Robin Shephard is the Chairman and co-founder of Bespoke Hotels. Bespoke look after over 5000 hotel rooms, 6000 team members and £500 million pounds worth of assets. But they particularly interested me, because many of you will know I love the independent hospitality sector. Bespoke are fascinating, because although they’ve become a significant player, they keep their personal brand and business very much behind the scenes. Most of their venues are independently owned, and bespoke simply provide some of the benefit of brand, with consistency of service, some centralised professional team members and some of the benefits that come at scale. But at the same time none of the venues are forced into a one size fits all box. They are genuinely venues that have a hospitality soul, and many of the venues you would know in their own right, purposely having no idea that bespoke are involved. Robin has a wealth of experience pre-bespoke, from GM positions throughout some fine establishments, to launching a British Bottled water brand and even writing a book about his time being bed bound and paralysed. Robin is well known in the hospitality sector and I’m sure you will enjoy hearing his views. Robin does not hold back on his political appraisals, we touch on the impact of OTA’s and turning them from foe to friend, Brexit crops up, who the VAT cut is for, which venues have re-opened and why, how that’s going and Robin’s predictions for the future. Follow Robin on Twitter Find out more about Bespoke Hotels Find out more about Blue Badge Access Awards