5 Things I Learned This Year: Building The Chef Hub Into Something Different

It's taken a lot of groundwork, a fair bit of trial and error, and plenty of doing things before I felt ready. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that building something meaningful takes more than having a good idea.

Last year took a lot to get going. Pushing water uphill springs to mind...

Not because the ambition wasn't there, or because I didn't know what I wanted The Chef Hub to become, but because turning an idea into something that people can see, understand, trust and genuinely benefit from takes time.

Especially with ZERO clients, candidates and anything behind me to back what I was saying.

There's a lot that happens behind the scenes of a small business. The work nobody sees, the decisions nobody notices, the hours spent figuring things out, and the constant question of whether you're putting your energy into the right places.

This year has been about laying that groundwork.

Becoming more visible was a goal. Building credibility was a goal. Creating something that stood apart from the traditional recruitment model was always part of the plan.

That meant reviews, feedback, website development, SEO, meta tags, AI search, GEO, integrations, secondary metadata and a long list of technical things that, if I'm honest, I didn't necessarily expect to spend so much time learning about.

But that's business.

You can't expect people to find you if you're invisible. You can't expect them to trust you if you don't give them a reason to. And you can't build something different if you're only doing what everyone else is doing.

So, looking back over the year, here are five things I've learned while building The Chef Hub.

1. It doesn't need to be perfect

There's a temptation when building a business to wait until everything is ready.

The website needs another tweak. The branding could be better. The service needs refining. The next idea needs more research. That piece of content could do with another edit.

Before you know it, you're spending more time preparing to do something than actually doing it.

I've certainly learned that progress doesn't always look polished.

Sometimes you launch something knowing you'll improve it. Sometimes you have a conversation that opens a door you hadn't considered. Sometimes you make a decision, realise there's a better way, and change direction.

That's not necessarily failure. That's learning.

The Chef Hub has evolved, and it will continue to evolve. The services, the resources, the partnerships and the way we support people will keep developing because the industry itself doesn't stand still.

I'd rather put something useful into the world, listen to the feedback and make it better than wait indefinitely for perfection.

You don't have to have everything figured out to take the first step.

You just have to be willing to learn from what happens next.

2. Consistency breeds results

This one sounds obvious, but I think it's one of the most underestimated parts of running a business.

We live in a world that celebrates the big announcement, the viral post, the overnight success and the impressive headline.

What we don't always see is the repetition behind it.

The emails sent when nobody replies. The conversations that don't immediately turn into business. The content that gets very little engagement. The website improvements that might take months to make a difference. The relationships built over time, without an immediate return.

I've spent a considerable amount of time making The Chef Hub more visible, more accessible and more useful.

Some of that work is obvious. Much of it isn't.

Search engine optimisation, website structure, reviews, integrations and making content easier to discover across different platforms aren't particularly glamorous. Neither is consistently showing up and explaining what you do, why you do it and what makes it worthwhile.

But those small, repeated actions build on one another.

The same applies to recruitment. A good relationship isn't built through one phone call. Trust isn't established by sending a CV. And a successful placement isn't the end of the job if you're genuinely invested in the outcome.

Consistency is about doing the right things repeatedly, even when the results aren't immediate.

You might not see the difference today, but that doesn't mean the work isn't making one.

3. Culture is undervalued

After nearly 30 years in professional kitchens and years spent supporting hospitality businesses through recruitment, consultancy and training, I keep coming back to the same thing.

People matter.

We talk about experience, qualifications, salary expectations, job titles and the technical skills needed to do a job. Of course those things matter. A kitchen still needs people who can cook, manage costs, lead teams and deliver consistently.

But what about the environment they're walking into?

What does leadership look like when service goes wrong? How are people treated when they're struggling? Does the business live by the values it promotes? Are people given the opportunity to learn, develop and progress?

And perhaps most importantly, does the person you're recruiting actually fit the culture you're trying to build?

Culture isn't a paragraph on a careers page. It isn't a set of values printed on the staff-room wall. It's what people experience every day.

It's also one of the reasons I believe recruitment needs to be more considered than matching a CV to a job description.

You can find someone with all the right skills and still make the wrong appointment if you don't understand the people, behaviours and expectations that make a business work.

That's why I believe in getting to know the operation, understanding the leadership team and looking beyond the obvious when supporting a recruitment process.

And it's why I want The Chef Hub to offer more than recruitment alone.

Through college talks, student coaching, interview support, networking events and practical resources, there's an opportunity to support people at different stages of their hospitality careers, not just when they're ready to change jobs.

Culture isn't a nice extra. It influences who joins, who stays, who develops and who eventually decides to leave.

If we want a stronger hospitality industry, we have to take that seriously.

4. It's not about what everyone else does

One of the biggest challenges when building a business is resisting the temptation to measure yourself against everyone else.

What are your competitors posting? How are they pricing their services? What does their website look like? How many followers do they have? What are they offering that you're not?

It's easy to get caught up in it.

Of course, understanding the market matters. You need to know what's happening around you, what clients expect and where there are opportunities to improve.

But there's a difference between learning from the market and allowing it to dictate your identity.

I've never wanted The Chef Hub to be a business that simply copies the traditional recruitment model and changes the wording.

I don't particularly like the word "agency". Not because recruitment businesses don't provide value, but because the word can come with expectations that don't reflect the relationship I want to build.

For me, recruitment should be a partnership.

It should involve understanding the business, its culture, its commercial pressures and the people who make it work. It should involve honest conversations, realistic salary expectations, thoughtful candidate introductions and support beyond the point of placement.

But why should that be where the relationship ends?

What about the operational challenges that affect retention? The opportunities to save money through trusted suppliers? The training that helps someone progress? The practical tools that make a manager's working day easier?

That's where I see an opportunity to do things differently.

The Chef Hub is developing a wider network of support around hospitality, including supplier partnerships, cost-saving opportunities, training, consultancy, practical downloads and resources that businesses can actually use.

The idea isn't to offer everything for the sake of it. It's to connect people with useful support when they need it, without making every interaction a sales opportunity.

Being different doesn't mean doing something completely new. Sometimes it means doing the familiar things with more thought, more care and a better understanding of the people involved.

I'm not interested in building a business that looks like everyone else's.

I'm interested in building one that reflects what I believe hospitality needs.

5. Just start

This probably brings the other four lessons together.

The Chef Hub was established in 2020, but the journey into building it as a full-time business has been a different chapter entirely. Born out of COVID, and the ambition to support the industry getting match fit, supplying digital support, online content an resources to start succesful after closure.

There have been challenges, changes in direction and plenty of moments where the next step wasn't obvious.

Building something independently means taking responsibility for the decisions, the mistakes, the learning and the results. There isn't always somebody else to ask, and there certainly isn't a guarantee that the idea you've invested in will work.

But if you wait until you feel completely confident, completely prepared or completely certain, you can spend a long time standing still.

Sometimes you have to make the call.

Sometimes you have to try the idea.

Sometimes you have to have the conversation, publish the article, attend the event or put yourself in a room where you don't know everyone.

You won't get every decision right. You won't always get the response you hoped for. And some things will take considerably longer than you expected.

Do it anyway.

Not recklessly, and not without learning from your mistakes, but with the understanding that you can improve something far more effectively once you've started than you can while it's still an idea in your head.

The same applies to hospitality.

If you want to improve retention, start by having better conversations. If you want to develop your team, start by asking what they need. If you want to make your operation more sustainable, start by looking at what you waste. If you want to change your career, start by exploring the possibilities.

You don't need a perfect plan. You need a first step and the willingness to keep going.

So, what's actually different about The Chef Hub?

This is the question I keep coming back to.

Recruitment is a significant part of what we do, but it isn't the only thing I want The Chef Hub to be known for.

I want the business to contribute something useful to an industry that has given me a career, a community and experiences I'll always value.

That means looking beyond the placement and considering what else we can offer.

People and opportunity

Free CV support, templates, interview guidance, student coaching, college talks and networking events that bring hospitality people together.

Not everyone needs a recruiter at every stage of their career. Sometimes they need advice, encouragement, a practical resource or an opportunity to meet somebody who can help them take the next step.

Practical support for businesses

Free downloadable content, snapshot toolboxes, training, consultancy and operational support designed to help hospitality businesses make better decisions.

The aim is to provide something useful, whether that's improving a process, supporting a manager, reviewing an operation or identifying opportunities to save money.

A wider hospitality network

Trusted suppliers and partners who can help businesses access products, services and potential savings, with the opportunity to integrate support directly into their operations.

From procurement and equipment to everyday essentials, the objective is to make useful connections that have a practical benefit.

Giving something back

The social impact work is another important part of this journey.

Our Social Impact Report brings together the work being done across people, community and environmental responsibility. It provides a way to measure what we're contributing, be more transparent about our progress and identify where we can do better.

Environmental impact matters, as does the responsibility to support the communities and people who make hospitality what it is.

I want that work to be something we can demonstrate, not just talk about.

Useful things, not just useful words

There will also be opportunities to access giveaways, merchandise, apparel and practical hospitality items, from clothing and utensils to chopping boards and crockery.

They're everyday things that businesses and individuals need, use and eventually replace. Through the right partnerships, there's an opportunity to make some of those essentials more accessible while creating additional value for the people in our network.

Alongside that, the blogs, shared experience and ongoing conversations will continue.

Because support doesn't always have to come with an invoice attached.

And being a useful partner sometimes means helping with something that has absolutely nothing to do with filling a vacancy.

Beyond "we need a chef"

Ultimately, I want The Chef Hub to be part of a bigger conversation about what hospitality businesses and the people who work in them need to thrive.

Recruitment will always matter. Getting the right people into the right roles can transform a business.

But so can developing the people you already have, creating a better working culture, reducing unnecessary costs, improving processes and helping someone see a future for themselves in the industry.

These things aren't separate from recruitment. They all influence the strength and sustainability of a hospitality business.

The ambition is to bring more of that support together in one place, through relationships, practical resources and people who understand the realities of the industry.

It's a work in progress. There is plenty more to build, improve and learn.

But the direction is clear.

So… is that just another "agency"?

I'll leave that one with you.

I'm proud of the work that goes into The Chef Hub, including the parts that nobody sees. I'm proud of the relationships being built, the people being supported and the opportunities to contribute beyond the day-to-day recruitment process.

I'm also realistic enough to know that the work doesn't stop here.

There will be more to learn, more to improve and more ways to support the industry as the business grows.

If this year has taught me anything, it's that you don't need to have everything figured out to build something worthwhile.

You need a reason to start, the consistency to keep going, the willingness to listen and the confidence to do things your own way.

And perhaps most importantly, you need to remember who you're doing it for.

For me, that will always come back to hospitality, the people who make it work and the businesses trying to do right by them.

The Chef Hub. More than recruitment. Built around hospitality. By chefs, for chefs.

Now, I'd genuinely like to know what you think.

What do you believe hospitality businesses need more support with? And what would you want from a partner who understands your operation, rather than simply filling a vacancy?

Let's have that conversation.

But it's not all one way traffic, as a thank you for reading, sharing and supporting the journey and blogs, the social impact report, is FREE, and ready to download now.