It’s no longer just about convenience—customers are looking for places that feel like a destination, offering exceptional food and a warm atmosphere throughout the day. Paradise Café, Harrogate One standout example is Paradise Café at Daleside Nurseries in Pannal, Harrogate. This venue showcases the very best of what daytime hospitality can offer and is setting the standard in this space through: • A focus on celebrating fresh, local ingredients • Packed-out lunch services • Sold-out dinner events • And most importantly, genuine hospitality It’s a testament to how brilliant execution and attention to detail can result in commercial and community success. What’s Holding Some Cafés Back? Despite the momentum, many cafés still fall short in delivering truly memorable experiences. Are they underestimating the power of daytime diners, particularly older guests who want enjoyable alternatives to evening meals? The best cafés get it right by investing in the customer experience, not just the product. It's not a revolution—it’s a return to the fundamentals of hospitality. The Brands Leading the Way More brands are creating spin offs and reimagining what daytime dining can look like: • Bill’s Café Bar: A relaxed blend of their classic offer and a more casual vibe, with 10+ new openings in the past year. • Bistrot Pierre: Launching their new café concept. • Dishoom’s Permit Room: A small-plate, drink-led experience, now in Brighton, Oxford, and Cambridge, with London next. • Loungers’ Brightside: A roadside concept with a strong focus on quality and comfort, all day long. Even supermarkets and garden centres (like M&S) have untapped potential. They already carry a premium reputation, but their café offerings often don’t reflect the same care or quality. From Bettys to Boost Consultancy: Lessons in Excellence Having experienced formative training at Betty's Café Tea Rooms, where every detail mattered, I know what it takes to deliver a remarkable customer experience. Hospitality done right is about care, consistency, and pride. Paula’s 5 Essentials for a Standout Café Experience 1. Brilliant Basics Cleanliness and high standards instill trust. It doesn’t have to be fancy—just consistently immaculate. 2. Deliver Great Hospitality Every interaction counts. A well-placed cup, a warm smile, an attentive gesture—all create an emotional connection. 3. Passion for Great Ingredients Customers can taste the difference. Use local, fresh produce and prepare it with love. 4. Right People, Right Mindset Invest in your staff. A motivated, well-trained team is your biggest asset. Don’t cut corners—follow Dishoom’s example and focus on experience. 5. Stay Close to Your Business Leadership shouldn’t be distant. Know your customers, stay involved, and preserve your brand’s soul. Final Thought on How to Make a Good Experience Great This isn’t just about food and drink. It’s about joy, comfort, and connection. All-day dining isn’t a passing trend—it’s a cultural shift. The cafés that embrace this with vision and integrity will not just survive—they’ll thrive. Want to find out more about how Boost Consultancy can elevate your customer experience? 👉 Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-boost-consultancy/ 👉 Visit: www.boostconsultancy.co.uk

Some recent research published by Zonal reported that 65% of people agree that eating and dining out is just as important in their social life as it was before the cost-of-living crisis.

If you are saying YES to something, what is it your saying NO to…. A key part of my role as a consultant is to partner with business leaders and owners to help them work through challenges to highlight the opportunities as well as helping them get clear on what this means they may need to let go. I recently read that the courage to grow demands the courage to let go…. I am often asked to support business leaders and owners who are a bit stuck on seeing the way forward and need some expert advice and support to help them generate the options and choices open to them. If you are a hospitality or retail business with a current challenge that could use the sort of skills and expertise I bring, then click here to contact me . To understand more about me and how I approach my work with clients, take a look at my recently updated website and some of the work I have completed click here .

A sign of a really great hospitality business is when it feels like a home away from home, so as we wait for the announcement from Boris this Monday, I explore what things your business needs to pay attention to as you plan to welcome your customers home.

I approach 2021 with positivity and optimism that this will be a good year for Boost Consultancy, and I am looking forward to being able to make a difference to the businesses I work with and delivering some exciting new projects. 2021 is a time for building back stronger and resetting for what is ahead. As we move into 2021, there are the 7 key themes from 2020 that I hope we will continue to see in the year ahead.

We all have stories of truly memorable customer service that lifts your spirits and makes you want to share your experience with others. So, what is the magic dust that makes good service great and makes a satisfactory customer experience a memorable one? Knowing this answer will enable you to differentiate your business from the competition. We can all think of businesses that consistently get their customer service experience right and we reward them with our loyalty. These businesses do not have a silver bullet, so what do they have that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary? I spent over 35 years working with businesses that deliver award winning customer service. I have had the pleasure of leading and developing the customer service strategy within Bettys for many of those years, so I am well qualified to know what it takes to achieve this. COVID-19 has made the delivery of an exceptional customer experience more important than ever, as businesses need to ensure that customers want to return and that they can build loyalty. Below I share the key things you need to do if you want to create a customer experience that is anything but ordinary. 1. Listen – creating a culture of extraordinary service requires businesses to actively listen to their front-line people and their customers. Keep close to your customers and gather data and feedback on their experience so you can continuously develop and improve it. Everyone in the team needs to be aligned to a mission based around great service and Leaders need to make it their business to remove any barriers or obstacles that get in the way. Making sure your front-line staff have the right tools and equipment to deliver great service and prioritising all the things that make great service delivery easy and inevitable. 2. Consistency is key, great service never has a day off, you need to deliver on your brand promise every time. By mapping the step by step customer journey so every member of the team knows exactly what they need to deliver for the customer to feel special and engaged. This should start from the moment customers are planning their visit through to the welcome on arrival and right through to the thank you and goodbye. A way to envisage this is to imagine your customers are taking a magic carpet ride, for them to have the full experience you need to ensure nothing is missed out so your customers can enjoy the full brand experience delivered to them by ambassadors and promoters of your brand. 3. Systems behind the service : You need to have the right processes and practices to make the delivery of exceptional service easy. This includes a clear purpose beyond making money that all the team can get behind. Having defined service values around employees’ behaviours will provide clarity on expectations so they can hold themselves and one another to account. A great Induction and onboarding process centred around your Customer Experience. Service Manuals that provide a step by step guide to support training and embed best practice. Having the right people is critical so ensuring your recruitment policy reflects the need to recruit for personality, appointing people who have a natural flair/ desire to be of service. Consider putting in place daily briefings to reinforce the mission and to set your team up for success. 4. Reward the behaviours you want to see , develop a Reward and Recognition initiative, sharing stories of great customer engagement to highlight and encourage best practice. Measure customer satisfaction in a way that allows customers to highlight great staff members and ensure leaders take time to speak to and acknowledge those mentioned. Promote the idea of lateral customer service to develop a culture of peer-based recognition allowing employees to nominate colleagues who they see go out of their way to deliver great service either internally or directly to a customer. Leaders need to role model this, taking time to acknowledge those who go out of their way to deliver exceptional service. 5. Keep raising the bar as great service never stops you need to be relentless in your pursuit of customer service excellence. Develop a culture of continuous improvement encourage ideas from the team to evolve and improve the way you do things. Get everyone in the team to ask yourselves each week what they have done to make a difference to the customer experience and share the stories. 6. Recovery Quickly: Every business gets it wrong sometimes, but customer focused ones know they need to put things right quickly and professionally. They have an excellent recovery process for complaints, and they empower their teams to do what is needed to make sure that every customer goes away delighted. They respond to complaints in a timely matter, always within 24 hours of receiving it. They track complaints and collate information so they can use this data effectively to highlight any themes and they work tirelessly to address them. Businesses with a culture of great service know happy staff mean happy customers, so they put people at the heart of everything they do. They invest in their people, seeing value in training and developing their teams so they can be the best they can be. They know customers value the opportunity to build rapport and relationship, creating a loyal and engaged team provides stability and tenure means staff can get to know their customers, their likes and dislikes, allowing them to anticipate their needs and build strong relationships. They never adopt hard selling techniques as the quality of their products and service means they don’t need to as employees feel proud to share knowledge and assist customers in navigating the menu without feeling the pressure to directly sell. Great service is all about making the process as easy and enjoyable as you can for your customer. Great service is seamless every element creates a chain reaction that delights customers it builds trust and makes the customer feel special and looked after. Businesses with a great service culture create a loyal customer base by building strong and authentic relationships. Their customers and staff become their ambassadors and promoters by sharing the experience with other. A positive legacy of the pandemic is that customers will be seeking out businesses that provide an experience that engages with them on an emotional level, lifting spirits and creating happiness. If want to know how you take your customer experience to a new level contact me at enquires@boost-consultancy.co.uk or call me on 07595 278159 as I would love to help.

I love the feeling you get when your actions and contributions make a tangible difference to someone or something.

Using this 3-step approach can help to foster a positive mindset in the most difficult of times: 1. IT IS WHAT IT IS ACCEPT IT (it will either control you or you will control it) 2. HARVEST THE GOOD (there’s good in everything seek and you will find!) 3. FORGIVE THE REST (this means let it go completely, release it)