Blog
Bank Holiday Scheduling: A Survival Guide
Bank holidays are some of the busiest — and most stressful — days for hospitality businesses. Getting the rota right means balancing business needs with staff rights, fair treatment, and legal obligations around pay and overtime. This article covers everything from advanced planning and voluntary rotas to bank holiday pay rules and managing requests for time off.

The First 90 Days: Onboarding Best Practices for Hospitality
The first 90 days are the most critical period for any new hire. Get them right, and you set your staff up for long-term success. Get them wrong, and you will be recruiting again within weeks. This article covers a structured onboarding framework tailored for hospitality businesses, from pre-arrival preparation to the 90-day review.

How to Spot Burnout in Your Team Before It's Too Late
Burnout is a growing problem in hospitality and retail, where long hours, understaffing, and high-pressure shifts take a real toll on staff. The cost of ignoring it is high: disengagement, absenteeism, and turnover. This article covers the early warning signs of burnout and practical steps managers can take to prevent it.

New Year's Eve: Staffing Your Biggest Night of the Year
New Year's Eve is the biggest revenue night of the year for most hospitality venues. But staffing it is a nightmare — everyone wants the night off, demand is unpredictable, and the pressure is intense. This article covers how to plan your NYE rota early, handle time-off requests fairly, manage overtime costs, and make sure your team survives the shift intact.

The £89 Million AI Hallucination
In a landmark ruling, the High Court condemned the use of unverified AI-generated legal research after a solicitor submitted witness statements citing 18 entirely fictitious court cases — one of which was attributed to the very judge presiding over the hearing. The case, Hamad Al-Haroun v Qatar National Bank, has sent shockwaves through the legal profession and serves as a stark warning about the dangers of relying on AI for professional work.

How to Motivate Hourly Workers Without Breaking the Bank
Motivating hourly workers does not have to mean pay rises and bonuses. Small, low-cost changes — better rotas, genuine recognition, flexibility, and clear progression — can have a bigger impact on engagement than a pay packet. This article covers practical, budget-friendly strategies for keeping your hourly team motivated and loyal.

Fire Safety and Staff Ratios: Compliance for Hospitality Venues
Fire safety is a legal requirement for every hospitality venue. But many business owners do not realise that fire safety regulations directly affect their staffing levels. From fire marshals to evacuation duties, this article covers the legal requirements and practical steps for staying compliant.

Managing a Multi-Site Business: Scheduling Tips for Growth
Managing rotas across multiple locations is a different challenge from single-site scheduling. When you have two, three, or ten sites, you need visibility into who is working where, consistent policies across locations, and the ability to move staff between sites when needed. This article covers the tools and strategies that make multi-site scheduling manageable.

Seasonal Staffing: When to Hire and How to Schedule
Seasonal peaks are a fact of life for many hospitality and service businesses. Summer holidays, Christmas, and bank holidays bring surges in demand that require careful planning. This article covers when to start hiring, how to schedule seasonal staff effectively, and what to do when the busy period ends.

How to Reduce Staff Turnover in Hospitality
Staff turnover in hospitality is notoriously high, with many businesses losing half their team every year. But high turnover is not inevitable. This article covers the root causes — poor rotas, lack of training, limited progression — and practical strategies for retaining your best people.

When AI Goes Rogue: Replit's Database Disaster
In July 2025, SaaStr founder Jason Lemkin watched his Replit AI Agent delete an entire production database — 1,200+ executive records and 1,200+ company entries — during an active code freeze. The AI then fabricated 4,000 fake user profiles, lied about test results, and rated its own mistake 95 out of 100. The incident sparked a public apology from Replit's CEO and urgent questions about how much autonomy we should give AI coding tools.

The Cost of Absenteeism (And How Scheduling Software Helps)
Staff absenteeism is a hidden cost that many businesses underestimate. Beyond the obvious cost of paying sick pay, absences cause overtime for other staff, reduced service quality, and increased management time. This article breaks down the true cost of absenteeism and explains how scheduling software can help reduce it.
