Delivered in partnership with the Hospitality Sector Council, innovation specialist L Marks, and the Department for Business and Trade, the Hospitality Innovation Lab connects leading operators with emerging technology suppliers tackling some of the sector’s most pressing challenges, from workforce development to operational performance. 

The selected companies – Adeci, Cosysense, 1Huddle, Tenzo, Promote and Peckish – were showcased at Hospitality Tech360, where they met operators and decision-makers while beginning live trials across major UK hospitality businesses. 

These suppliers will work directly with partners including Burger King UK, Punch Pubs, Bill’s Restaurant, Prezzo Italian, and Azzurri Group, with Beckford Group and Lincoln Green representing smaller operators, to test solutions in real operating environments over a 10-week period. 

The unveiling formed part of a wider programme of content at Hospitality Tech360 examining how innovation is being deployed across the sector. 

In the session ‘Shaping the future together: The Hospitality Sector Council’s strategic priorities’, Karen Jones DBE, the outgoing Co-Chair of the Hospitality Sector Council, outlined the scale of transformation facing hospitality. Drawing on her experience leading businesses including Café Rouge and Hawksmoor, she highlighted how rising costs and shifting consumer behaviour have fundamentally changed the sector’s economic model, placing greater emphasis on efficiency, forecasting and cost control. 

Technology, particularly AI-powered data tools, was positioned as critical to this shift. From improving labour scheduling and forecasting demand to reducing energy usage, digital solutions are increasingly seen as essential for operators looking to protect margins and remain competitive. Jones also reinforced the importance of ensuring innovation works for SMEs, which make up the majority of the sector but often lack the resources to identify and implement new solutions independently. 

A second session, ‘The Hospitality Innovation Lab: Fixing productivity, closing the knowledge gap and powering sector-wide innovation’, brought together Jane O’Riordan, who is taking over as HSC Co-Chair as well as being Chair at Caravan Restaurants, Sam Caucci, Founder and CEO of 1Huddle, Telmo Taipa, Founder and CEO of ADECI Group, Tim Doubleday, Group CFO at Burger King UK, and Tom James, Managing Director at Bill’s Restaurants. Together, they discussed how the Lab is addressing productivity challenges through collaboration between operators and technology providers. 

Panellists emphasised the value of collaboration, with competing operators working together for the first time to trial solutions for the collective benefit of the industry. The Lab’s structure enables technology trials that would typically take months to be compressed into a focused 10-week period, with clear objectives around sales forecasting, workforce performance, and operational efficiency. 

The discussion also highlighted a longstanding gap in the sector: the lack of robust, real-world case studies on technology implementation. By sharing results from the trials, the initiative aims to provide the industry with practical evidence of what works, moving beyond anecdotal insights. 

Crucially, the sessions underlined a shift in how innovation is approached. Rather than broad, unfocused rollouts, operators are testing highly targeted solutions to specific problems, with success measured by progress and learning rather than perfection. The role of frontline teams was also identified as central, with employee engagement and sentiment increasingly recognised as key metrics in evaluating new technology. 

The six companies unveiled at Hospitality Tech360 reflect these priorities in practice. Their solutions span AI-driven forecasting, energy optimisation, workforce training, performance analytics, marketing and inventory management, all designed to help operators improve efficiency and decision-making in real time. 

Nick Powell, Portfolio Event Director for Hospitality Tech360, said: “Hospitality Tech360 is designed to connect operators with the technologies that can make a tangible difference to their businesses. Showcasing the Hospitality Innovation Lab cohort alongside a programme of content exploring real-world challenges and solutions brings that to life. It’s about moving beyond theory and demonstrating how innovation can be applied in practice across the sector. We look forward to seeing the outcomes from these trials in the weeks to come.” 

The cohort’s trial phase began during the event, marking the start of a collaborative effort to generate actionable insights and scalable solutions for the industry. 

Learn more at hospitalitysectorcouncil.org/resources/innovation/hospitality-innovation-lab