Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt

CEO @ioh_online. Expert Panel Member, APPG on Modernising Employment. Visiting Professor @ulsteruni. Honuary Doctorate @wlv_uni. Trustee @roomtoreward.

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

In the UK, a pint of beer carries both 20% VAT and around 56p in alcohol duty.

In Switzerland, the same pint carries 8.1% VAT and around 13p in alcohol duty.

Switzerland treats hospitality as a national economic asset, with the profession enjoying formal recognition and policy support from government bodies. In return, Swiss hospitality employs 4% of the national workforce, contributes up to 6% of GDP, creates community hubs, develops its people, and plays a central role in strengthening the economy.

It’s a Wednesday evening in Lucerne, Switzerland, and every restaurant and bar is full, no businesses are closed, the atmosphere is joyous, and the welcome and service are both first-class.

And it's a real-world example of how balanced taxation and government recognition can drive economic growth, skills development, and thriving communities.

#HospitalityFamily #HospitalityMatters #TaxReform #GlobalHospitality #Switzerland #LearningFromOthers #InspireMotivateLearn #imin

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

@julesserkin I hope tomorrow brings relief for our profession Jules, we've seen successive budgets increase our costs and I understand why people owning or working in hospitality businesses feel that no one is listening.

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

Each year, one of the greatest privileges of my role is welcoming our new Fellows to our annual Fellows Dinner, and this year we were proud to welcome Fellows from five countries, celebrating the achievements that have brought them into Institute of Hospitality Fellowship.

Fellowship is not something that is easily awarded, it is earned. It recognises the achievements, contribution, and commitment of those that have demonstrated exceptional leadership and a lasting impact on our profession.

As I said on the evening, "great economies are built by great professions, great professions are built by great people, and great people create the foundations upon which future generations can build".
So, congratulations to our new Fellows! Our #HospitalityFamily is incredibly fortunate to have so many talented people within our profession, whose achievements and generosity of spirit continue to inspire both the leaders of today, and the leaders that will follow them tomorrow.

Congratulations also to Howard Field FIH, recipient of our 2026 Fellows' Outstanding Contribution Award, and thank you to a great many people, including our hosts for the evening, Garreth Walsh FIH and the team at The Kimpton Fitzroy, our Keynote Speaker Vandana Dass FIH, our fantastic MC Peter Hancock FIH, our Fellows Dinner steering group and sponsors, and of course our Events Manager Emma Ellis MIH, Head of Marketing and PR Sonja Cresswell MIH and the wider Institute team.

Recognising the achievements of the very best of our profession is a reminder of what makes hospitality so special, our people, and I'm already looking forward to doing it again in October 2027!

#imin #MeetingOurMembers #IoHFellows2027 #InspireMotivateLearn

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

A pleasure to join Institute of Hospitality Chair of the Board, Martin Traynor OBE FIH and partners from the FSB UK and Business 2 Business in London, and speak about the UK Government’s new social value requirements for procurement, and how our #HospitalityFamily already adds huge social value to our communities, value that needs to be championed, recognised, and protected as the essential contribution to the UK's economic and social wellbeing that it demonstrably is.

#imin #SocialValue #InspireMotivateLearn

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

@Springboard_UK @IoH_Online Our pleasure to support!

[Springboard @Springboard_UK]

We joined @IoH_Online NI Hospitality Inspires event, connecting with 400+ students to explore hospitality careers! Proud to be @IoH_Online charity of choice for three years. Thank you for helping raise £2,321.91 for Springboard! 💜🙌

#Springboard #IoH #HospitalityCareers

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

Building on our longstanding partnership with the University of Surrey, my colleagues Aymen Fetouak MIH, Francesca Mosca MIH and I had the pleasure of spending the day with Associate Professor Xuan Lorna Wang FIH and Dr Marion Karl, Head of Hospitality and Tourism Management, exploring opportunities to strengthen our collaboration in 2027 and beyond.

Our discussions covered a range of shared priorities, including professional development, industry leadership, student engagement and the important role hospitality can play in supporting the UK's ageing population through the University's "Hospitality Connect" research project.

It was particularly encouraging to explore how we can bring academia and industry closer together, ensuring that research, education and professional practice continue to inform and strengthen one another.

Thank you to Lorna, Marion and the wider team for such a warm welcome and productive discussions. We look forward to building on our shared ambitions in 2027 and beyond.

#InstituteOfHospitality #UniversityOfSurrey #Hospitality

[The Caterer @Caterertweets]

Mark Reynolds, Robert Richardson and Anna Sebastian among HRC 2027 ambassadors

➡️https://t.co/HYw5CfgRoA
https://t.co/HYw5CfgRoA

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

As we publish the final edition of Institute of Hospitality Magazine for 2026, we also bid farewell to the indomitable Catherine Chetwynd MIH, who has played such an enormous role in our publications development over the past five years.

So, I want to take a moment to thank Catherine for all of her support, guidance and hard work since I joined the Institute in 2021.

I remember being a little intimidated about what overseeing a magazine would entail, but Catherine has been an exceptional teacher throughout. Back in the summer of 2021, I thought we had her for just one magazine, but with the publication of this latest edition, my team and I will have had the privilege of working with her on 17! And what a journey those 17 magazines have been.

Together, we have rebranded from "Hospitality Quarterly (HQ Magazine)" to "Institute of Hospitality Magazine", found a mainstream home in airport business lounges across the UK, introduced digital content, ensured our print magazine became a fully sustainable product, increased its circulation and brought many of our members' storys to life.

But none of that would have happened without Catherine's leadership, experience and commitment, and it is important that we recognise that.

For my part, working with Catherine has never been anything less than a privilege and, more often than not, an absolute joy.

She leaves our magazine in fantastic health, with strong foundations upon which our new editor Katherine Price MIH can build, and she should be incredibly proud of what she has helped us achieve.

So, I'll leave it there for now and look forward to raising a glass with Catherine at her leaving drinks in a few weeks' time.

But, I will say this. As with so many colleagues who somewhere along the way become friends, this is farewell, but certainly not goodbye.

#imin #HospitalityFamily #HospitalityLeadership

[Sacha Lord @Sacha_Lord]

Hospitality is the most obvious and welcoming sector, to get young people back into work.

It's a sector where you can learn many life skills.

Incentivising employers by reducing NI for 16-24 year olds would be a mechanism to trigger this.

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

@elmelegey I agree, and already I'm watching the connections and conversations following these events and round table.

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

One week. Three cities. 1,761 miles covered.

Reflecting at the end of an inspirational week celebrating our talented #HospitalityFamily across England and Scotland.

We began on Monday at the RAF Club, London, hosting our latest "Above & Beyond" networking event and an important conversation about how taxation, regulation and the wider economic landscape are shaping the future of hospitality.

From there, we headed north to Newcastle for our third successful "Thriving in the North" Conference, hosted at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music. Hospitality leaders, operators and students heard from an incredible line-up of speakers, exchanged fresh ideas and connected with some of the dynamic professionals driving our profession forward.

Then it was on to Glasgow, where we began by hosting a round table exploring the future of AI, how it may be taxed, and what that could mean for our profession in Scotland and across the wider world.

Following that, it was a privilege to host our Annual Dinner in Scotland at JA Mar Hall, during which IoH Scotland Chair Kevin Keenan FIH was awarded his well-deserved Fellowship of the Institute of Hospitality, recognising his outstanding leadership and contribution to IoH Scotland.

Of course, this much activity takes a village, and there are so many thank yous to go around.

Thank you to our Events Manager Emma Ellis MIH, our Head of Professional Development Aymen Fetouak MIH CMgr, our Head of Operations Jo Smith FIH and our Marketing Executive Sonja Cresswell MIH for your exceptional work across the week, and to Isabel Hargreaves FIH and Francesca M. Assoc CIPD for taking to the stage.

Thank you to the team at IoH North, led by our Institute of Hospitality CEOs Award Winner Matt Townley FIH MI and to our talented committee at IoH Scotland, and to Chris Wayne-Wills FIH MI for expertly hosting us, and Barry Makin FIH MI for an exceptional keynote.

This week wouldn't have happened without people generously giving their time and expertise, and I am enormously grateful to you all.

What did I take away from the week? That wherever you go, the strength of hospitality is its people.

Different cities, different conversations, different challenges. But the same energy, ambition and generosity of spirit. Our profession is at its best when we come together, share what we know and support each other to move forward.

After 1,761 miles, I came home tired, but incredibly optimistic about the people shaping the future of our profession.

#imin

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

@Sacha_Lord Good! Dreadful service! I feel sorry for the poor teams having to do their best without any resources.

[Sacha Lord @Sacha_Lord]

Thank God. Totally unreliable. WiFi doesn’t work. Power sockets don’t work. Understaffed and I feel sorry for the staff working them. Rip off too.

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

@julesserkin @Thighboots2 The Railway Inn in Ketton, I think

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

We've been planning this for a while, so I'm very pleased that we can now announce that all new (UK) Institute of Hospitality memberships will have the option to support the vital work of our partners Hospitality Action!

#imin #WeveGotYou #HospitalityFamily

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

It was a privilege to be invited to the Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan’s Annual Business Reception on Tuesday evening, alongside senior business leaders from across the capital.

I valued the opportunity to speak with Sir Sadiq about the vital need for hospitality to be formally recognised by the UK Government as the skilled, professional career of choice that it is and, importantly, the significant contribution we make to the economy and communities across London and the United Kingdom.

London is a city of people, possibility and opportunity. A place where conversations can become ideas, and ideas can become change.

And every conversation is another opportunity to make the case for our profession.

And that's the point. Having conversations like this, and using them to advocate for our profession, is what I value about being here.

#imin #HospitalityFamily #InspireMotivateLearn #IChooseLondon
@MayorofLondon

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

@SteveLocklin @FromHospitality @ZiaYusufUK @NadineDorries @UKHospKate @Sacha_Lord That's very kind, thank you Steve.

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

Almost seven years ago, I had one of the worst days of my career as a Hotel General Manager.

A challenging apprenticeship partner abruptly dropped my learners, leaving them without a provider, clarity about what would happen next, or certainty over their qualifications and development.

I felt I had let my team down, even though the decision wasn't mine.

Rewind a few weeks. I had engaged an apprenticeship training partner and, initially, the relationship seemed positive. They invited us to all the right parties, talked confidently about the opportunities available to my learners, and introduced me to a levy-partner who would fund my teams development. So, the contract was signed and the expectation of a positive partnership established.

But nothing happened. For many weeks.

My learners were frustrated, so I complained.

One Friday afternoon our partner contacted me with a choice. Drop the complaint, or they would drop my learners.

I went cold. The idea that they would abandon all of my learners seemed so ridiculous that I thought they were bluffing.

They weren't. They dropped my learners and my team was left unsupported.

So, I turned to the incredible team at @HITTraining, who stepped in and gave my learners the apprenticeship experience they should have had from the beginning.

As I said to Boutique Hotelier at the time: "I want to work with companies that value our business as much as we do."

Nearly seven years later, my view hasn't changed.

Supporting the next generation of hospitality talent is a privilege, not an income stream. And I learnt a lesson: not all apprenticeship providers are equal.

Today, I lead the world's largest professional body for hospitality management, currently enjoying its highest membership in more than 20 years, and active in more than 100 countries.

One reason for that success is that we refuse to compromise on the standards we expect from our members, partners, and profession.

A partner prepared to abandon learners as readily as mine were abandoned has no place in my organisation, so they are not a part of it. By contrast, organisations that combine high-quality apprenticeship delivery with genuine employer partnership and a focus on learner experience and outcomes will always be front and centre.

There are many excellent apprenticeship providers doing exactly that every day. Their contribution deserves to be recognised, and their example followed. They shouldn't be tarred with the same brush as those who fall short.

Why am I writing this now?

Because my story is not unique. So I want to better understand those challenges, share my own experiences and what we are hearing today with Skills England, and consider what the Institute might do to help improve the experience for employers and learners.

The development of our #HospitalityFamily matters more to me than the profit line of any one business.

It did seven years ago. And it still does today.

#imin #Apprenticeships #ProfessionalDevelopment

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

@DMatiqu @UKHospKate Thank you Daniel

[Robert Richardson FIH MI Hon DLitt @RBWR]

@leonburton @UKLabour @JohnHealey_MP I agree, and I understand the frustrations, and the feeling that government hasn't been listening. But we have a new PM, very early on in his time, and I hope that at the next budget we will see the change that we need.