Captive Conversations

The hospitality podcast
that tells it straight.

Adam Forman sits down with the operators, marketers, and founders shaping the future of hospitality. Real conversations. No slides. No PR fluff.

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Captive Conversations Podcast

All Episodes

128 episodes
128
Griff Holland - Why Operators Overpay Their Suppliers

Griff Holland - Why Operators Overpay Their Suppliers

For our 100th episode, Adam is joined by Griff Holland, co-founder of Percy, the platform helping hospitality operators buy better.Griff has spent his career as an operator. He and business partner Ed Brown grew Friska to 12 sites across Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester, building their own systems along the way because nothing on the market fitted. Those systems became Rocket OS. A carbon pla...
November 5, 2026 1:22:06
127
Jeremiah Siemianow - Why Live Entertainment Is Hospitality’s Most Overlooked Operation

Jeremiah Siemianow - Why Live Entertainment Is Hospitality’s Most Overlooked Operation

A rota on a noticeboard. Someone’s whited out your shift and written their own. Nobody called it broken. It was just how it worked.In this episode of Captive Conversations, Adam sits down with Jeremiah Siemianow, co-founder of Surreal, for a conversation about spotting a problem hospitality had stopped seeing.Jeremiah shares his journey from clearing tables in Australia, to real estate sales, t...
October 16, 2026 1:03:52
126
Live from Hospitality Tech Expo: Tech Stacks, Change, Pre-Openings and Allergens

Live from Hospitality Tech Expo: Tech Stacks, Change, Pre-Openings and Allergens

This episode is a little different. We spent two days at Hospitality Tech Expo at ExCeL London, and some of the best moments happened on stage. Here are four of them.🎙️ Tommy Giraux, Head of Restaurant Systems at Honest Burgers"Buy It. Run It. Bin It." The operator's guide to a tech stack that earns its keep.🎙️ Peter Hurley, Dan Jackson and Gabrielle Goode, Well SeasonedBuilding a pre-opening t...
October 2, 2026 1:20:09
125
Bonus Clip: Map the Guest Journey Before Buying Tech | Chris Fletcher

Bonus Clip: Map the Guest Journey Before Buying Tech | Chris Fletcher

Going back into the Captive Conversations archive, this bonus clip features Chris Fletcher.Chris explains why operators should map the customer journey before buying POS, CRM, loyalty, WiFi or another shiny platform.Technology should support the guest experience, the operating model and the available budget. Buying what the venue next door uses is not a strategy, especially when basic experienc...
September 24, 2026 5:02
124
Bonus Clip: Catch Customers Before They Churn | Arun Kumar

Bonus Clip: Catch Customers Before They Churn | Arun Kumar

Going back into the Captive Conversations archive, this bonus clip features Arun Kumar.Arun explains why a generic comeback email often arrives too late. Restaurants need to understand where customers sit in the journey and identify people who are beginning to disengage before they disappear.Relevant automated messages can then offer a reason to return at the right moment, without requiring a l...
September 22, 2026 5:08
123
Bonus Clip: The Tax of a Fractured Tech Stack | Lawrence Pelletier

Bonus Clip: The Tax of a Fractured Tech Stack | Lawrence Pelletier

Going back into the Captive Conversations archive, this bonus clip features Lawrence Pelletier.Lawrence describes what happens as restaurant groups add one system after another. Vendors multiply, integrations remain partial, menus need updating in several places and sales data becomes difficult to reconcile.The challenge is not simply having lots of technology. It is taking responsibility for t...
September 17, 2026 4:57
122
Bonus Clip: Five iPads in a Car Built a Loyalty Platform | Laurens Havenaar

Bonus Clip: Five iPads in a Car Built a Loyalty Platform | Laurens Havenaar

Going back into the Captive Conversations archive, this bonus clip features Laurens Havenaar.Laurens explains how Piggy started with five iPads in a car and a simple promise to independent shops: install the loyalty platform immediately and begin creating value without a long onboarding process.The approach replaced paper stamp cards, gave each business useful customer data and created visible ...
September 15, 2026 4:58
121
Bonus Clip: Payment Is the Wrong Time to Ask for Data | Mike Enslin

Bonus Clip: Payment Is the Wrong Time to Ask for Data | Mike Enslin

Going back into the Captive Conversations archive, this bonus clip features Mike Enslin.Mike makes a simple point about customer data: when someone reaches payment, they usually want to pay and move on. Asking for details at that moment can add friction to the experience.The better opportunity may come earlier or later, when the customer has a reason to identify themselves and is happy for a br...
September 10, 2026 4:55
120
Bonus Clip: Most AI Powered Tech Is Not Really AI | Steven Rolfe

Bonus Clip: Most AI Powered Tech Is Not Really AI | Steven Rolfe

Going back into the Captive Conversations archive, this bonus clip features Steven Rolfe.Steven and Adam discuss the difference between genuine technology capability and a fashionable label. Products may claim to be powered by AI or blockchain while relying on simpler tools behind the scenes.The conversation also covers practical use cases, including an HR knowledge bot, computer vision for sto...
September 8, 2026 4:53
119
Bonus Clip: TikTok Is Now a Restaurant Search Engine | Kitty Newman

Bonus Clip: TikTok Is Now a Restaurant Search Engine | Kitty Newman

Going back into the Captive Conversations archive, this bonus clip features Kitty Newman.Kitty explains why TikTok has become a search engine for restaurant discovery. People planning trips and nights out are already using the platform to find places to eat in cities across the UK.The point is not that every operator must do everything. It is that restaurants should decide deliberately where th...
September 3, 2026 5:02
118
Bonus Clip: Your Hotel Lobby Is Competing With Starbucks | Scot Turner

Bonus Clip: Your Hotel Lobby Is Competing With Starbucks | Scot Turner

Going back into the Captive Conversations archive, this bonus clip features Scot Turner.Scot explains why a hotel restaurant is not only competing with other hotels. Guests may choose Starbucks, Grind or another independent venue because it offers comfortable seating, reliable WiFi and somewhere to plug in.The practical lesson is to benchmark the places customers already prefer, then build the ...
September 1, 2026 5:03
117
Bonus Clip: How a £30 Delivery Fee Becomes £7 | Lawrence Pelletier

Bonus Clip: How a £30 Delivery Fee Becomes £7 | Lawrence Pelletier

Going back into the Captive Conversations archive, this bonus clip features Lawrence Pelletier from RedCat.Using a simple £100 order, Lawrence breaks down the difference between a third-party marketplace fee and a direct ordering model.The example moves from roughly £30 in marketplace fees to a net cost of around £7, while giving the operator more control over pricing and the customer relations...
August 27, 2026 2:56

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