Wes Lambert is the CEO of Restaurant & Catering Australia (R&CA), the national industry association representing the hospitality industry of Australia that generates $37 billion in retail turnover each year and creates employment opportunities for more than 450,000 people.
R&CA represents more than 47,000 restaurants, cafés, and catering businesses across Australia. The association aims to keep the hospitality industry of Australia profitable and sustainable. It focuses on the continuous improvement of industry standards and professionalism. It also works on actively influencing the policy decisions and regulations that impact the sector’s operating environment.
Wes is also an International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) qualified Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia (FGIA). He has over 20 years of experience in executive-level change management, lobbying, negotiation, governance, finance, and accounting.
He has recently been named among the 20 most influential hospitality heavy-hitters for driving the restaurants, hotels, cafes, and bars of South Australia out of the economic turmoil caused by a global health crisis.
He has also authored a book titled “Saving Hospitality, One Venue at a Time: The 7 Pillars to Pivoting Your Business Through a Crisis”, which you can pre-order here: https://weslambert.co/.
Before becoming the CEO of R&Ca, Wes served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Director for Velocity Group, a retail industry holding company based in the United States, and as Executive Director, Secretary and Financial Controller for Pacific Restaurant Group (PRG) Ltd, Australia’s first public unlisted Restaurant Group. Among other duties, Wes performed day-to-day Financial Controller role for the $27.8M group. He also managed the restructuring and IPO preparations for the group.
In this episode, Wes shares with us how the hospitality industry is using technology, data, and analytics to improve their business operations and also the business revenue. Going beyond the surface, we also have a detailed discussion on how digital platforms such as Uber Eats, Menulog, and Deliveroo are helping the restaurants.
Wes believes that the technology is here to stay and the restaurants should follow where the customers want them to go and should use the technology to operate their business and market to the customer.
Some other important elements of discussion are:
- How Covid-19 pushed up the restaurant’s revenue percentage from delivery apps from 8% to 25-35%.
- Why are the behavioral changes of the consumers likely to stay?
- What are the new technologies that are being used in the restaurant and hospitality industry?
- How restaurants are using their self-delivery apps and large apps?
- How are they balancing between the different modes of consumption, i.e., dine-in, takeaway, etc.?
- What should you do to stay relevant no matter how volatile the market is? Hint: You have to meet the customers where they are.
- How the conflict of data-sharing by delivery app platforms with the restaurants can be solved?
If you want to understand how technology, data, and analytics are now modernizing the restaurant and the hospitality industry. This is the episode not to miss.
More links about the guest
LinkedIn Profile URL:
What is one book that he would gift to his younger self:
- The Superstar Roadmap by Myra White
- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13829498-the-superstar-roadmap
Website:
In the News:
- https://weslambert.co/blogs/news
- https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/delicious-sa/meet-the-top-20-hospitality-heavyhitters-leading-sas-food-and-wine-industry-out-of-the-covid19-crisis/news-story/0c588d8df679eccc77ee970b756d454a
- https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/coronavirus/hibernation/wes-lambert-answers-your-questions-as-cafes-and-restaurants-fight-to-survive/news-story/8c241a1a78e7179f04710980abee07ed
- https://www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au/new-ceo-for-rca/
Have a question for Wes and Jason? Leave your voice message here at: https://anchor.fm/analyticsshow/message