WHY HATS

Fixing hospitality hiring, finally.

01/09/2026

🚀 WHY HATS™ is officially live.

And there was only one place we wanted to start: Leicester.

Today, Gareth Hazard and William Underwood took WHY HATS out into the city, meeting the people who actually recruit, lead and work in hospitality every day.

13 venues. Plenty of conversations. One sign-up there and then. And a lot of interest from venues who want to use HATS when they next recruit.

A huge thank you to everyone who gave us their time, asked questions, challenged us and shared their own experiences of hiring:

Bread & Honey - Leicester • The Gresham Aparthotel • The Globe • The Loaded Dog • The Marquis Wellington • The Soar Point • Crafty • Queen of Bradgate • Merchant of Venice • Public & Plants

There’s something very different about taking something you’ve spent so long building out into the real world and putting it in front of the people it was actually designed for.

WHY HATS is built around a simple idea: hospitality hiring needs to understand more than what’s written on a CV.

The person. The venue. The actual role.

Then give both sides better information to have a proper human conversation and make their own decision.

We’re starting locally, learning properly and building this alongside the hospitality community it’s designed for.

Today felt like a pretty good first day. 🧡

Better hospitality starts with people.

👉 whyhats.co.uk

17/07/2026

🎩 Please join us in welcoming Will Underwood to WHY HATS as our Leicester Community & Partnerships Ambassador.

Will has spent the last nine years building his career across Leicester hospitality, with experience in cocktail bars, coffee shops, restaurants, Mowgli Street Food and, most recently, East Street Lanes.

He has progressed to Assistant General Manager level, trained and supported colleagues, competed successfully in cocktail competitions and built strong relationships across the city.

But what impressed us most was not a job title.

It was Will’s SuperSkills.

He is a natural connector.

He notices what needs fixing and takes responsibility for it.

He shares what he knows, helps other people grow and brings warmth, creativity and practical thinking to everything he does.

Most importantly, he genuinely cares about Leicester and the people working across its hospitality community.

That matters to us.

WHY HATS was built on the belief that people are more than a list of previous jobs.

Experience matters, but so do the things that rarely make it onto a CV.

How someone solves problems.

How they support a team.

How they communicate.

How they respond when things get busy.

How much they care.

Will represents exactly why we are building WHY HATS.

In his new role, he will help us listen to local venues, support candidates, build trusted partnerships and make sure the platform grows around the real needs of Leicester hospitality.

We are not arriving in the city with a piece of software and pretending we have all the answers.

We want to build alongside the people who already understand the venues, the challenges and the community.

Will does.

Welcome to the team, Will. We are proud to have you with us and excited to see what we can build together in Leicester. 🧡

No CVs. No guesswork. Just better matches.

14/07/2026

A CV can tell you where someone worked. 📄

It cannot tell you whether the team will survive a Saturday night with them. 🛟

CVs are useful.

But we ask them to answer questions they were never designed for.

Will they stay calm under pressure?

Will they fit the team?

Can they learn?

Will they enjoy this kind of venue?

The CV remains silent.

Probably because it is a sheet of paper. 🤷‍♂️

HATS helps venues and candidates share more of the information that actually matters before either side commits.

Because nobody should discover the truth halfway through a bank holiday shift. 🍽️🔥

Find out more at:

www.whyhats.co.uk

13/07/2026

Good news. You filled the vacancy. 🎉

Bad news. They have just messaged to say Tuesday no longer works for them. 📱

Every hospitality manager knows the feeling.

The rota was done.
The team could breathe.
Then one message turned the week back into chaos. 😮‍💨

Recruitment should not just be about filling an empty chair.

It should help you make a better decision about who sits in it.

That is why we built HATS.

Not more names for the rota.

Better matches for the team. 🤝

Venues can post their first role free at:

www.whyhats.co.uk

05/06/2026

🌈 Day 5 of Pride Month

One of the most common themes in guest reviews isn’t the food.

It isn’t the drinks.

It isn’t the venue.

It’s the people.

“The team made us feel welcome.”

“The staff were amazing.”

“We’ll definitely be back.”

Guests remember how you make them feel.

But those experiences don’t happen by accident.

They are created by teams.

Teams who feel respected.

Teams who feel supported.

Teams who feel listened to.

Teams who feel comfortable being themselves.

At WHY HATS, we believe great hospitality starts with great people and great cultures.

Because when people feel valued, they help others feel valued too.

And that’s where great hospitality begins. 🌈

10/05/2026

❤️ Hospitality isn’t just physical work.
It’s emotional work too.

The industry talks a lot about labour costs.

Not enough about emotional labour.

The restaurant manager smiling through exhaustion.
The receptionist carrying personal stress while still trying to make guests feel welcome.
The team member holding the atmosphere together during a difficult shift while running on empty.

We measure:
📊 Labour %
🍽 Covers
💰 Revenue
⏱ Efficiency

But guests often remember emotional energy more than operational perfection.

And eventually, tired cultures become visible.

Not through one big failure.
But through small moments:

🗣 Tone
🤝 Patience
✨ Warmth
👀 Attention
🫶 Presence

The hard truth is this:

You can’t keep creating exceptional guest experiences from emotionally exhausted teams forever.

At some point, leadership has to protect people’s energy, not just performance.

That means:
☕ Proper breaks
📅 Realistic rotas
💬 Safe and supportive leadership
🙌 Recognition during difficult shifts
🧠 Managers who regulate pressure instead of spreading it

Because culture is passed emotionally before it’s passed operationally.

Guests feel it.
Teams feel it.
And over time, businesses reflect it.

The best hospitality businesses understand both sides of the experience. ❤️

Address

Leicester

Website

https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-hospitality-uk/

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