Index 04 — About
Operator first.
I did not start in product. I started behind a bar in 2004, and spent the next eight years on the hospitality floor, from Michelin service to running operations across three venues.
That is where I learned the only product lesson that has never let me down: a good system makes an average night reliable, and a bad one makes a good team look incompetent.
Then I crossed the table. I implemented point of sale across a 60-site pub group, ran my own consultancy for independent operators for six years, and joined the software company whose system I had been rolling out.
Since then I have made that product work in five countries, built the functions it needed that did not exist, rebuilt a loyalty platform into real SaaS, and taken an AI agent from a trade-show demo to production. Today I lead five product areas across a group of six point-of-sale brands.
I still judge everything I build by one question. Will it actually work when the venue is full?
01
Twenty-two years, one line
2004 — now
02
The record
Numbers only where they were measured
- 2024 — nowSenior Product ManagerOolioFive product areas: AI, menu and product management, insights, loyalty, inventory. Each with a tech lead, engineers, a product owner and QA. Member of the leadership group shaping the data strategy.
- 2021 — 2024Product Manager, Customer EngagementBepoz, Oolio groupRebuilt the loyalty platform as configurable SaaS. Delivery from weeks to under one. Estate from under 10 to over 250.
- 2015 — 2021International Business Development ManagerBepozMade the product fit five markets. Built QA from zero, recruited six product owners, and led the Atlassian rollout across the global teams.
- 2012 — 2018Founder, hospitality consultantBRC Mafia, LondonSix years with independent UK operators, on the floor rather than in a boardroom. Client revenue up by as much as 25%.
- 2012 — 2015Senior Account ManagerBeyond StockNegotiated and delivered a POS, stock and financial control rollout across a 60+ site pub group. Where I crossed the table.
- 2010 — 2012Co-founderBarmadeA hospitality training and recruitment company. WSET Approved Programme Provider. Client base up 25% in year one.
- 2009 — 2011Head of OperationsEtive PubsThree venues, £3.5m turnover. Revenue up more than 10%, gross margin up 10%, labour cost down 12%.
- 2008 — 2009Assistant General ManagerThe Living Room, IslingtonHigh-volume service. Peak revenue up 10%, waste down 25%.
- 2006 — 2008Bar ManagerLiving VenturesBar revenue up 15%. Stock variance down 1.5 points.
- 2004 — 2006Head Bartender and Bar TrainerLiving VenturesNew-starter ramp time cut by 20 to 40% with structured onboarding.
03
How I work
Five rules, all learned the hard way
- 1Build for 8pm, not the demoIf it does not hold when the venue is full, it is not finished. Watch someone use it with one hand.
- 2Write down the kill signalEvery decision gets a number, a date and an action that would prove it wrong. Most teams skip this. It is the whole job.
- 3Autonomy follows reversibilityThe easier an action is to undo, the more a system can do it alone. The harder, the longer a person stays in the loop.
- 4Annotate, never deleteSuperseded decisions get struck through, not erased. Six months on, the question is always why we changed our minds.
- 5Honest status on everythingShipped, in flight, draft. Say which. Claim only what can be traced, and say what cannot be claimed yet.
04
Teams I built
Functions that did not exist
QA, from zero
There was no QA when I arrived. I built it to two engineers onshore and a team in the Philippines, with the process and tooling for manual and automated testing.
A product owner bench
Six product owners recruited as engineering scaled. Four came in as interns in the first intake. One is still there.
The loyalty team
From a couple of engineers reporting to the CEO, to a tech lead reporting to me across front end, back end and QA, plus onboarding.
05
The CV
One page, printable
The short version, on one page.