Mike Stocks

October 11th 2025

We’ve all heard the phrase: “Jack of all trades, master of none.” Usually flung about like it’s some sort of career insult—like being able to do lots of things somehow makes you less impressive than someone who’s nailed one niche. But …

October 1st 2022

I’m a big fan of The Library of Things (check out their website here). They’re a social enterprise that started in 2014 that have quickly grown to cover 7 London neighbourhoods and recently successfully crowdfunded £370,000 to take the…

4th May 2022

It wasn’t long ago that the vast majority of hospitality tech was only available to bigger companies with deep pockets, an in-house IT team and sourced from a few specialist providers whilst smaller businesses relied on a low (or zero) a…

18th July 2021

As Monday sees the ‘retirement’ of the venue check-in QR codes, this week I’m taking a look at QR codes, their past, the present and speculating on the role of QR codes in the future of hospitality.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that QR …

16th May 2021

Last month LinkedIn (and many of my connections) reminded me that it’s been 2 years since I started working as a freelance consultant.

One of the questions I get asked most frequently about my work has to be: ‘So what do you actually do?’

7th March 2021

After what for many of us feels like an endless succession of lockdowns, stop-starts, curfews, and debates over what constitutes ‘a substantial meal’ we finally have provisional dates when we can reopen our terraces, welcome guests insid…

25th January 2021

On Sunday morning I woke up to snow falling outside my bedroom window. I sat with my (slightly confused) dog just watching the ground turn white while listening to the excited local kids playing outside.

I realised that for the first …

11th January 2021

...we fail to move forward.'

As most of us are getting used to the idea of another indefinite lockdown, home-schooling aside, it can be easy to feel frustrated and slip into 'hibernation mode' both personally and professionally.

As t…