Tech on Toast, The Hospitality Tech Podcast

Connecting hospitality with the tech that makes it better.Hosted by Chris Fletcher — former operator, now tech matchmaker — Tech on Toast brings you sharp, unfiltered conversations with the people shaping hospitality’s future.Each week, we sit down with operators, founders, and innovators to unpack the tech, tactics, and trends transforming how the industry works. From smarter kitchens and AI-driven scheduling to loyalty apps and next-gen EPOS, we cut through the noise to find what really works on the ground.Whether you run a pub, lead a restaurant group, or build tech for the sector

Tech on Toast, The Hospitality Tech Podcast is a technology podcast hosted by Chris Fletcher, with 184 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Chris Fletcher hosts Tech on Toast, The Hospitality Tech Podcast, a technology show with 184 episodes published.

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  Episode #208

  Hotels Need to Sell the Whole Stay, Not Just the Room | Louise Ryan & Joe Watkins, Journey

  Oct 6, 202633 min

  Guests don't just book a room anymore. They book the spa, the dinner, the round of golf, the whole weekend. Most hotel tech still hasn't caught up.This week Chris Fletcher is joined by Louise Ryan (CMO) and Joe Watkins (Head of Data and AI) from Journey, the Cheltenham-based hotel tech company helping luxury hotels drive total revenue per guest.They cover why hotels need to think more like retailers, why RevPAR is giving way to TRevPAR, and how one hotel partner moved from 50/50 OTA-to-direct to 80/20 direct. They also discuss where AI is creating real commercial value right now and why trust is still the biggest barrier to adoption.Chapters00:00 Intro01:30 Meet Louise and Joe02:08 What Journey does02:33 From digital agency to all-in-one booking engine04:06 The pressure on luxury hotels right now05:08 Thinking like a retailer: monetising every square inch07:35 Where guest data actually lives (and who just resigned with it)08:42 Hotels as multiple businesses under one roof09:22 From RevPAR to TRevPAR11:44 380 nights at The Other House and still not understood12:37 The Cotswolds spa booking that went wrong14:24 Taking back control from the OTAs16:05 Personalisation and the data flywheel17:26 AI chatbots and the adoption problem19:27 Convincing luxury operators to change20:30 Why experiences are still so hard to book online21:41 One basket, one transaction22:32 Where AI is showing real ROI today24:52 MCPs and booking hotel experiences through AI assistants25:30 Is trust the barrier to AI adoption?27:00 Grantley Hall: building an events programme from guest data28:08 Best-in-breed vs all-in-one29:28 Data consolidation and the future of hotel tech31:29 What's next for luxury hotels32:53 Where to find JourneyKey takeawaysSome properties pay 23–25% commission to OTAs. Driving direct saves margin and gives hotels ownership of their guest data.Around 66% of accommodation is booked online globally, compared with just over 30% of experiences. That gap is a revenue opportunity.The quickest AI win is often learning from the questions guests ask, like "can I charge my EV?", that your site never answered.Guests now search for an experience first, then a destination, then a flight, then a hotel.Find JourneyWebsite: journey.travelLouise Ryan and Joe Watkins are both on LinkedIn.The Stacked PodcastWhere hospitality meets technology. New episodes every week.wearestacked.io

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  Episode #207

  We changed nearly every platform and our staff turnover has never been lower, Tyrone Delaney, Camino

  Sep 30, 202626 min

  Camino did something most operators would never dream of: it changed nearly every platform in its stack in a single year, while doubling its estate. The result? Staff turnover has never been lower.This week, Chris Fletcher sits down with Tyrone Delaney, Finance Director at Camino, the Basque-inspired restaurant and bar group behind Camino and Pinchito, and Jackson Versatano, Senior Director UK & Europe at Lightspeed.Tyrone explains how an acquisition became the moment to overhaul the whole stack, and why he wonders why they didn't do it sooner. Automated sales syncing into Xero removed manual weekly business sheets that used to take around 20% of the finance team's time. Card tipping added roughly 10% to tronc pots across every site, meaning better pay and people staying longer. The group also uses Tenzo to plot dishes by profitability and popularity, which turned their executive head chef into a tech enthusiast.Jackson explains why "we have an integration" isn't the same as a good integration. He covers how Lightspeed decides what to build itself and what to leave to best-in-class partners, and where AI is taking multi-site reporting. Tyrone also shares a very sensible take on using Claude: how do you mandate something when you don't yet know where its ceiling is?In this episode:00:00 Intro01:06 Meet Tyrone and Jackson01:23 Camino, Pinchito and authentic Basque cuisine02:17 A finance director who ends up owning payroll, people and tech04:25 The state of hospitality: tough, but resilient and optimistic06:54 Giving operators the freedom to choose their tools07:42 Tracking campaign ROI and menu engineering with Tenzo10:38 Integration vs good integration11:04 Why an acquisition was the moment to switch everything12:28 Fear of change, and the lowest staff turnover yet14:24 Adoption, training and the Sunday app15:51 The biggest ROI: 20% of finance time back and 10% more in the tronc17:56 AI in Lightspeed and asking questions of your data20:00 Using Claude, and how to mandate something you're still learning21:35 Operators building their own tools22:27 What's next for Camino23:09 Industry outlook and alternative funding with Shuffle24:36 Lightspeed's roadmap: Tempo, Tasks and AI25:18 Where to find Tyrone and Jackson New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.wearestacked.io

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  Episode #204

  Why itsu's app customers keep coming back with Katie Grundy, CRM & Loyalty Manager at itsu

  Sep 23, 202627 min

  What does loyalty really mean when you've got 80 shops, a lean team and customers who visit day in, day out?Chris Fletcher sits down with Katie Grundy, CRM & Loyalty Manager at itsu, to unpack how the brand rebuilt its loyalty programme into itsu rewards, and why its app customers now visit three times more often than non-members.Katie joined hospitality from L'Oréal and explains why loyalty feels more human in a shop than in e-commerce. She talks through the 2025 review that led to a more generous rewards structure. She shares the free gyoza campaign that sent itsu to number one in the App Store's Food & Drink chart. She also covers how the brand works with Pepper to push its own roadmap, rather than waiting for the tech to lead.In this episode: Transactional vs emotional loyalty, and why itsu aims for the second How a simple rename ("itsu rewards") and tagline gave shop teams something to sell The no-catch free gyoza download campaign that drove queues and chart-topping downloads Personalisation, customer personas and the city vs suburb customer Balancing rewards for super-regulars and occasional visitors Why operators should bring suppliers into their roadmap early How AI and MCP are changing day-to-day CRM work for lean teamsChapters0:00 Highlights1:14 Meet Katie Grundy2:35 From L'Oréal to hospitality4:33 What loyalty means at itsu6:17 How itsu rewards works7:46 The free gyoza campaign that hit No.110:23 Why itsu revamped its rewards12:41 Naming the app and giving shop teams a tool14:08 Personalisation and data16:22 Building customer personas17:16 Rewarding regulars vs less frequent guests19:32 Working with tech partners22:30 Operator-led roadmaps23:15 The future of loyalty24:49 AI in CRM26:07 Wrap-upLinks itsu: https://www.itsu.com More from Stacked: https://wearestacked.io Subscribe for new episodes every week#hospitalitytech #loyalty #CRM #restaurants #QSR #itsu #StackedPodcast

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  Episode #203

  What changing systems actually takes with Mike Statham, Finance Director at Tonkotsu

  Sep 15, 202637 min

  The Stacked Podcast — where hospitality meets technology. Powered by Lightspeed. Tonkotsu has gone from six sites to nineteen, with a twentieth opening in Bath, opposite the Roman Baths. Mike, the brand's finance director, has been there since 2017 — and along the way he picked up the systems too, because in a business this size somebody has to. Chris sits down with him for an unusually honest conversation about what changing technology actually looks like when there's no CTO, no big central team, and no appetite for being sold a dream. Mike talks through the POS move to Lightspeed — one site, then four, then all of them — and what having live sales on every phone changed for his area managers and GMs. He explains how weekly stocktakes went from counting for counting's sake to a variance managed inside the week, how wastage got below 0.9%, and why his team still builds the rotas themselves rather than buying a platform that can't match what they've got. There's a straight answer on AI too. Mike's seen invoice automation get rebranded as AI, likes what it might do for rotas, and has one warning worth the price of admission: be careful that AI doesn't become the accountant everyone used to blame for running the business off a spreadsheet. Plus: the £1m electricity quote, the NI threshold, 20% EBITDA a decade ago versus fighting to stay flat, vibe-coded tools built by operators, and why if someone actually phones your restaurant you probably want to speak to them. IN THIS EPISODE (01:49) Six sites to nineteen, and Bath makes twenty (02:39) The Tonkotsu story: Ken, Emma and the first ramen in Soho (04:11) The systems they've never needed to replace (05:13) AI, or automation with better branding? (06:28) What Covid actually fixed (08:33) Utilities, Ukraine and a £1m electricity quote (10:12) Live sales on every phone (11:23) The weekly estimate that checks the monthly accounts (12:32) Stock: from month-end surprises to managed variance (14:14) Wastage below 0.9% — and ops fixing a blip in-week (15:50) From reporting last week to forecasting next week (17:04) Build it yourself: the rota tool that out-featured the vendors (19:36) And when to buy instead: handing ordering over (21:09) The POS journey: one site, then four, then all of them (26:14) Rolling out nineteen sites without drama (27:39) When to pilot — and when not to touch anything (28:47) Delivery after the peak (29:44) AI: self-building rotas and the accountant problem (32:02) Advice to a finance director about to change systems (34:31) The AI wave in guest comms — and why phone orders are different (36:27) Bath, opposite the Roman Baths POWERED BY LIGHTSPEED This episode is powered by Lightspeed, the platform behind the POS rollout Mike talks through. https://www.lightspeedhq.com/uk/ ABOUT THE SHOW The Stacked Podcast sits down with the operators, founders and tech leaders shaping how hospitality actually runs — restaurants, cloud kitchens, hotels, pubs and everything in between. No hype. No sales pitch. Just honest conversations about what's working, what isn't, and what's coming next. New episodes every week. Follow so you don't miss one. https://wearestacked.io

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  Episode #201

  Why your best site and your worst site are 11% apart with Alison Fraser, SVP & GM Fourth

  Sep 8, 202634 min

  Chris is joined by Ally Fraser, SVP and GM for EMEA at Fourth, a business that has been building back of house systems for hospitality for over 25 years. Ally spent 15 years on the frontline before joining Fourth, where she started out implementing purchase to pay and inventory at operators like YO! Sushi and now runs the region.The conversation lands on one uncomfortable number. Research Fourth ran with Peter Martin and the team at Peach found an average 11% margin gap between the top performing and bottom performing site inside the same brand. Same brand. Same systems. Same menu. Ally's argument is that the gap is behavioural, not technical, and that adoption data is the thing that closes it.They also get into the UK legislation squeeze, including operators seeing sick pay costs rise 40 to 50% off the back of the day one change, why forecasting took hospitality 20 years longer than it took the supermarkets, how automated scheduling actually works, and why nobody wants a machine placing their food order just yet.Chapters01:10 Intro and Ally's route from frontline to Fourth02:54 Fifteen years, six roles, one company03:34 What Fourth actually does, and why the demand forecast sits at the centre04:55 Why hospitality trailed retail on forecasting by two decades06:21 QSR forecasting at SKU level in 15 minute increments07:36 The UK legislation squeeze: day one sick pay, VAT, the Fair Work Agency09:09 Why compliance failure gets blamed on the tech supplier11:38 Where AI actually shows up in the product12:50 How automated scheduling works, step by step14:20 The bit nobody talks about: humans have to trust the schedule15:26 Sweat your tech, before you sign another contract17:15 What best in class operators do differently18:04 Adoption by sector: QSR strong, pubs and casual dining around half, hotels lowest20:24 Benchmarking every click, and what good actually looks like21:47 The 11% margin gap between top and bottom site in the same brand23:12 Vibe coded dashboards, and why operators should not become developers26:08 Suggested ordering, safety stock, and keeping a human in the loop28:08 Quickfire: competitive socialising, the reMarkable, and the one thing she'd fix overnightKey takeaways1. The gap is inside the brand, not between brands. An 11% average margin gap between best and worst site in the same estate means the playbook already exists somewhere in the business. It just isn't travelling.2. Adoption is measurable now. Fourth is capturing every click and benchmarking behaviours. If shift swaps at one site run at 20 a week and another runs at five, that variance can be correlated to site performance and flagged before it shows up in the P&L, not after.3. Legislation is the cost story of 2026. Day one sick pay has pushed some operators' sick pay costs up 40 to 50%. Ally's view is that operators should not have to become legislation experts. That is the supplier's job.4. Rollout of automation stalls on trust, not capability. Fourth could auto send the order. Operators don't want it sent. Same with the schedule that says a 10 to 3 rather than a 10 to 4. The tech is ahead of the confidence.5. Adoption maturity varies by sector. QSR is strongest because the model is repeatable. Pubs and casual dining are sitting around half of what they could be using. Hotels and complex operations are furthest back.6. The best operators resource adoption properly. Change managers, productivity managers, whatever the title. Someone owns it, gathers feedback and iterates.

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