Welcome.

Lovely to meet you.

Let’s talk about tech!

Step into my office.

It’s almost rare to have face-to-face meetings like this.

But really, really lovely that you could make it.

Tech is just so exciting!

I’ve just come back from a conference, actually.

With other… ehrm… hotel managers of the chain.

Our regional manager and so forth.

And ehrm… we’ve really managed to hit our targets,

our KPIs, this year.

And we’ve been introduced to the new strategies from head office.

By implementing all these new guidelines and technology

we are really finding efficient solutions

to deal with the pressures of the industry.

You might have noticed our self check-in kiosks as you entered —

they have really freed up our front-of-house staff

who now have time to tend the bar,

help set up breakfast,

and help out with managing housekeeping.

They have really become all-rounders

and learned so much more about the business.

Also, ehrm… we recently introduced our text chat app

so that guests can contact staff directly on their phones

wherever they are,

without having to call or come downstairs.

That’s very efficient.

Very efficient.

Housekeeping has also seen some changes —

and you know, more efficiency.

We’ve been able to shave off two minutes per room clean

by having our receptionist team remove the bed sheets

before our housekeeping team arrives.

We have been able to shave off another five minutes for each room

by introducing robot hoovers

which can hoover while our housekeepers tend to other tasks.

And to keep up with the times and the requirements of the chain,

our hotel has also adopted a more environmentally friendly approach.

Now customers can opt out of the room cleans.

Just one customer opting out can save up to 60L of water

per room per day.

That has also reduced our overall housekeeping costs

as we can now manage with a smaller team.

So we have been able to reduce staff costs and… yeah.

Very efficient.

Very efficient.

[PAUSE.]

Not very pleasant though.

It’s not very pleasant letting people go.

In fact, it is really hard.

It has been really hard.

But what else am I supposed to do?

This is how things are now.

Everywhere is the same.

The industry is struggling.

First the pandemic and Brexit.

Now the new government guidelines.

I have to do what is best for the business.

I have to do what I’m told.

I try to do my best to keep the team happy.

Because they work really hard.

I try to make sure they have a good time.

Try to give everyone a say in how things should be.

I make sure that when they are off, they are completely off.

I don’t chase them.

No texts or calls during their free time.

All communication happens here, face to face.

I know that doesn’t always happen in other places.

I make sure there are phones they can use here

so they don’t use their own.

I do what I can.

But it is hard.

Now they are saying that AI is the next thing.

I don’t quite know how or why,

but it’s what is coming next.

To stay with the times.

To be more efficient.

To reduce more costs…

[Voice trails off.]

[END]