Nov. 24, 2025

#335 - Mary Shelley-Smith - The Evolution of Catering: Insights from Mary - LEADING LADIES PODCAST

In this conversation, Mary Shelley-Smith shares her extensive experience in the catering industry, particularly in the touring sector. She discusses the evolution of catering practices, the importance of mental health and teamwork, and the growing focus on sustainability. Mary reflects on her unique experiences working with high-profile clients and events, and offers valuable advice for newcomers in the industry. The conversation highlights the adaptability and resilience required in catering, as well as the significance of creating a supportive and enjoyable work environment.

This Episode is brought to you by Lightswitch

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We got Atpi, we got a festival
award.

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We got yeah, we got, we, we, we
brought home the, the, the Stat

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Jettes.
Yeah, we've got a whole

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selection of them upstairs.
It's really nice.

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Take any opportunity you're
offered, really go for it.

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You know, if someone says how do
you fancy going to Finland for a

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fortnight, just go yes, because
it's a fortnight and if you

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don't like it, you don't have to
go back.

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Just try everything, you know,
Go to festivals, share rooms, do

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do jobs.
Just try everything.

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Yeah, this.
And and learn, learn from

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people.
Yes, There's so many people with

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so much knowledge.
Now here's the leading ladies by

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Geezers of Gear on tour.
Maybe she got some stories to

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share.
Now here's the leading ladies by

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the Geezers of Gear Rock star
ladies with some stories to

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share because La La, La La La
La.

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Hello Mary, and welcome to
Leading Ladies.

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Podcast.
Hello, Sarah.

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Nice to see you.
Yeah, good and sunny.

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Aylesbury in London in England
near.

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Oh, amazing.
Well, for those listeners that

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don't know you, this is this is
Mary.

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And Mary, she, well, she used to
be my boss.

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And I, Mary gave me the very
first opportunity in my touring

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career.
And I was looking back at when

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at what tour it was.
But it was Barbra Streisand.

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That was the very first tour you
gave me.

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Wow, yeah, wow.
It was physical.

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Yep, with Susie Cole, Rich Rock,
Sal, which is when we first

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connected.
Holly was there at the time and

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I can't remember who else was.
Was it then?

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Oh, I actually might have been
Jasmine.

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Was it Jasmine?
Anyway, so and that was really

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cool.
And that was my very, very.

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Holly just got married.
Did she really?

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Oh, no way.
Because she was already.

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She had a little boy, didn't
she, years ago.

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Holly.
Are we there talking?

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Morris or Holly?
Oh no, I'm talking about the

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other Holly.
Holly that moved to New Zealand.

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Oh, yes, though she's still in
New Zealand.

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Yeah.
So like we've all like spread

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out and got everywhere all over
the world, all over the world.

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So please tell our listeners,
who are you?

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What?
What do you do?

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So I've been in catering since
1990.

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I applied to work for each The
Beat through Marion.

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Do you remember Marion?
Marion, Neil.

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No, I don't actually.
No, I don't remember.

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My time and I in fact I we were
going through HR files a while

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back and my little letter that I
wrote is still in the file and I

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spelt I spelt Tony's name wrong.
Yeah, that's really funny.

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Dear Mr. Lawrenson, spell it
wrong.

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Yeah, I still got the job.
So.

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So that was back in 99.
I've been here 1990.

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Yeah, I've been here a very long
time.

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Yeah.
The company started in 1984.

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Yeah, Tony before that had
worked for another company and

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then he started on his own in
1984, touring with Joe Jackson

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and Iron Maiden and things.
And we still tour with Iron

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Maiden, which is.
Really.

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Yeah, I was going to say I
looked at that.

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You still got Iron Iron Maiden
that well, which that's

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incredible to sort of be loyal.
But like both ways, you know

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that you're still doing the sort
of the catering.

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Yeah, like that's yeah, I mean,
and how do.

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You, yeah, we're really lucky to
be the vendor on a lot of

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tourists that we have been.
I mean, you've got some

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incredible, I mean, we're we're
going to go into all of that,

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but I mean really you've had
some incredible clients, you

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know, artists and events like,
you know, if anyone thinks of

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any catering company, then for
sure eat to the beat is, you

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know, you're, you're there,
you're the top, which I think

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that's a huge achievement for
you and the team.

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Like it's like it's, it's really
great.

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Light Switch is a collective of
award-winning lighting, media

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and visual designers committed
to changing how people

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experience the world.
For more than 30 years we have

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At Light Switch.

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We believe it's our
responsibility to keep our

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clients creative, logistical and
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expertise is extensive.

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From working one-on-one with
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multidisciplinary teams
collaborate on all visual

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And I mean, how did you
actually, how did you first get

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into catering?
Like what?

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What made you think, OK, I'm I,
I want to be in the in this

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crazy catering world.
I'd always cooked and I didn't

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particularly want to go to
university because I wanted to

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be a chef.
My parents wouldn't let me.

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So when I was at uni I got
involved in it and then I met

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some people through that and I
was making the sandwiches for

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the shows at Strathclyde Genie
and then met Marion and she

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introduced me to Tony and went
from there.

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So I started my first day was at
the Town and Country in Kilburn,

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washing up in 1990 for ATV show.
Yeah.

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And then did some stuff and
ended up on tour that summer

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with the Pixies for three months
or something.

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Yeah, that was my first two,
which was great.

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Then went into her there and
made and after that was ongoing.

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Wow, and you've just come back
from Japan?

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It was only 22. 22 So you've
just come back from Japan.

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What was that work?
Or was that pleasure?

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No, I was really lucky to be
able to take a month off for the

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whole of October.
Hang on a minute.

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I do not believe it.
I don't think I've ever known

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you to take time off.
A whole month, yeah, no, really

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lucky that Bonnie was fine about
it and the team were brilliant

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and my partner and I went
travelling in Japan for a month,

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which was incredible.
Oh, Mary, that's amazing because

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when we messaged, because I've
tried to get you on here, I

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think it was last year.
And I know you was like always

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super busy.
And it was like just a couple of

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weeks ago, I thought, oh, I'll
send you an e-mail just again,

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you know, just in case you're
free.

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And you got back to me.
And he was like using Japan.

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I was like, I don't think each
of the beat have got anything

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going on in Japan.
But then I was thinking, well,

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maybe it's something new coming
up that you're there for

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pleasure.
I mean, would you in Japan for

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the whole time?
Yeah, well, we went via South

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Korea and then came back via
Hong Kong.

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Oh fantastic.
Well, it's funny.

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It's because I was just looking
at my lanyards at the back.

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Majority of the like from, from
you like from like, you know

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what?
Coldplay here, five finger death

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punch Stereophonics, like
basically all the touring I've

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ever done is with with E to the
B and I'm still really good

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friends with with Sal,
obviously, although I haven't

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seen S like 4 year.
No, must be longer now.

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Five years.
Like it's crazy.

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And I think that's the thing,
that we're all ships the past in

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the night a bit.
We're all ships that pass in the

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night, but when we see each
other, it's as though we've

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never been, you know, actually,
Nutella, I saw sail last year.

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Last year I saw sail because I
flew over to do this LDI thing,

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and I stopped off in London to
see her.

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So that was nice.
Yeah, it was very nice.

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But I mean, since like, 1990,
like, what?

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I mean the landscape of like
touring, you know when you

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started like in the 90s compared
to now.

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I mean the changes, you know,
what have you seen?

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How have you seen the changes?
You know, the like the, the

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style.
I mean, now the catering for me

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is I mean is five star, is a 5
star.

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Amazing.
Yeah, you know, So what was it

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like back in the 90s compared to
now?

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It was much more basic.
I always, I'm always quite

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intrigued about tour buses.
When I started, tour buses were

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nothing like they are now.
They were really like school

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buses.
And yeah, I think they had, you

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know, sort of itchy, you know,
floor with not carpeted floor

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and stuff.
As I recall.

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It was, it was like the top deck
of a bus.

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Yeah.
And I always think tour buses

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nowadays are like, wow.
They're all pimping now.

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And the technology on them is
like I could never work a video

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player or anything on a bus.
I've I've not seen a film for

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you.
You didn't the whole time I was

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tuning.
I don't think I ever saw a film

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because I couldn't work the
video players and things left.

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Yeah, it has all the technology
is amazing.

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And with catering, you know,
tours have got so much bigger.

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You know, it used to be 1 truck,
it's now so many more trucks,

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like 14 trucks going into arenas
and stuff It catering.

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Our crews were for maybe an
arena shore and now are 8.

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It's much longer days.
It's much more involved, which

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is amazing.
There's people are putting on

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these incredible shows.
So I suppose as the technology

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is growing, people have put on
bigger and bigger shows and

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bigger and bigger catering
requirements.

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I mean, it does often surprise
me how, yeah, you've got, like

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you said, so many trucks going
into an arena and then you're

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like, this isn't going to fit,
you know, even the catering

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equipment, you're like, how's
that all going to fit in there?

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You know how?
And you know, a lot of people

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don't realise what goes on.
I mean, I always say it's

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incredible how we can roll in
from waking up on a bus, do a

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quick look around and set
everything up.

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Within an hour there's a full
English breakfast, continental,

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You've got everything.
Like I've never worked with so

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many incredible people.
OK, there's there's issues

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because there's always issues on
tours, but really such an

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incredible people that really do
work together to get everybody

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fed before they go to, you know.
It's all all about teamwork and

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everyone has, yeah, it's all
about can do attitude as well.

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You know, people just it's
getting stuck in.

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It's quite incredible to watch.
It's getting stuck in.

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It's as I said, you know, like
we can roll in, everything's up.

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Then as soon as you know,
breakfast is up, you're on to on

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to lunch then one.
And lunch isn't just, you know,

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a couple of sandwiches and some
cakes.

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These are like 5 a five star
dining experience.

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You know, whether it's an arena
tour, whether it's a festival,

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whether it's, you know, a
stadium for some top artist and

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then before you know it, you're
getting ready for dinner and

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it's the same thing.
And then if you're loading out

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that day, within one hour, it's
packed up and it's gone.

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You know, like the, the whole,
the whole feeling as a teamwork,

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as a group is great.
I mean, how have you managed

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like things like on mental
health side of things?

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Because like you mentioned, like
it's long hours, it's long days

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and caterers are renowned for,
you know, we're first in last

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out, as it were.
How do you manage to, you know,

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support your team like your crew
leaders with their with their

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crew to keep that energy up and
on a mental health side of

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things, because I know you're
very strong on this.

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I think the key thing is to make
sure there's enough people

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working on a tour that can cover
all the jobs that, that people

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don't struggle.
No, not as much as we all, you

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know, we want to promote people
and new people and things like

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you can't.
I I once did a tour of where I

220
00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,800
was floundering.
And, you know, that feeling,

221
00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,000
it's just, oh, I don't know what
I'm going to do next.

222
00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:02,680
You don't want anyone that's
having a panic.

223
00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:06,240
Yeah.
And it, it feeds through.

224
00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,760
If someone starts to panic then
and then you end up all running

225
00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:15,960
around.
So key things prepare, you know,

226
00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,680
pre shops, having everything
done, knowing people, knowing

227
00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:22,400
what they can do, not having
surprises.

228
00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,680
Production, you know, having
great comms with production that

229
00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:30,200
they aren't throwing last minute
things on you because that

230
00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:32,320
always throws things.
It puts your day out.

231
00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:38,040
And then, you know,
communicating with our crew, so

232
00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:41,120
many people work with work all
around, which is great.

233
00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:43,240
So people come back with great
ideas.

234
00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,880
Hopefully we all share, Oh, this
would be a better way to do

235
00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,920
this.
Things like buses.

236
00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:54,360
We did like in the UK, we don't
make bus sandwiches so much

237
00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,440
more.
It's more bus stock or we buy

238
00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,200
the sandwiches and it's it's
anything that can not cut

239
00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:07,040
corners but can improve a day.
And so that everyone gets a bit

240
00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:09,360
of time in the day to actually
sit down and eat at some point,

241
00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:10,760
because I think that's really
important.

242
00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:13,000
It is important.
It doesn't happen enough.

243
00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,360
It it doesn't.
I mean, everybody kind of thinks

244
00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,600
that, you know, you're in,
you're working in Kate on the

245
00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,960
catering side and you know, the
food's there, but not once will

246
00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:25,240
you see a caterer sit down and
eat like, because it's just, it

247
00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:25,920
just doesn't.
Happen.

248
00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,280
No, we eat cheese and doughnuts.
Seriously.

249
00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,000
And the sausages as you walk
past the band.

250
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:36,640
Murray.
We always laugh at it's a, it's

251
00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:40,600
a bowl with a spoon over the
over a bend, almost all those

252
00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,280
beautiful foods.
Seriously, and it's and that's

253
00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:44,960
the thing.
It's all these beautiful food.

254
00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:49,960
And sometimes I don't know if
this is a we often feel guilty

255
00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:54,080
for sitting down as well.
I know I always, I always did

256
00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,480
like, you know, if I sat down to
eat, they felt guilty.

257
00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:01,560
And also the there's always
something to be done, you know,

258
00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:04,360
even if it's the spoons need
filling or oh, the fridge needs

259
00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,360
doing, this needs doing that
needs doing because there's

260
00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,640
always something, it's like, OK,
I'll get this done and then I'll

261
00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,080
have something to eat.
I'll get this done.

262
00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,720
But there isn't, there isn't
that time for it.

263
00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:20,800
So you're constantly running
around and, yeah, not eating,

264
00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:24,560
not necessarily looking after
yourself properly in the

265
00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,320
healthiest kind of way.
Although I, I don't know if you

266
00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,960
know this, but I did actually do
a tour beginning of this year.

267
00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:33,000
It was my first one back before
COVID.

268
00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:38,160
I've since since COVID, since
COVID, my husband came as well.

269
00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:44,200
And I, I know, yeah, I know he
was he first time ever.

270
00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:49,320
He was front of house.
And my little Greek man, he he

271
00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:51,480
was brilliant.
I mean, he'd never done it

272
00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:55,640
before.
And by the by the end of it, he

273
00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:58,800
knew basically 100 people's
names taking their order for

274
00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:00,840
dinner.
And I was just, I couldn't be

275
00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:03,280
more proud, really, really,
really proud.

276
00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,320
But at the beginning, you know,
I kind of said with, in fact,

277
00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,520
Hannah, Hannah May was there.
And I said, right, we're going

278
00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:12,680
to sit down.
We're going to do this tour.

279
00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:15,880
And we all of us as, as our
group, we said this is what

280
00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,960
we're going to do.
Well, I the first week it all

281
00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:23,240
went to pop, I pretty much had a
breakdown because I hadn't done

282
00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:25,560
it for so long.
I was like, Oh my God, what's

283
00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:29,320
going on?
Like it was just quite intense.

284
00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:32,280
And yeah, after.
That and it and it would have

285
00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:37,360
changed a lot since you lasted
it the the volume of work on,

286
00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:38,760
you know, dressing rooms and
stuff.

287
00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:40,760
Yeah.
I mean, I was on dressing rooms

288
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:46,800
and I was dressing room and
buses so that I was like, whoa,

289
00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:49,640
I've never done.
But it wasn't just buses stock,

290
00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,040
you know, wine, beer, this.
It was all individual people's

291
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:55,400
requests.
And I mean, you know, wish.

292
00:16:55,400 --> 00:17:01,120
Lists.
The bus stop gap like, but that

293
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,400
was all, obviously all new.
Our whole department had never

294
00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:07,800
worked together.
Also having a Greek man that's

295
00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,520
never done it before.
I mean, all of these different

296
00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:16,599
things going moulded together,
but by, by a couple of weeks

297
00:17:16,599 --> 00:17:19,760
into it, we all had, we all, we
had it all down to a tee.

298
00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:21,160
And it ended up being a really
good tour.

299
00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:25,440
Yeah, a really nice tour.
But certainly going back to like

300
00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,359
the mental health side, I think
I saw every department was, was

301
00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:33,720
struggling, you know, every,
every department had issues and

302
00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,200
of, of certain things.
And you've just said it, you

303
00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,680
know, providing enough people to
do the jobs.

304
00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,680
So then you do have that, you
know, like little bit of wiggle

305
00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,560
room, as it were.
Still not a lot, but there's a

306
00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:52,440
little bit more wiggle room.
And that, I think really does

307
00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:54,840
help.
Like really really does help.

308
00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:57,640
The thing is, though, that comes
at a cost.

309
00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:02,720
Well, this is it so.
It's if that fits in the budget.

310
00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:05,720
Yeah.
And also, I mean, they did try

311
00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:09,000
and get, I mean for, for quite a
lot of the departments, they did

312
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,880
try and get extra people to
help, you know, not just us in

313
00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:14,240
catering, but there was no bus
space.

314
00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,240
Yes.
So, you know, everybody was

315
00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:20,800
like, well, you know, if we get
somebody else, that's no

316
00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:23,600
problem.
But it was, you know, just there

317
00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:28,320
was not enough bus space.
Then we had the bot like the

318
00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,720
boss come out and he was like,
well, actually I tell you what,

319
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,560
people are in different
departments, like with like 1

320
00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,480
like selling desserts and head
chef and you know, everyone was

321
00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,280
put into an area where they
weren't strong.

322
00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:44,240
So he shuffled everybody about
and then that made the team like

323
00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:48,520
it was a wrong decision to put
like it was really good Mary.

324
00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:50,920
Like I don't think we would have
survived.

325
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,080
I know that never happens, but I
think as you're.

326
00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,280
Sometimes it takes things to
settle down, you know, and, and

327
00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,480
just get it going, stand back
and go is that.

328
00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,040
And again, it's that thing of
trying people out in oh, I'm

329
00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,200
sure they'll be good at that.
But yeah, it's maybe too soon,

330
00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:13,400
too big a tour too, you know,
Too much, too soon for people.

331
00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:16,120
Yeah, exactly.
You know, doing all the shopping

332
00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:18,160
and everything is, is a lot of
work.

333
00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:20,680
People think you're all out
getting your hair cut when

334
00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:22,160
you're shopping, you know, but
I.

335
00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:26,160
Hate it, I hate it.
And I said, I said to everybody,

336
00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:30,400
do not send me shopping like
because I'm rubbish, like you

337
00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:34,080
know, you want me to buy, I
don't know, no, take 10

338
00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:36,160
cupcakes.
Well, I buy 100 just in case.

339
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,760
So like budget wise don't don't
trust me.

340
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:42,920
To get the green ones or the
pink ones and yeah.

341
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:46,520
And then or you send a runner
and they come back with

342
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,200
something in your lap.
Oh no, I don't mind really.

343
00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,800
But you said a job a while back
and a runner was sent out I

344
00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,400
think 4 times for Donuts and
it's just we're in Belgium.

345
00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:01,000
They're not going to be the same
as your American Donuts.

346
00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:03,640
This is this is what is
available.

347
00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:06,880
Choose.
We'll warm them up.

348
00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:09,880
Well, I remember, I think it
was.

349
00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:11,200
It was with.
Oh.

350
00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:13,840
What was her name?
Susan Power?

351
00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:15,520
Was it power?
Was that name power for

352
00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:19,200
Coldplay?
So and she'd sent out the runner

353
00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:22,560
with the laundries, the the tea
towels.

354
00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,360
I know she's like, why is she
taking so long?

355
00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:28,200
Like, like this is crazy.
But she was on a bicycle.

356
00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,440
Oh no.
Wow.

357
00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,760
But again, you know, that's down
to the venue of the promoter for

358
00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:40,360
like, I mean, you know, every
runner should really know.

359
00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:45,640
I mean the runners, they are the
the backbone to keeping most of

360
00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:46,360
us.
Absolutely.

361
00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,760
You know you, you've got.
Some well all all local crew are

362
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:51,880
you know and you know you did
what your day is going to be

363
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,640
like when you go, you go to
Glasgow, you know it's going to

364
00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,400
be great because the girls are
there are are Manchester or or

365
00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:00,200
London.
You know, in the UK in general.

366
00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:04,280
We are really lucky.
I bet it sets then language

367
00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:10,280
barriers not the right people
booked that has such a knock on

368
00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,480
effect on your day.
But also now there's a lot of

369
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,280
the European countries that are
doing the like, let's call it a

370
00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:17,960
split shift.
But yeah, you've got the

371
00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:21,120
morning, people come in at 8,
they leave at 2:00 and then next

372
00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:23,800
one comes at 2:00.
And it's right during your busy

373
00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:26,680
time, your busy period of of
lunch and you're trying to like

374
00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:32,640
swap people out all the rest of
it and explaining how you need

375
00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,840
stuff again and everyone's like
car.

376
00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:37,480
You just are like half a day.
But it's not.

377
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:38,840
It's an 8 hour day they've just
done.

378
00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,520
But yeah.
I'm, I'm totally down with it

379
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:46,400
doing an 8 hour day, but yeah,
but in events it's, it's

380
00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,960
difficult.
But then at the moment, like we

381
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,360
were the other job the other day
and the KPS came in, they were

382
00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:56,320
so tired because they've been
doing, you know, busy work.

383
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,000
Take the work.
Well, it is, and just really

384
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,480
early starts and late finishes
and then everyone started.

385
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:05,040
Then you get accidents and
that's that's when it becomes a,

386
00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:07,560
you know, a real worry.
Yes.

387
00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:10,480
I was talking to someone.
I went to a conference a while

388
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:14,080
back and someone came up with a
very good suggestion about to

389
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:19,760
decrease the length of the day
to have less support bands.

390
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:23,880
Really clever idea.
Yeah.

391
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:25,360
So the show would finish earlier
at night.

392
00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:27,560
Everyone we finished packed up
earlier at night.

393
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,280
Less to do.
I don't know, it never happened,

394
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,240
but I remember thinking at the
time what a great idea.

395
00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:36,240
Yeah, I mean that that certainly
had to Yeah.

396
00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:38,520
I just thought that that I could
could never see that.

397
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:40,640
Yeah, sorry.
I don't think that one's going

398
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:44,240
to happen.
I mean, I've, you know, I've

399
00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:47,120
tried to think of ways how you
can make.

400
00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:52,680
Yeah, I mean like days easier or
I mean, somebody even commented

401
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:57,120
to me about, OK, well we're
going to have like like 2 crews

402
00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:00,200
as it were, you know.
So you know, one crew will go I

403
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,360
suppose, like an advance team or
the rest of it.

404
00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:07,760
But I said there's no way that
if you said to me, OK, next week

405
00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:11,560
you've got four days off or
something, you know, to rest up.

406
00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,120
I don't want somebody else
coming in and doing my work for

407
00:23:16,120 --> 00:23:18,040
that time.
I know where everything is.

408
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,920
I know it's my system, so like,
and I've got to know the crew.

409
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,200
The crew don't have days off.
I mean, this was just again, a

410
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:29,640
silly idea from someone, you
know, just like bantering, like

411
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:33,680
how can we how can we make say
the catering side easier?

412
00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:36,560
But I don't think there, I don't
think there is.

413
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:42,600
No, I just having more crew on
the tour, but again, bus space,

414
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,160
more of really good locals.
Yeah, the local.

415
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:51,440
A specialist local SO we
recently then hired and two

416
00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:54,200
agency chefs at every show on a
tour recently.

417
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,120
That's a good.
Idea took a bit of pressure off

418
00:23:57,120 --> 00:23:59,400
the kitchen.
All the prep was done, you know,

419
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:02,240
so you weren't, you don't know
if you're going to get a KP that

420
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:05,440
will peel onions or not.
So we had actual light line

421
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:09,520
cooks, which is great.
That's a good idea because yes,

422
00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,680
you don't know if the KPS can do
the prep, you know, or again,

423
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:15,760
you've got to explain to them,
this is how I want it.

424
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,880
But if you've actually got a
trained chef and you're like,

425
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:22,160
you're, you're on prep today,
that's brilliant because that

426
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:26,080
puts a lot of stress off of the
chefs without being rude.

427
00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,640
That then makes them a lot
easier with the front of house,

428
00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:31,600
you know.
Like it's a knock on effect,

429
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:32,960
yeah.
Exactly.

430
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:35,240
And the same thing.
You know when you know you've

431
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:37,320
got a good washer up, Oh, it's,
it's the same thing.

432
00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:40,680
It's, you know, it's the knock
on effect of everything going

433
00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:47,520
around.
I always say that our job is not

434
00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:52,880
easy, but it's it can be made a
lot easier.

435
00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:57,520
You know it like like that, you
know, having extra help where

436
00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:02,040
you can and planning, you know,
planning out everything,

437
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:06,320
planning, planning and.
And I think also like from a

438
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:08,600
sustainability point of view,
we've been looking at a thing

439
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:13,720
with sustainable swaps like use
local water, don't have Fiji

440
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,240
water, you know, and we and
going to people and saying, do

441
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:19,880
you really need to, is there an
absolute need that you have

442
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:21,640
water that's flowing halfway
across the world?

443
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:23,760
Yeah.
Why don't you have local?

444
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,000
Because then on tours, as you
know, you have to carry it.

445
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,040
Yeah.
You have to source it and some

446
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:32,280
of these things.
Do you really need a Californian

447
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,360
wine when we can get you a
delicious French wine or English

448
00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:38,120
wine?
So we've been looking at doing

449
00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:44,040
some of this recently and, and
also dressing room food because

450
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,840
with the wastage, yeah, it's
crazy so high.

451
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,600
And I understand that people
want full packets that aren't

452
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:52,960
opened and stuff like that.
But if it's the same person

453
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,240
looking after them every night,
you know, clip top jars of

454
00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,600
things that go in and out,
you're not having the wastage.

455
00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,560
And do you want a cheese board
tonight or do you not think

456
00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:06,880
you'll have that?
Just little bits of

457
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:12,880
sustainability because it's
that's so much about wasted.

458
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,480
Yeah, I mean, that's, I want to
talk about that because you

459
00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:20,840
really are really focused on the
sustainability aspect of Tory

460
00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:25,520
now.
And I think that is, I never

461
00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:27,600
thought I was like, that's never
going to be possible.

462
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:30,960
I really was one of those like,
how can you, how can you change

463
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,840
this?
But you've just said five things

464
00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,880
in one in one hit, you know,
trying to make it 1 sustainable,

465
00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:42,360
1 realistic.
And yeah, I mean, like artists

466
00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:47,280
that request the Fiji waters
come in, you know, do you really

467
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:51,600
need that water?
Are we transporting it all the

468
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:56,520
way across the world for you
like and generally to be left in

469
00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,120
a dressing room?
Yeah, and I get that if someone

470
00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:02,840
it's their thing and there's
their comfort blanket almost

471
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:04,680
that they got to have that
square bottle and artists

472
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:09,640
totally get that.
But is it, you know, or saying

473
00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:12,600
Evian particularly, and I
appreciate that people don't

474
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:18,040
want a generic polar cola.
You know, it's quite a quality

475
00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,720
brands, but just little things
like that that you aren't

476
00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:25,040
carrying so much.
I I've I've put I'd on when I

477
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:29,720
did the Pixies way back in 1990.
I the writer on that had

478
00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:33,600
guacamole on it.
So AI didn't know I had to go

479
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:35,400
and find a book and look it up,
see what it was.

480
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:37,320
That's all right.
That's how I do that.

481
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:41,240
And then getting avocados in
those days was absolutely.

482
00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,440
So I would find myself with an
avocado, which I was carrying

483
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:48,600
about to wait for rightfulness.
And I actually find myself on

484
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:52,600
degrading an avocado because it
was so raw to try and make a

485
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,360
workably because I said it was
on the rider and I must put it

486
00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:57,520
in the room.
But as I should have just said,

487
00:27:57,520 --> 00:27:59,200
look, we can't get avocados
here.

488
00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:04,040
Have have some hummus.
They, you know, they're lovely

489
00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:07,120
people that they've been much
happier with nice humors than my

490
00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:09,320
terrible guacamole, to be
honest.

491
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:15,920
But don't you think a lot of the
times we actually create these,

492
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:22,000
let's say, monsters that demand
these certain products, but

493
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:27,200
actually talking to them and
offering them a better solution

494
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:30,840
or a, you know, a, a, a, a
different quality, a different

495
00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:34,440
like anything about it.
And really they're going to be

496
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,560
OK with it.
It's just, yeah.

497
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,680
So it's more communication, but
it's having the time to do that

498
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,040
communication.
And like you said, you know,

499
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,840
this amazing bottles of wine
everywhere in every country.

500
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:48,800
So would you like to try that
wine?

501
00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:54,040
Obviously some people are stuck
on Nope, this is this is what I

502
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:55,520
like.
No problem.

503
00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,440
You know, this is.
But if you're open to different

504
00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,120
suggestions, then that's really
good.

505
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,240
But you're also working with
what's the company you're

506
00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:09,480
working with?
I'm just going to of the cups

507
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:14,080
and what was the name?
Of the Oh, they are cups, Yes.

508
00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:17,280
Are cups, Yeah.
So they were on Coldplay.

509
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:20,520
They came to a few shows, but
they're also at Merryweather,

510
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,360
the venue we look after in
Baltimore, near outside

511
00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:26,800
Baltimore.
And they're reusable cups, which

512
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:29,000
are great.
And the great thing about them

513
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,040
is that because you know
yourself, sometimes you pay 30P

514
00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,400
extras to get a, a beer and a
reusable cup of venue.

515
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:36,760
And sometimes you'll take it
home.

516
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:38,840
She'll say, oh, that's nice.
It says the name of the venue.

517
00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:40,880
I've got a tooth mug at home.
I have that.

518
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,040
But they don't want you to keep
them.

519
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,320
So there's kind of got yellow
paint on them because they want

520
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:49,640
to get them back and reuse them
because it's not so sustainable

521
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:53,160
if you're taking them home so
cleverly, they're not making

522
00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:57,200
them terribly attractive by and
then they'll go in the bins,

523
00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,360
they'll get recycled to get used
to the next gig.

524
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:06,600
And so I'm presuming, so who are
they collecting them or is it

525
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:09,320
like the local stuff that we're
going to be washing them up to

526
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,040
reuse them again?
But they collect them, take them

527
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:14,880
away, wash them and bring more
back as far as I understand.

528
00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:20,200
You see that again, I mean that
logistically, logistically, like

529
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:24,120
that's another huge thing for
the event planner to be

530
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,640
planning.
But if this can actually happen,

531
00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:29,840
what a great way you know,
Because Hairy.

532
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,800
Plastic.
Instead of ordering 2000 plastic

533
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,920
cups, you're ordering 2000
reusable cups, which someone

534
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:37,960
then takes away at the end.
Washers brings back.

535
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,840
Yeah, it's great.
And especially for Coldplay,

536
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:44,640
because that was really like,
well, I suppose what the last

537
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,320
two years they've really been
into sustainability of actions.

538
00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:51,240
A long time, yeah, yeah, a long
time.

539
00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:55,320
They've been they've been really
proactive and you know, no one's

540
00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:58,480
saying that anything's perfect,
but they, they really try and

541
00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,200
have made a benchmark and made a
difference and we all.

542
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:02,720
It's changed the way we all
work.

543
00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:07,000
Yeah, which is great, you know,
And it's, it's little

544
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,920
incremental things that there
are making a difference.

545
00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:14,600
Like I wouldn't think of having
a plastic bottle of water now in

546
00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:16,600
catering really, unless it's
asked for.

547
00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:19,800
It's always, you know, our
default would be water machines,

548
00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:22,080
which you can get from the
venues now.

549
00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:25,720
People, people now carry their
water bottles.

550
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,000
It's not like only some people
would carry them.

551
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:32,240
Now everyone, it's, well, I was
on a job the other day and we

552
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,920
didn't have any paper cups out
and everyone had their own

553
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:36,880
coffee cups with them.
Brilliant.

554
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,840
They're just so used to working
with that client who always says

555
00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:43,880
that and a client who also if
you want a paper cup, you have

556
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:45,360
to go to the production office
and ask for one.

557
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:47,440
So that soon stops people asking
for them.

558
00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:50,400
It's quite a clever way to do
it.

559
00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:52,960
We've got paper cups.
Feel free to come in and ask for

560
00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:54,920
one if you've forgotten your
cup.

561
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:56,520
But.
You know what?

562
00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:59,880
Though.
I always say the change like we

563
00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:03,520
can try and do it, you know, in
catering level, you know, like

564
00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:07,760
don't use your, we can provide
each the B coffee cups, you

565
00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:10,600
know, like reusable ones that
they take away for the whole

566
00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:14,200
tour.
You can guarantee if we've got,

567
00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:16,720
if you've got like paper cups
next to the coffee machine,

568
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,560
they're going to forget it.
I'll just use this like it's

569
00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:23,000
laziness.
It's like it's, it's everything

570
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:24,880
just an easy.
Convenience.

571
00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,400
Convenience, I'll use that, you
know, the bottles of water in

572
00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:30,200
the fridge.
I'll just pick one up for now,

573
00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,760
you know.
But if from the top production

574
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,760
is saying no, no, you've been
issued your coffee cup, you've

575
00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:40,240
been offered a drinks cup, it's
your responsibility to look

576
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,280
after that bloody blah, then
really you're going to see a

577
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:45,600
change.
So I think that's, I think

578
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:50,600
that's really, really brilliant.
And some tourists are having the

579
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,160
big bottles of water on the tour
buses as well now, which is

580
00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:56,240
great.
I actually added on the buses,

581
00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:01,360
you know, it was a cardboard box
1, but a big like 10 litre on

582
00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:02,720
buses.
And at first even the bus

583
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:05,120
driver, he was like, oh, what
are you doing adding this?

584
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:08,600
I said it's better.
I said I've put two of these

585
00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,440
hidden there.
I'll replenish whenever you need

586
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:13,360
it.
Everybody loved it in the end,

587
00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:15,600
but at the beginning they're
like, oh, what have you done?

588
00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:18,440
What's this and how do I?
I was like, it's a tap.

589
00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:22,920
Press it.
And, you know, particularly if

590
00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:25,480
people are filling kettles from
bottled water and things like

591
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:27,920
that, that just makes such a
huge difference.

592
00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:30,520
Exactly.
And I look, I mean, here in

593
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:33,440
Crete, there is no recycling.
I mean, really there's nothing.

594
00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:38,440
So yeah, it's OK.
This year is the first year I've

595
00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:43,400
seen that they've started to do
some recycling, but it's very,

596
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:49,720
very, it's minimal.
So, so I've got my my dog just

597
00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:55,000
looking at me just so I know not
now big puppy go in there.

598
00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:01,000
But I mean, you've worked.
I mean, with so many incredible

599
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:05,560
artists, you work from stadium
tours to Olympic scale events.

600
00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:10,679
I mean, when did you first
realize, like, this is where I

601
00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:12,920
belong?
Like this this this is my thing.

602
00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:16,440
When you find your tribe.
Yeah.

603
00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:20,800
I think just from the beginning,
it was just so much fun.

604
00:34:22,199 --> 00:34:24,840
It was, you know, it was, it's
it didn't.

605
00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:26,159
It doesn't feel like a job
still.

606
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:30,760
And it's because my life is so
much enmeshed with the company.

607
00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:33,800
You know, Bonnie and I are here.
We're good friends out of work.

608
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:35,280
We live at the corner from each
other.

609
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:40,159
We talk about work all the time.
And, you know, running a company

610
00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:44,639
together is, is great fun and
with all the lovely people and

611
00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:48,800
it's all friends we work with.
You know, it's, you know, we see

612
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:49,840
people at work.
We.

613
00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:55,679
Yeah, it's just it is our tribe.
And how I mean.

614
00:34:55,719 --> 00:35:00,040
There's lots of us.
Which is so, which is so lovely

615
00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:05,040
that you have got such a, a
tight, yeah, a tight friendship,

616
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,920
a type working everything about
eat to the Beat.

617
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:11,480
And I mean eat to beat has
managed, I mean really to stay

618
00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:14,960
on top like for four decades
now.

619
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:18,200
As I said at the beginning, eat
to the beat, you know, you guys,

620
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:23,600
you're, you're, you're the top.
And in such like a demanding and

621
00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:28,040
ever changing industry, like,
how do you feel that you've

622
00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:29,960
managed to stay on top all this
time?

623
00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:35,480
I think we have a really great
team in the office here as well

624
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:39,800
that we've brought people in
from other industries, not

625
00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:41,720
necessarily.
So obviously I'm an executor,

626
00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:44,960
Bonnie's an executor, but we've
got people in with office skills

627
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:50,320
which I don't have which which
you really need, but to drive,

628
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:56,600
you know, we've got our Isos and
all these qualifications now

629
00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:58,960
that we have to keep up.
So we have to keep proper

630
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:01,800
records.
We have an HR department part,

631
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:04,440
we're part of Global Infusion
Group, which is a a bigger

632
00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:06,840
company obviously.
And we're in this beautiful

633
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,560
brand new warehouse out in Aston
Clinton.

634
00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:14,280
But we're 90,000 square feet
here, but catering is probably

635
00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:17,520
10,000 square feet of that.
The rest of it is our logistics

636
00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:19,840
company.
So we're a bit quite a big grown

637
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:24,120
up company and that we're going
for B Corp at the moment, which

638
00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,320
is quite complicated.
So lots of things like that, but

639
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:28,800
we're really trying to keep on
top.

640
00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:31,320
Like for instance your health
and safety monitoring.

641
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:35,600
We now have an app we do that on
which makes it easier.

642
00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:38,160
Yeah, you know, taking fridge
temperatures and stuff.

643
00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:42,240
Yeah, we could now got an app
which takes it.

644
00:36:42,240 --> 00:36:46,320
I'm not saying it's been easy to
to get everyone on board with it

645
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:49,960
and stuff, but it's, you take a
photograph of a lot of stuff and

646
00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:52,280
it downloads and it comes
straight back to the office and

647
00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:54,680
it goes on file because you have
to keep all this stuff on file

648
00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:56,880
for a long time.
So it's easier than keeping

649
00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:59,480
these bits of paper in a file
for the end of the tour and

650
00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:02,560
returning them.
And we're going to start looking

651
00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:07,160
at possibly an app for crewing
as well, sort of a crew

652
00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:09,760
information just to be able to
disseminate information a bit

653
00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:11,440
easier.
Do you know what it?

654
00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:13,920
Gets lost in your e-mail.
It does.

655
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:16,400
Everything gets lost.
I mean, I, I've, I mean, this

656
00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:19,640
last tour, I noticed how much
everything was on an app, you

657
00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:20,840
know, and I thought, wow, this
is this.

658
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:22,880
Old Master Tour and all these
amazing apps.

659
00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:24,400
Yeah.
You know, it's not a bus, it's

660
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,440
not a day sheet anymore.
No, no, no, exactly.

661
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:32,240
I mean, even, I mean, OK, it's
not I use a I'm on a sort of a,

662
00:37:32,240 --> 00:37:36,200
an app called Rome.
Excuse me because basically all

663
00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:40,040
everybody that works for my
boss, Marcel, he's got like

664
00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,720
three other companies as well,
but we're all logged into this

665
00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:46,920
room and we've got our own
offices and people come in and

666
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:48,680
it's as though you're all
working together because when

667
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:51,920
you put it on.
So the technology now is

668
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:55,080
incredible.
You know, even this bus app, the

669
00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:58,280
bus stock app, I mean, I hated
it at first, but actually it was

670
00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:00,200
really good.
Like it was really good.

671
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:05,840
And how do you have you had much
integration with AI now?

672
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:11,360
Like like has AI affected what
you're doing or maybe or maybe

673
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:14,160
people that work for you in the
office, are they using it now

674
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:19,360
or?
I'm not a massive fan of emails

675
00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:20,920
that are written with AI.
Oh.

676
00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:26,320
Yeah, you can tell.
I you can tell however it is,

677
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:29,040
it's got its place and it will
absolutely have its place.

678
00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:35,280
So we were doing some menus for
for a tender recently and it was

679
00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:39,400
for a golf tender and someone
said can we put the menus

680
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:41,320
through and golf the fire them a
bit.

681
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,960
And it was amazing what it did.
But it just things that slightly

682
00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:50,000
cheesy, but also it was a bit
tongue and cheap and it actually

683
00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:53,800
really suited the tender and it
did it in 2 minutes rather than

684
00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:56,280
all of us sitting around
thinking what golf puns can we

685
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:57,720
use about a cheeseburger, you
know?

686
00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:01,360
Yeah.
So there's an absolute time to

687
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:05,480
place for it and I think there
will be more, but I don't.

688
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:08,120
Know now what what I use.
It's never going to make you

689
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:11,280
toast.
It's never exactly it's never

690
00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:12,680
going to make well.
I don't know you.

691
00:39:12,720 --> 00:39:14,800
You might.
You might end up hiring front of

692
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:19,280
house robots soon.
But in the coffee machine which

693
00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:21,200
is linked to Wi-Fi, which is a
bit weird.

694
00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:27,680
Seriously, I mean, what now what
it can do is it is incredible.

695
00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:30,960
I mean, I use it a lot now, even
for producing stuff now.

696
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:40,560
So I do use AI quite a lot, but
it's to enhance my stupidity so.

697
00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:42,320
And I think I just need to spend
a bit.

698
00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:44,920
I need to find out a bit more
about it and spend a bit more

699
00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:47,320
time looking at things.
But people have come up with

700
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:52,840
suggestions of how we could use
it, and my fear is that it's

701
00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,280
only as good as what it knows.
Yes.

702
00:39:55,800 --> 00:40:01,440
And some of the stuff we'd.
You know, like, you know, our

703
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,840
crew blurbs that we send out.
I don't think that I don't know

704
00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:07,360
if that could be generated.
I need to try something out to

705
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:10,400
see if that could be generated
from other information.

706
00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:14,120
Yeah.
And how it would harvest all

707
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:16,440
that information.
Yeah, I mean, I was going to,

708
00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:20,360
I'm sure like your crew, crew
leaders, you send all this

709
00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:22,400
information out.
But you know when you go, when

710
00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:25,360
you're on a tour, your tour
around Europe and you're going

711
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:29,160
to Amsterdam, you're going to
the arena, have the crew chiefs

712
00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:34,200
like got photos of each dining
room and areas that you know you

713
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:38,520
can and cannot use and how
you've had it set up before?

714
00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:43,080
Or do you literally like the
each crew leader can basically a

715
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:44,880
freestyle?
A freestyle?

716
00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:50,240
We do for some venues just
because some venues are quite

717
00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:53,480
tricky to set up.
So it's usually, I would suggest

718
00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:56,440
that if you're in like
Hammersmith Pollen, Yep, there's

719
00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:58,000
only a couple of ways you can
set that up.

720
00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:01,280
So we usually said that this is
where the power is, so you're

721
00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:05,400
best to put yourself there.
Don't be running up and down the

722
00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:07,760
stairs all day, that sort of
thing.

723
00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:10,760
But most people want to put
their own stamp on it.

724
00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:16,160
I know, I think it was.
I asked you this because for me,

725
00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:20,600
that was often one of the
biggest arguments at the

726
00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:24,760
beginning of a morning.
Where do we put the battery?

727
00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:28,000
And, and it's, and generally
it's, you know, it's either

728
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,040
someone that's been touring
longer than you that says, we

729
00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:33,200
always do it this way.
And then you've got somebody

730
00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:35,840
else going, well, actually, why
don't you try it this way?

731
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:38,320
And then then it's like, and
then it's kind of whoever has

732
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:40,600
the biggest balls wins, you
know, whether you're a girl or a

733
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:45,240
boy, you know, And I often
wondered, like every, I mean,

734
00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:48,280
every week you have eat to the
beat going through these venues.

735
00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:51,160
And I just wondered at this
stage, you know, you'd gone in

736
00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:53,400
and said, no, guys, this is our
stamp.

737
00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:56,000
This is how I want it.
This is this is how I eat to the

738
00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:56,640
beat.
Do it.

739
00:41:57,320 --> 00:41:58,840
I just wondered if like,
funnily.

740
00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:01,680
Enough, it's it's something
we've been looking at working

741
00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:04,440
towards.
We do have files that we keep

742
00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:07,920
for venues, but again, it's,
it's getting people to upkeep,

743
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:11,880
you know, like is there a six
ring cooker in such and such a

744
00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:14,560
venue, but so slow.
You'll have it in a file saying

745
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:16,840
yes there is and you get there
and it's been taken out the week

746
00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:18,080
before.
Yeah.

747
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:22,400
So you kind of have to check
every week whether it's there is

748
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:25,080
that cooker working is you know,
because you could really scupper

749
00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:27,000
yourself turning up going, I'm
sure there's a cooker here.

750
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:30,680
Yeah, it's not.
We've all been there.

751
00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:35,720
I mean, I always remember 11
tour I was on and I can't

752
00:42:35,720 --> 00:42:37,920
remember the venue.
I won't say the the the people

753
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:41,280
involved, but we got to the
dining room and it was very

754
00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:45,040
small and it was clear that
there was the electricity was on

755
00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:47,080
the left.
OK, so in theory, you know, you

756
00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:49,520
have all the binary on the left
and you have it all flowing

757
00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:52,560
around and that's it.
I disappeared.

758
00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:54,040
I had nothing to do with this,
by the way.

759
00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:56,040
I was dressing room world, but I
disappeared.

760
00:42:56,240 --> 00:42:59,600
When I came back, everything was
on the right side and I looked

761
00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:02,200
and I was like, why is breakfast
not up yet or whatever?

762
00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:05,320
And they're like, Oh no, so and
so they wanted it on this side.

763
00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:08,600
I said why?
I said because it's all on that

764
00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:10,880
side.
And then the front of house was

765
00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:13,160
like, well, we're just waiting
for the electrician now to come

766
00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:14,680
and rewire everything over
there.

767
00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:17,880
Well, anyway, he came, what are
you doing?

768
00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:20,280
It's there.
And told them he was too busy,

769
00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:22,920
which obviously he was, and they
had to move it all the way back

770
00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:26,320
over again.
That messed up the whole day,

771
00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:30,240
the whole dynamics, because
somebody wanted to have their

772
00:43:30,240 --> 00:43:33,600
own stamp on it.
It didn't need it, Mary.

773
00:43:33,720 --> 00:43:37,080
Like it didn't need it.
We were in and out and it was

774
00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:39,920
there.
So yeah, I always.

775
00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:43,160
And that's when you get a bit of
a bit of style over substance.

776
00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:46,320
Oh, but it'll look nicer.
But the sensible thing would be

777
00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:47,760
to put it there.
Yeah, yeah.

778
00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:50,680
So and you've got to be very
practical in case string for

779
00:43:50,680 --> 00:43:53,280
that.
You know, sometimes, yes, you

780
00:43:53,280 --> 00:43:55,960
want it to you want to make it
look better because you do

781
00:43:56,120 --> 00:43:59,000
obviously, and you want to come
up with your new ideas and all

782
00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:02,160
the rest of it.
But sometimes there there is

783
00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:04,720
practicality about things,
especially when you're there for

784
00:44:04,720 --> 00:44:06,920
a day, you know, and it's a
small room.

785
00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:08,560
There's really not much you can
do with it.

786
00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:12,280
But anyway that that's going to
be your new app, OK, I'm, I'm

787
00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:15,280
designed, I'm designing it for
you now, a new AI app.

788
00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:19,240
All the venues around the world,
this is what they look like

789
00:44:19,240 --> 00:44:21,520
that.
'D been amazing, thank you.

790
00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:26,080
Send it to me, I'll and you can
do all scans in.

791
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:29,000
I was my AI assistant to produce
you on for you.

792
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:32,000
It'll be done by this afternoon.
Perfect.

793
00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:35,360
But I mean technology.
Printer or printer out?

794
00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:40,400
Oh, yeah, even that stuff now,
like, for like, yeah.

795
00:44:42,240 --> 00:44:45,760
But I really want, like, people
that you've met over the years.

796
00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:51,960
So, I mean, baking scones for
the Pope, How cool is that?

797
00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:57,240
Tell me about that.
Oh, we did a a job in Birmingham

798
00:44:57,920 --> 00:45:01,440
a long time ago.
And now for the Pope.

799
00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:03,240
Yeah.
And it was the people visit to

800
00:45:03,240 --> 00:45:04,120
Birmingham.
Yeah.

801
00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:06,240
It was incredible.
I was up all night doing all

802
00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:09,320
this scones and stuff that they
had after the sacrament.

803
00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:11,200
It was that was a really
incredible job.

804
00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:16,360
They, they even gave us a little
booklet for everyone and it kind

805
00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:21,120
of gave the translation between
what the the the words, the

806
00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:24,480
church words for things were and
what we knew them as and stuff.

807
00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:28,640
And then there was loads of nuns
and high vis that came in for

808
00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:30,360
Sunday lunch.
We did this massive Sunday

809
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:32,240
lunch.
Yeah, it was absolutely.

810
00:45:32,240 --> 00:45:34,520
But it was really wonderful job.
Yeah.

811
00:45:34,640 --> 00:45:36,640
Hopefully job.
No, we've been really lucky that

812
00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:41,200
over the years to just do some
really different work that

813
00:45:41,920 --> 00:45:45,880
between all the Olympic work and
lots of some of the TV shows we

814
00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:48,560
do.
In fact, I was just before I

815
00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:51,880
came on this looking at a TV
show that's coming up and we

816
00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:55,760
need to do a big buffet for 10
people with luscious, you know,

817
00:45:55,880 --> 00:45:59,080
lobsters and things like that.
But do it in 10 minutes and.

818
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:01,800
And for people that have never
eaten it before.

819
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:03,720
And what do we do?
And yeah, just.

820
00:46:03,960 --> 00:46:06,600
It's people come to us with
these wild and wacky ideas,

821
00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:07,920
which is brilliant.
I love doing it.

822
00:46:09,040 --> 00:46:11,560
And just how to make them happen
in short times and to be very,

823
00:46:11,560 --> 00:46:13,160
very practical about them.
Yeah.

824
00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:15,320
But to have it all planned and.
They were lying.

825
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:19,720
I having people come and yeah,
like want, want the suggestions

826
00:46:19,720 --> 00:46:21,640
of things.
I mean, again, I think it's

827
00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:22,480
here.
Where are we?

828
00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:24,480
There we are.
The Royal Windsor Horse Show

829
00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:27,160
that was for the Queen.
That's a lovely job.

830
00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:29,360
That was, that was amazing.
Yeah.

831
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:33,080
And that's when I met the Queen.
She came in to catering and she

832
00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:35,840
met Lennon and shook her hands
and she said my grooms really

833
00:46:35,840 --> 00:46:38,160
like your soup.
She's very sweet.

834
00:46:40,360 --> 00:46:42,560
Yeah, she was gorgeous, Really
lovely.

835
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:45,200
Yeah.
We've done quite a few of these

836
00:46:45,200 --> 00:46:47,920
royal events, which are lovely.
We did the King's coronation.

837
00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:53,040
We boxed all over London that
day, tea and coffee for so many

838
00:46:53,040 --> 00:46:56,240
people on that day.
I did 45,000 steps.

839
00:46:56,240 --> 00:46:59,040
It's my top count.
Yeah.

840
00:47:00,240 --> 00:47:01,840
That was a great day.
Yeah.

841
00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:07,360
And we did the Dalai Lama, so
I'm sort of a bit deities.

842
00:47:07,720 --> 00:47:09,120
The Queen, the Pope and the
Dalai Lama.

843
00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:10,760
Yeah.
The Dalai Lama at Gloucester,

844
00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:12,000
and we did a birthday cake for
him.

845
00:47:12,240 --> 00:47:13,440
Yeah.
On stage, which was.

846
00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:15,520
Lovely.
And did you take it out so many?

847
00:47:15,600 --> 00:47:17,560
So many nice things.
Yeah.

848
00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:18,960
Way to push out in a trolley.
Yeah.

849
00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:21,080
One of the girls made it and
pushed out really in a really

850
00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:22,880
nice.
It's, it's always, you know what

851
00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:24,440
it's like yourself.
It's such a pleasure to be

852
00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:28,040
involved in sort of something
really unusual that you would

853
00:47:28,040 --> 00:47:31,040
never dream of ever coming
across before.

854
00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:34,200
And you meet so many lovely
people, you know, Everyone is

855
00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:38,000
lovely, really.
Yeah, I mean, I agree.

856
00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:42,480
I mean, I've missed, I've really
missed being, I mean, was saying

857
00:47:42,480 --> 00:47:45,720
earlier like I started in
Formula One came to you guys.

858
00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:51,520
Yeah, I was with you, I think 5,
five years, but you know, doing

859
00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:53,920
like one or two tours for the
year and stuff.

860
00:47:54,560 --> 00:47:57,320
Then COVID happened.
So then that was that was all

861
00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:01,080
out and I missed it.
Like I missed that buzz that,

862
00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:04,760
you know, that being away and
that whole feeling.

863
00:48:04,760 --> 00:48:09,880
So doing this job kind of got me
back involved again because, OK,

864
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:12,720
I'm not, I'm not touring, but
I'm talking to incredible

865
00:48:12,720 --> 00:48:14,720
people.
My boss is talking to incredible

866
00:48:14,720 --> 00:48:18,680
people and it kind of brings
everything back.

867
00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:22,040
And then, you know, at least I
know now when, when, when, when

868
00:48:22,040 --> 00:48:23,840
we finish.
You know, I've not got to get on

869
00:48:23,840 --> 00:48:26,120
a bus and load out and stuff
like that.

870
00:48:29,480 --> 00:48:31,400
Yeah, so we're doing a lot of
work at the moment.

871
00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:37,560
So November, October, November,
December at Lapland at Ascot and

872
00:48:37,560 --> 00:48:40,840
Manchester the big, and they're
amazing, beautiful, beautiful

873
00:48:40,840 --> 00:48:42,120
events.
So we're really lucky.

874
00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:44,680
We do the crew catering there
and then in November, December

875
00:48:44,680 --> 00:48:49,320
we do the retail catering for
all the parents, the big folk

876
00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:51,360
and the little folk as they call
them, which is very sweet.

877
00:48:51,720 --> 00:48:55,640
And so that's great winter work
for people, you know, not on and

878
00:48:55,640 --> 00:48:57,840
off buses.
Yeah.

879
00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:02,680
And lots of, I think 40 odd crew
working on those two events, if

880
00:49:02,680 --> 00:49:05,320
not more actually.
Yeah, which is brilliant.

881
00:49:06,040 --> 00:49:08,000
Yeah.
And right after Christmas Eve,

882
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:09,960
people are working, you know,
which is great.

883
00:49:10,040 --> 00:49:14,000
And then and because there's not
so many tourists about late into

884
00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:18,000
the years, there used to be, we
used to do a lot of corporate in

885
00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:19,680
December, a lot of Christmas
parties and stuff.

886
00:49:19,880 --> 00:49:22,960
People just aren't doing
corporate Christmas parties

887
00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:24,600
anymore.
It's kind of, it's not the

888
00:49:24,600 --> 00:49:27,080
outside photo.
Yeah, it's kind of stopped.

889
00:49:27,520 --> 00:49:29,960
But what about like do you think
tour?

890
00:49:29,960 --> 00:49:34,600
I I thought actually touring
seemed to be extending its

891
00:49:34,600 --> 00:49:37,920
season, but then you you kind of
think, do you think that it's

892
00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:40,720
sort of not?
January is really busy for us.

893
00:49:41,120 --> 00:49:42,200
January is.
Wow.

894
00:49:42,240 --> 00:49:45,840
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
January's we've got lots of

895
00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:48,320
stuff on and then we've got the
teams going to the Winter

896
00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:51,760
Olympics, February, March.
Where is the Winter Olympics

897
00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:54,280
this year?
Milan Cortina.

898
00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:57,840
Ah, OK.
Not far, not not not.

899
00:49:58,120 --> 00:49:59,920
Where did I go?
I went to Sochi.

900
00:50:01,080 --> 00:50:03,600
Did she?
Twice there, right?

901
00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:06,320
Twice there, twice to the Winter
Olympics.

902
00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:08,520
I loved it.
I think I was like always there.

903
00:50:08,520 --> 00:50:12,400
I always asked, I was asked you
guys if I could be the first one

904
00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:14,600
and last one leaving.
So I always got what was it

905
00:50:14,600 --> 00:50:17,840
called the opening and closing
ceremony.

906
00:50:17,840 --> 00:50:20,400
That was that was my one, right?
Yeah, yeah.

907
00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:22,640
Which always thinks the worst,
but I loved it.

908
00:50:23,880 --> 00:50:25,840
It's in the stadium, yeah.
It's big, yeah.

909
00:50:26,040 --> 00:50:28,920
So I think we're from this
winter limit.

910
00:50:28,920 --> 00:50:30,760
It's a little bit small.
I think we're 7 kitchens this

911
00:50:30,800 --> 00:50:32,400
year.
Oh, OK.

912
00:50:33,160 --> 00:50:36,320
I think, you know, bigger units,
Yeah.

913
00:50:36,920 --> 00:50:39,160
And it's quite.
It's in Milan itself.

914
00:50:39,160 --> 00:50:40,800
And then up, up in the
mountains.

915
00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:42,920
Oh.
Fantastic, I said.

916
00:50:42,920 --> 00:50:46,720
I, I, who was, it was telling me
someone, Ah, Steffi, Steffi that

917
00:50:46,720 --> 00:50:49,120
works for you.
Yeah, she was telling me.

918
00:50:49,120 --> 00:50:52,360
She was telling me that she's
off to do the Olympics as well

919
00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:54,360
this year.
And I just couldn't remember

920
00:50:54,360 --> 00:50:56,400
where, where she said, but
you've had that again.

921
00:50:56,400 --> 00:51:00,200
You've had the the Olympics.
Since 2012, we've worked on the

922
00:51:00,200 --> 00:51:01,280
Olympics.
See, there we are.

923
00:51:01,360 --> 00:51:03,440
That's amazing.
It's London, Yeah.

924
00:51:03,720 --> 00:51:05,560
Those were great.
We've been involved in everyone

925
00:51:05,560 --> 00:51:08,840
since then.
I mean, Coldplay you've had them

926
00:51:08,840 --> 00:51:13,120
for, absolutely.
Since they started, I think

927
00:51:13,120 --> 00:51:17,120
we're only, I think we might be
the only vendor that has done

928
00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:20,240
all the shows.
Yeah, which is we're so

929
00:51:20,240 --> 00:51:22,720
delighted to do that.
You know, it's just to be

930
00:51:22,960 --> 00:51:25,600
included in that family is
really lovely.

931
00:51:26,040 --> 00:51:28,120
Oh, I've Mary, I've got like
little shivers.

932
00:51:28,120 --> 00:51:31,640
That's that's really, really.
Cool, Yeah, yeah.

933
00:51:31,960 --> 00:51:33,640
And we've had so many great
people work on that.

934
00:51:33,640 --> 00:51:36,400
And, you know, the food looked
this year, the food was just, it

935
00:51:36,400 --> 00:51:39,160
was, it's always brilliant.
But it was just there were ten

936
00:51:39,160 --> 00:51:41,760
nights at Wembley and the
dinners that were putting out

937
00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:46,680
were just incredible. 10 nights.
Oh my goodness.

938
00:51:46,680 --> 00:51:49,840
It's such a long time.
Yeah, seriously, I couldn't.

939
00:51:49,840 --> 00:51:51,000
It's.
Such a lovely show.

940
00:51:51,880 --> 00:51:53,960
Yeah, I didn't.
I haven't seen it well since I

941
00:51:54,040 --> 00:51:58,040
since I did it for you guys,
which was back in 2016 to 18.

942
00:51:58,560 --> 00:52:02,360
But obviously I see Sal's photos
whenever she puts them up and

943
00:52:02,360 --> 00:52:04,640
stuff, and Alison was on it this
year, wasn't she?

944
00:52:05,680 --> 00:52:07,880
Yes, she was.
Yeah, she does.

945
00:52:08,080 --> 00:52:09,480
Oh, she's her lovely.
Cakes.

946
00:52:09,680 --> 00:52:12,040
Oh my lovely cake, That girl,
Yeah.

947
00:52:12,040 --> 00:52:15,120
Seriously, she's like, she's in.
Yeah, she's.

948
00:52:15,800 --> 00:52:18,600
Have you seen her Battenberg?
She does the most amazing green

949
00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:21,000
and pink Battenberg, which is
just off the clock.

950
00:52:21,760 --> 00:52:24,040
It's beautiful.
It's like the scale that goes

951
00:52:24,040 --> 00:52:25,080
into that.
I couldn't.

952
00:52:25,920 --> 00:52:29,400
I like baking, but my baking
looks a bit like very homemade.

953
00:52:30,040 --> 00:52:34,200
Hers is very precise.
So what, what other things, if

954
00:52:34,200 --> 00:52:36,200
you can tell like what, what,
what other things have you got

955
00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:40,040
going on like leading up now to
the end of the year apart, not

956
00:52:40,040 --> 00:52:41,640
apart from, but obviously you've
got Lapland.

957
00:52:41,640 --> 00:52:44,480
Have you got any of the other
things that are in the pipeline

958
00:52:44,480 --> 00:52:48,200
that you can say or just?
We're doing some, we're doing

959
00:52:48,200 --> 00:52:49,960
some.
We do The Chase, the TV show.

960
00:52:49,960 --> 00:52:53,920
Oh yeah, L Street Studios.
So I think we're in 19 series of

961
00:52:53,920 --> 00:52:55,080
that.
Oh wow.

962
00:52:56,400 --> 00:52:59,480
Yeah, that's up at L Street
Studios and one of the studios

963
00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:03,240
up there and it kind of goes on
two CDs over the year.

964
00:53:03,600 --> 00:53:05,680
So that's nice.
Keeps people, you know, it's

965
00:53:06,160 --> 00:53:07,880
outside London, but not that
far.

966
00:53:09,040 --> 00:53:13,560
We're in rehearsals for a, a
musical for about a month for

967
00:53:13,560 --> 00:53:19,520
Christmas out with a bootleg
Beatles, Jimmy Carr, trying to

968
00:53:19,520 --> 00:53:22,120
think what else we're doing.
I've got it on a I'll keep it on

969
00:53:22,120 --> 00:53:24,120
a wall here.
And then we're in the Albert

970
00:53:24,120 --> 00:53:26,080
Hall.
So, you know, we're, we're in

971
00:53:26,080 --> 00:53:31,240
the Albert Hall a lot.
We do Cirque January, February

972
00:53:31,680 --> 00:53:35,280
into March.
We do the Proms July, August

973
00:53:35,280 --> 00:53:38,920
into September.
And then most of we've just done

974
00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:42,280
festive remembrance in the
Albert Hall, which is we do like

975
00:53:42,280 --> 00:53:46,760
1000 meals a day, more than 1000
meals a day actually.

976
00:53:46,960 --> 00:53:49,560
And we've set up the loading Bay
as a dining room at the Albert

977
00:53:49,560 --> 00:53:51,600
Hall on that show.
It's it's incredible.

978
00:53:51,600 --> 00:53:52,640
It's lovely.
Yeah.

979
00:53:52,640 --> 00:53:54,080
Everybody, I worked on it.
It was great.

980
00:53:54,320 --> 00:53:58,360
Yeah, I took my partner to work
actually for the first time, and

981
00:53:58,360 --> 00:54:00,960
he cleaned trays for the day and
he loved it.

982
00:54:02,600 --> 00:54:04,600
It's not for everybody.
I think he would do it again.

983
00:54:05,720 --> 00:54:06,840
Yeah.
So the Albert Hall, we've got to

984
00:54:06,840 --> 00:54:08,920
run in there to Christmas and
then we're in with The

985
00:54:08,920 --> 00:54:14,440
Nutcracker and then we're in
with Cirque Tool, beginning of

986
00:54:14,440 --> 00:54:16,560
March.
And then a military thing.

987
00:54:16,560 --> 00:54:18,960
Yeah, it kind of.
And the year starts again.

988
00:54:19,560 --> 00:54:21,960
Wow.
Almost this year has really

989
00:54:21,960 --> 00:54:24,200
flown past.
Oh, tell me about it.

990
00:54:26,480 --> 00:54:29,000
Yeah, completely.
And I don't know whether I say

991
00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:31,480
that every year, but I really
feel this year has gone quickly.

992
00:54:32,320 --> 00:54:37,680
I, I normally say it every year,
but I for me as well, it was

993
00:54:37,680 --> 00:54:41,280
January yesterday, you know, I
just come back from Vegas.

994
00:54:41,640 --> 00:54:43,680
Here I am in the next couple of
weeks, I'm going again.

995
00:54:43,680 --> 00:54:46,640
I'm like, when did that happen?
Even the planning, like, you

996
00:54:46,640 --> 00:54:49,520
know, we started planning this
six months ago and the whole

997
00:54:49,520 --> 00:54:52,440
team were like, oh, it's OK,
we've got six weeks, six months,

998
00:54:52,440 --> 00:54:56,760
It's all right, it's OK.
Got like 2 weeks.

999
00:54:56,760 --> 00:54:58,480
I'm like, Oh my God, get
working.

1000
00:54:58,480 --> 00:55:02,000
Sarah, Bernie.
Have you got, have you got all

1001
00:55:02,000 --> 00:55:03,920
your guests confirmed for it?
No.

1002
00:55:03,920 --> 00:55:05,400
Yeah.
So basically we've got 20

1003
00:55:05,400 --> 00:55:09,600
dinosaurs and they will be the
guest speakers.

1004
00:55:09,600 --> 00:55:13,280
And I said that we've got some
really amazing people that

1005
00:55:13,560 --> 00:55:16,360
basically created our music
industry.

1006
00:55:17,120 --> 00:55:19,880
So I'm very honoured to be, you
know, at the moment in

1007
00:55:19,880 --> 00:55:21,400
communication and working with
them.

1008
00:55:23,080 --> 00:55:27,200
There's another thing called X
Live, which Jake Berry and

1009
00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:32,160
Marcel, they're both moderating
and it's panel speakers again

1010
00:55:32,200 --> 00:55:36,120
from younger, younger
generations in the industry, but

1011
00:55:36,120 --> 00:55:39,360
they're talking to everybody.
We've got another event called

1012
00:55:39,360 --> 00:55:44,080
Riggs, all about rigging.
And I've been really, really

1013
00:55:44,080 --> 00:55:46,640
fortunate enough to be working
with Roy Bickel.

1014
00:55:46,720 --> 00:55:52,000
And he basically was the very
first rigger.

1015
00:55:52,160 --> 00:55:56,000
He's the rigger of all riggers,
along with Joe Brannon.

1016
00:55:56,640 --> 00:56:01,080
And he showed me, it was on a
video call and he said, I'll

1017
00:56:01,080 --> 00:56:04,800
show you my swag room.
I was like, OK, anyway, it is a

1018
00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:07,280
room.
But we went inside and I mean,

1019
00:56:07,440 --> 00:56:10,480
it is huge.
He's got T-shirts, jumpers,

1020
00:56:10,480 --> 00:56:12,920
caps, this, that and the other.
And he's walking around.

1021
00:56:12,920 --> 00:56:15,160
He said, you know, all the
things boxed up.

1022
00:56:15,160 --> 00:56:17,600
And then also, I was like,
what's that?

1023
00:56:17,840 --> 00:56:19,400
I think it was only an Elvis
suit.

1024
00:56:19,640 --> 00:56:23,120
It's one of Elvis's suits that
he'd signed and given to him.

1025
00:56:23,240 --> 00:56:25,600
He goes, yeah, I work with Elvis
loads.

1026
00:56:25,600 --> 00:56:29,480
And I'm like, oh, my God.
And the stories he was, he was

1027
00:56:29,480 --> 00:56:31,440
one of the first amazing
cannonballs.

1028
00:56:31,680 --> 00:56:35,880
Like, you know, just.
Wow.

1029
00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:38,320
It's amazing.
Yeah.

1030
00:56:38,360 --> 00:56:40,120
Check it out.
Check the episode out.

1031
00:56:40,360 --> 00:56:44,840
It's on Geese of Gear, Roy
Bickle, like like he's so such a

1032
00:56:44,840 --> 00:56:48,080
lovely guy and he's doing lots
of stuff at LDI this year.

1033
00:56:49,800 --> 00:56:50,840
So yeah.
So that's.

1034
00:56:50,840 --> 00:56:53,760
I love that sort of thing,
hearing the people from Yeah,

1035
00:56:53,840 --> 00:56:57,960
because like 1990 when I
started, they all seemed very

1036
00:56:57,960 --> 00:57:00,520
new.
But it's there's a I've got

1037
00:57:00,520 --> 00:57:04,760
pictures of when Tony was doing
it and, you know, from way back

1038
00:57:04,760 --> 00:57:06,520
from the 80s.
And that's faster.

1039
00:57:06,520 --> 00:57:09,720
They used to tour with baby
belling cookers, you know, the

1040
00:57:09,760 --> 00:57:12,600
sort of like to ring.
Yeah.

1041
00:57:12,800 --> 00:57:16,240
And domestic electric cookers,
domestic gas cookers and flight

1042
00:57:16,240 --> 00:57:19,760
cases before we had the big
industrial kit, Yeah.

1043
00:57:19,760 --> 00:57:23,200
Wow.
I mean that, I mean, like, you

1044
00:57:23,200 --> 00:57:26,720
know, we're saying about changes
from the 90s, you know, right,

1045
00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:29,120
the way through to now.
But I mean, one is the

1046
00:57:29,120 --> 00:57:33,320
equipment, you know, equipment
that you use nowadays, what

1047
00:57:33,320 --> 00:57:36,440
you're taking on tour.
You know, it's better than my

1048
00:57:36,440 --> 00:57:38,960
oven that I've got here and
you're rolling it in a flight

1049
00:57:38,960 --> 00:57:42,000
case.
Yeah, you have to be quite

1050
00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:46,480
careful that location equipment
isn't really designed to be

1051
00:57:46,480 --> 00:57:49,480
moved about.
So it's taken us a while to find

1052
00:57:49,640 --> 00:57:54,720
because gas, gas gear was great
and gas kits never broke really

1053
00:57:55,800 --> 00:57:59,040
just ran out of gas.
But the electric, the electric

1054
00:57:59,040 --> 00:58:02,080
stuff's much more sensitive.
Plus the more technology that's

1055
00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:04,200
in it, the more computer boards
that's in it, the more there is

1056
00:58:04,200 --> 00:58:06,080
to go wrong when it goes in a
bumpy roads at night.

1057
00:58:06,560 --> 00:58:09,400
So we've recently got some
really good 10 right combi

1058
00:58:09,400 --> 00:58:13,280
elephants, which seem to be
Touchwood solids.

1059
00:58:13,360 --> 00:58:17,200
They're quite small and they're
in good flight cases and it just

1060
00:58:17,200 --> 00:58:19,400
they just seem to manage the
road.

1061
00:58:19,400 --> 00:58:23,200
You don't have to swap them out
very much once in a while.

1062
00:58:23,720 --> 00:58:25,480
Once Upon a while, you.
Yeah.

1063
00:58:25,760 --> 00:58:29,240
And that's the thing again, you
know, going from a basic to

1064
00:58:29,240 --> 00:58:32,680
something that's more, you know,
even coffee machines, when you

1065
00:58:32,680 --> 00:58:35,120
know you've got all these touch
buttons, you're like, no, I just

1066
00:58:35,120 --> 00:58:40,560
want to make a coffee.
Yeah, but it's nice that we're

1067
00:58:40,560 --> 00:58:44,840
now all been to cut machines.
Yeah, we don't use the pods, so

1068
00:58:44,840 --> 00:58:47,440
it's much more sustainable.
You still have to use the tear.

1069
00:58:48,760 --> 00:58:50,240
Yes, of course you need the
tear.

1070
00:58:50,280 --> 00:58:54,880
I hate the tear.
They're so unwieldly.

1071
00:58:55,200 --> 00:58:58,840
Yeah, we do.
On larger events, we use those

1072
00:58:59,800 --> 00:59:03,720
plumbed in stills, water stills,
which is just so much, so much

1073
00:59:03,720 --> 00:59:05,120
safer.
Yeah.

1074
00:59:05,880 --> 00:59:10,280
And we've recently got for the
big events, the big government

1075
00:59:10,280 --> 00:59:12,760
events, we do a bun coffee
machine system.

1076
00:59:12,760 --> 00:59:16,840
So it's, it's like a massive
poured serif which brews huge

1077
00:59:16,840 --> 00:59:21,280
flasks of coffee in 16 minutes.
So you're only lifting the

1078
00:59:21,280 --> 00:59:25,160
flasks so you know the weight of
a big coffee.

1079
00:59:25,760 --> 00:59:29,160
Really, it was always my bugbear
and especially the coffee one.

1080
00:59:29,240 --> 00:59:33,400
If you don't get it in properly,
percolates and you're like damn

1081
00:59:33,800 --> 00:59:36,080
it.
And you get the tap caught in

1082
00:59:36,080 --> 00:59:39,040
your trousers.
Oh, don't Seriously.

1083
00:59:39,080 --> 00:59:41,560
Really.
It's my my biggest bugbear.

1084
00:59:41,560 --> 00:59:44,080
If there was ever someone that
was with me on a tour, like

1085
00:59:44,080 --> 00:59:47,000
please do that coffee because I
always mess it up.

1086
00:59:49,080 --> 00:59:50,840
Yeah, yeah.
So it's nice to be away, getting

1087
00:59:50,840 --> 00:59:53,360
away from them.
Excuse me.

1088
00:59:53,840 --> 00:59:57,480
So I mean, you've really worked
with production stages,

1089
00:59:57,480 --> 00:59:59,840
logistics teams from around the
world.

1090
01:00:00,200 --> 01:00:05,000
Now, what do you think makes a
great collaboration between E to

1091
01:00:05,000 --> 01:00:07,840
the B and like the rest of the
crews?

1092
01:00:07,840 --> 01:00:09,600
Like what?
What makes you feel that it

1093
01:00:09,600 --> 01:00:11,880
brings you together?
Because obviously it's

1094
01:00:11,960 --> 01:00:15,760
everybody's.
It's their.

1095
01:00:17,080 --> 01:00:20,840
Appreciation and love for you
that gets you a good reputation,

1096
01:00:20,840 --> 01:00:23,520
that gets you more work and
working with them.

1097
01:00:23,520 --> 01:00:27,120
So, you know, as a collaboration
with all these different people.

1098
01:00:28,760 --> 01:00:29,120
Yeah.
What?

1099
01:00:29,120 --> 01:00:29,880
What do you think?
I think.

1100
01:00:29,880 --> 01:00:34,720
Just it's making a really homely
atmosphere in catering and

1101
01:00:36,240 --> 01:00:39,640
making it the same everyday.
So the coffee machine will

1102
01:00:39,640 --> 01:00:45,280
always be in the same general
point from the you know, so you

1103
01:00:45,280 --> 01:00:47,160
come in and you know, the coffee
machine is going to be a left

1104
01:00:47,160 --> 01:00:48,840
and there's going to be a fridge
beside it and the cokes are

1105
01:00:48,840 --> 01:00:50,680
going to be on the top shelf and
the milk is going to be on the

1106
01:00:50,680 --> 01:00:53,240
second shelf.
I think that's hugely important

1107
01:00:53,400 --> 01:00:58,840
to have continuity and and
everyday on touring so that you

1108
01:00:58,840 --> 01:01:02,000
know where to go to get you're
not the Super in one day is

1109
01:01:02,000 --> 01:01:03,560
sitting beside the battery.
It's not sitting beside the

1110
01:01:03,560 --> 01:01:06,680
coffee machine the next day.
I think that's hugely important

1111
01:01:06,680 --> 01:01:09,080
and making it feel like like
you're in your own kitchen at

1112
01:01:09,080 --> 01:01:13,560
home.
And and also, you know, we don't

1113
01:01:13,560 --> 01:01:14,960
we don't top politics kind of
thing.

1114
01:01:14,960 --> 01:01:16,720
We don't, you know, we replace
that.

1115
01:01:16,720 --> 01:01:19,520
It's safe to come away to not
you're not thinking about the

1116
01:01:19,520 --> 01:01:22,560
show and things like it's
somewhere that's just this nice

1117
01:01:22,560 --> 01:01:25,440
music or and there's nice people
you know, you're front house or

1118
01:01:25,440 --> 01:01:29,600
you're front line people and
just guys and girls that are

1119
01:01:29,600 --> 01:01:32,080
just happy and smiley and
friendly.

1120
01:01:32,680 --> 01:01:34,520
And.
Keep it keeping everything

1121
01:01:34,520 --> 01:01:37,480
topped up.
Everything this empty should be

1122
01:01:37,480 --> 01:01:38,280
emptied ever.
That's full.

1123
01:01:38,280 --> 01:01:39,680
That should be filled.
Not the other way around, you

1124
01:01:39,680 --> 01:01:42,200
know, You know what it's like
sometimes you walk into catering

1125
01:01:42,200 --> 01:01:44,640
room and the pins are all full
and the coffee, the coffee pots

1126
01:01:44,640 --> 01:01:46,640
are empty and stuff.
Yeah, so.

1127
01:01:46,880 --> 01:01:49,400
It's horrible.
It's horrible.

1128
01:01:50,160 --> 01:01:52,400
I mean, you can imagine I was
trying to teach, but teach my

1129
01:01:52,400 --> 01:01:54,240
husband because it's the first
time he's done it.

1130
01:01:54,720 --> 01:01:58,680
And I, I just said to him, I
said before you do anything, you

1131
01:01:58,680 --> 01:02:02,040
know, like make sure the bins
are empty, like check them every

1132
01:02:02,040 --> 01:02:03,600
hour.
Like, and, and I was, I was kind

1133
01:02:03,600 --> 01:02:07,120
of like a bit of a, I don't
know, a woman with a whip, you

1134
01:02:07,120 --> 01:02:09,000
know, like making sure he was
doing everything.

1135
01:02:09,280 --> 01:02:12,520
But I was like before check it.
Look, make sure everything's

1136
01:02:12,520 --> 01:02:14,200
full.
Everything's full.

1137
01:02:14,200 --> 01:02:20,760
I said one can of coke full it.
But it's it, you know, and keep

1138
01:02:20,760 --> 01:02:23,200
everything in a flow.
Keep everything in a flow.

1139
01:02:23,200 --> 01:02:25,880
Be happy.
You know, people can come and

1140
01:02:25,880 --> 01:02:27,240
tell you their woes if they want
to.

1141
01:02:27,240 --> 01:02:29,920
Or if not, just have a laugh,
you know, just have a look with

1142
01:02:29,920 --> 01:02:30,440
you.
Yeah.

1143
01:02:31,880 --> 01:02:33,160
Yeah.
And I think an ability to

1144
01:02:33,160 --> 01:02:38,080
signpost people if you do feel
that there is something wrong,

1145
01:02:38,720 --> 01:02:41,200
you know, to be able to say to
them, you know, are you OK?

1146
01:02:41,800 --> 01:02:45,240
Do you know, do you need some
help that it's OK to talk about

1147
01:02:45,240 --> 01:02:47,600
things?
I think we're all a lot better

1148
01:02:47,600 --> 01:02:49,560
than it now, but I think it's
something that we still need to

1149
01:02:49,560 --> 01:02:53,200
be very conscious about.
I think they're for sure.

1150
01:02:53,200 --> 01:02:56,640
I mean, I notice a huge
difference in people talking

1151
01:02:56,640 --> 01:03:00,640
more, you know, and being able
to talk like I did notice that.

1152
01:03:02,280 --> 01:03:04,520
So yeah, really, I noticed that
a lot.

1153
01:03:06,000 --> 01:03:08,760
And it was just checking up on
people, you know.

1154
01:03:08,880 --> 01:03:11,320
Are you OK today?
Oh, actually, no, it's like, OK,

1155
01:03:11,760 --> 01:03:13,720
so we'll just give you a little
bit of space, but you still got

1156
01:03:13,720 --> 01:03:16,040
to be professional.
You know, like if it's someone

1157
01:03:16,040 --> 01:03:20,920
on our team, like the caterer's
side, then also, you know, I

1158
01:03:20,920 --> 01:03:22,440
had, in fact, it was on
Coldplay.

1159
01:03:22,440 --> 01:03:26,840
I always remember a man came up
was in America and a man came up

1160
01:03:26,840 --> 01:03:30,960
to like the girls in front front
of houses with ceremony and he

1161
01:03:30,960 --> 01:03:33,480
was so rude.
I mean, really, really rude.

1162
01:03:34,000 --> 01:03:35,640
And it was one of the truck
drivers.

1163
01:03:35,720 --> 01:03:41,000
And anyway, Long story short,
most of the crew, because they

1164
01:03:41,000 --> 01:03:42,920
all loved us, put a complaint
in.

1165
01:03:42,920 --> 01:03:45,240
We didn't make the complaint,
but they put a complaint into

1166
01:03:45,240 --> 01:03:47,200
production.
Production came.

1167
01:03:47,200 --> 01:03:49,800
It was all like this.
And anyway, his first comment

1168
01:03:49,800 --> 01:03:52,160
was, Oh, I didn't think that
they were like, you know, with

1169
01:03:52,160 --> 01:03:53,720
us touring.
And I was like, well, that's not

1170
01:03:53,720 --> 01:03:56,040
really the, that's not really
the attitude.

1171
01:03:56,760 --> 01:03:59,640
Anyway, long story.
I did go approach him after I

1172
01:03:59,640 --> 01:04:01,720
said, look, we didn't say
anything, but it was other

1173
01:04:01,720 --> 01:04:04,720
people had heard you.
This is why, you know, And he he

1174
01:04:04,720 --> 01:04:07,880
said, look, I'm really sorry.
And in the end, we all end up

1175
01:04:07,880 --> 01:04:12,920
being best as friends.
And he was like, I've got a

1176
01:04:12,920 --> 01:04:14,320
really lot of shit going on
right now.

1177
01:04:14,320 --> 01:04:16,080
I was like, OK, well, you can
come and talk to us.

1178
01:04:16,080 --> 01:04:19,680
So we did in the end, you know,
so it's like being there for

1179
01:04:19,680 --> 01:04:23,120
that year, you know, and I mean,
as you know.

1180
01:04:23,320 --> 01:04:26,440
But also in that, in that you
actually addressed it.

1181
01:04:26,600 --> 01:04:28,640
You didn't just let it go.
No.

1182
01:04:28,640 --> 01:04:30,840
And that's so important.
Not just it is.

1183
01:04:30,840 --> 01:04:31,360
Oh.
Yeah.

1184
01:04:31,880 --> 01:04:33,680
Ignore that person.
They're not very nice.

1185
01:04:33,840 --> 01:04:36,560
That person's got stuff going on
in it and we can help them.

1186
01:04:37,040 --> 01:04:38,920
Yeah.
And I think that's the same as

1187
01:04:38,920 --> 01:04:41,960
like you said, we as as
caterers, we do get tired, you

1188
01:04:41,960 --> 01:04:44,120
know, you know, if you're in
dressing rooms as well, you're

1189
01:04:44,120 --> 01:04:48,760
getting going to bed a little
bit later and you do get tired.

1190
01:04:48,760 --> 01:04:53,880
So even if it's you go in in the
morning, you're like, OK, I'm

1191
01:04:53,880 --> 01:04:58,400
really not 100% like with my,
with the crew, like I'm tired,

1192
01:04:58,720 --> 01:05:02,320
feeling a little bit ratty,
just, you know, just letting you

1193
01:05:02,320 --> 01:05:06,200
know, everyone's kind of like,
OK, just leave her to plod,

1194
01:05:06,400 --> 01:05:09,040
plod, do her things.
But then when you go out front,

1195
01:05:09,200 --> 01:05:11,360
it's kind of like you put on
your your happy face, your

1196
01:05:11,360 --> 01:05:13,400
bamary face.
Your game face, Yeah.

1197
01:05:14,760 --> 01:05:16,120
Hi.
Hi.

1198
01:05:16,120 --> 01:05:17,560
How are you?
And then you go back in the no.

1199
01:05:17,640 --> 01:05:19,720
Unfortunately, the coffee's not
ready yet.

1200
01:05:20,240 --> 01:05:24,880
The truck doors aren't open.
Actually, I always say that to

1201
01:05:25,080 --> 01:05:27,560
there was, it was a it was a
production manager on the last

1202
01:05:27,560 --> 01:05:29,760
story.
Like he kind of peered in.

1203
01:05:29,760 --> 01:05:32,520
He goes, Sarah, he goes, I think
this is a silly question.

1204
01:05:32,920 --> 01:05:34,720
I said, what are you going to
ask me?

1205
01:05:35,040 --> 01:05:36,480
And he's like, is there any
coffee?

1206
01:05:36,960 --> 01:05:40,360
I said the truck hasn't even
arrived.

1207
01:05:44,040 --> 01:05:46,680
He just laughed and he's like,
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

1208
01:05:46,680 --> 01:05:48,920
It was, AI said.
I know you haven't had your

1209
01:05:48,920 --> 01:05:51,280
coffee, I said.
But it's not here right now.

1210
01:05:53,080 --> 01:05:55,920
But I suppose that's just in
America and Europe, that in

1211
01:05:55,920 --> 01:06:00,360
America you can buy those boxes
of ready to go coffee, which you

1212
01:06:00,360 --> 01:06:03,240
can take in.
We just, it's never started in

1213
01:06:03,240 --> 01:06:06,200
Europe, which I think is weird.
There's never been anywhere that

1214
01:06:06,200 --> 01:06:08,400
you can go and buy that.
Yeah, that's true.

1215
01:06:08,840 --> 01:06:12,360
I mean behind anything.
I mean most common sense, like I

1216
01:06:12,360 --> 01:06:15,000
think most people do.
I mean, even now, even if I like

1217
01:06:15,000 --> 01:06:18,720
on this tour, I was like, guys,
get your coffee from the bus and

1218
01:06:18,720 --> 01:06:21,560
bring it in.
Like, I think most people know

1219
01:06:21,560 --> 01:06:24,840
that, but you know.
They're they're the and coffee

1220
01:06:24,840 --> 01:06:28,480
on buses is amazing.
Yeah, seriously, come on, You've

1221
01:06:28,480 --> 01:06:29,520
got.
Yeah.

1222
01:06:29,760 --> 01:06:31,920
But I mean, you've obviously
you've gone through massive

1223
01:06:31,920 --> 01:06:34,440
highs.
There's been some tough times.

1224
01:06:34,560 --> 01:06:38,840
And like, what has this?
What has your career like

1225
01:06:38,840 --> 01:06:43,880
basically taught you and how to
be so resilient and adaptable to

1226
01:06:44,080 --> 01:06:46,920
so many things I.
Don't know.

1227
01:06:47,040 --> 01:06:48,640
I don't think I've learned
anything sometimes.

1228
01:06:50,280 --> 01:06:54,800
Don't be so silly.
Well, yeah, no, we certainly,

1229
01:06:54,880 --> 01:06:58,560
you know, resilience is, is is a
caterer's middle name.

1230
01:06:58,600 --> 01:07:03,360
You know, we all just it, we and
anyone that's on the road has to

1231
01:07:03,360 --> 01:07:06,880
have a great attitude to life
and not take themselves too

1232
01:07:06,880 --> 01:07:11,000
seriously and be so adaptable
to, you know, if you think you

1233
01:07:11,000 --> 01:07:12,600
work with different people every
week.

1234
01:07:13,440 --> 01:07:16,080
I remember being terrified when
I was younger of getting on a

1235
01:07:16,080 --> 01:07:19,400
tour bus and having to say my
name and go hello.

1236
01:07:19,600 --> 01:07:21,200
Hi.
And then having to try and

1237
01:07:21,200 --> 01:07:22,880
remember all these people's
names.

1238
01:07:22,880 --> 01:07:26,080
Do you remember when we used to
write down people's names for

1239
01:07:26,080 --> 01:07:29,520
dinner?
And I, I wouldn't, sometimes you

1240
01:07:29,520 --> 01:07:31,000
wouldn't hit my my hearings.
Terrible.

1241
01:07:31,360 --> 01:07:35,000
Too much time with Iron Maiden
and you, you, you would just

1242
01:07:35,000 --> 01:07:36,400
write down a bit of a
description.

1243
01:07:36,600 --> 01:07:38,720
And we used to keep them from
the first night of the tour to

1244
01:07:38,720 --> 01:07:40,440
the last night of the tour, see
what our first general

1245
01:07:40,440 --> 01:07:43,160
impression was of the person
until.

1246
01:07:44,920 --> 01:07:48,160
But yeah, because you're just
meeting, it's a great grounding

1247
01:07:48,160 --> 01:07:52,160
in life that you're dealing with
1000 different people every year

1248
01:07:52,400 --> 01:07:55,200
to work with, you know, rather
than being in one place where

1249
01:07:55,200 --> 01:07:58,040
you work with the same people
all the time.

1250
01:07:58,720 --> 01:08:01,680
And also, you know that you'll
be on tour with people for a

1251
01:08:01,680 --> 01:08:04,320
month and if you don't
particularly get on, do you want

1252
01:08:04,320 --> 01:08:05,440
that?
You might not see them again.

1253
01:08:05,680 --> 01:08:08,080
They might also turn up in your
next year, obviously.

1254
01:08:08,120 --> 01:08:09,720
Yeah, because that's the way the
world.

1255
01:08:10,000 --> 01:08:15,200
But it's it's a great way of
meeting people and being being

1256
01:08:15,200 --> 01:08:18,840
able to, to deal with any
situation that you're put into

1257
01:08:19,800 --> 01:08:21,800
or put the game face on and deal
with it.

1258
01:08:22,800 --> 01:08:26,479
That's it for the game face on.
I mean, personally, like I OK,

1259
01:08:26,479 --> 01:08:31,080
I'm doing, let's say this office
job now, but I've never been

1260
01:08:31,279 --> 01:08:34,800
like, like this, this person, I
was always, you know, physical.

1261
01:08:34,880 --> 01:08:38,880
And it was something that I
loved about touring was that,

1262
01:08:39,040 --> 01:08:41,680
like you said, everything's in
the same place, the same

1263
01:08:41,680 --> 01:08:44,359
everything, but it changes.
You're in a different

1264
01:08:44,359 --> 01:08:48,080
environment every day, you know,
And it's, it's that buzz, it's

1265
01:08:48,080 --> 01:08:50,600
that, you know, the meeting
people.

1266
01:08:50,640 --> 01:08:56,000
And yeah, so I won't keep you
too long because we've been

1267
01:08:56,000 --> 01:08:58,520
talking for over an hour now,
which I can't believe it.

1268
01:08:58,520 --> 01:09:00,120
Oh goodness, I know.
Seriously.

1269
01:09:00,800 --> 01:09:07,800
But what advice would you give
anybody coming into the catering

1270
01:09:07,800 --> 01:09:12,840
tour world now?
Take any opportunity you're

1271
01:09:12,840 --> 01:09:17,439
offered, really go for it.
You know, if someone says how do

1272
01:09:17,439 --> 01:09:23,120
you fancy going to Fedland for a
fortnight, just go yes, because

1273
01:09:23,120 --> 01:09:25,000
it's a fortnight.
And if you don't like it, you

1274
01:09:25,240 --> 01:09:29,600
don't have to go back.
Just try everything, you know,

1275
01:09:29,600 --> 01:09:35,920
go to festivals, share rooms, do
do jobs, just try everything.

1276
01:09:36,080 --> 01:09:38,120
Yeah, this.
And, and learn, learn from

1277
01:09:38,120 --> 01:09:39,680
people.
Yes.

1278
01:09:39,720 --> 01:09:43,680
There's so many people with so
much knowledge and there are

1279
01:09:44,240 --> 01:09:47,680
shortcuts that we use on the
road that you wouldn't get away

1280
01:09:47,680 --> 01:09:51,000
with, would not get away with,
but you wouldn't do enough sort

1281
01:09:51,000 --> 01:09:55,120
of a mission to start kitchen.
But there are things that are

1282
01:09:55,120 --> 01:10:00,360
practical ways of making
delicious food look great and be

1283
01:10:00,360 --> 01:10:03,280
set, you know, keep hot and all
these things that you can't

1284
01:10:03,280 --> 01:10:06,080
repeat in up every dish.
You know, some days you have to.

1285
01:10:06,680 --> 01:10:10,200
Some of the boys have got some
brilliant things like the way

1286
01:10:10,200 --> 01:10:12,520
they heat up those curtains are
custard in the boiling water and

1287
01:10:12,520 --> 01:10:14,480
stuff.
And I saw someone boiling tofu

1288
01:10:14,480 --> 01:10:17,120
the other day, which is amazing.
You boil it and then you press

1289
01:10:17,120 --> 01:10:20,960
it and it makes it really firm.
Every job I go on, I find

1290
01:10:20,960 --> 01:10:22,400
something.
New find something different

1291
01:10:22,400 --> 01:10:26,080
someone yeah but I've been mean
to ask you as well like Bonnie.

1292
01:10:26,080 --> 01:10:28,120
So how is Bonnie?
Because again, I've.

1293
01:10:28,120 --> 01:10:30,920
Not I'm not really good.
Yeah, and.

1294
01:10:30,920 --> 01:10:35,160
Today at awards do that, she was
a judge on some restaurant

1295
01:10:35,640 --> 01:10:38,040
awards.
OK, she's an old billing skate

1296
01:10:38,040 --> 01:10:40,760
today.
Because you guys also you won a

1297
01:10:40,760 --> 01:10:42,280
what award did you win last
year?

1298
01:10:42,280 --> 01:10:47,400
I can't remember, sorry.
We got a TPI, we got a festival

1299
01:10:47,400 --> 01:10:49,680
award.
We got Yeah, we got we've we've,

1300
01:10:49,800 --> 01:10:53,000
we've brought home the they got
the statuettes.

1301
01:10:53,080 --> 01:10:55,680
Yeah, we've got a selection of.
Upstairs, I love to see your.

1302
01:10:55,680 --> 01:10:57,920
Post.
All you guys, you're all dressed

1303
01:10:57,920 --> 01:10:59,640
up and you're out for the night
and.

1304
01:11:00,280 --> 01:11:03,680
Me looking really awkward.
I always think I ruined the

1305
01:11:03,800 --> 01:11:07,320
photos.
The person that is least likely

1306
01:11:07,320 --> 01:11:09,880
to look happy in a photograph.
I'm also nervous.

1307
01:11:09,960 --> 01:11:13,000
Yeah, it's it's just these
things are terrifying.

1308
01:11:13,000 --> 01:11:15,160
Like TPI is a huge room of
people.

1309
01:11:15,800 --> 01:11:19,800
Yeah, yeah, but you've got your.
Crew, I hate wearing heels.

1310
01:11:20,880 --> 01:11:23,240
Oh, you hate wearing heels?
You'd have to wear heels.

1311
01:11:24,840 --> 01:11:26,280
You can only wear so many
trainers.

1312
01:11:26,320 --> 01:11:28,520
I had a hip replacement so it
was a good excuse to wear.

1313
01:11:28,560 --> 01:11:30,360
You didn't, did you?
How did you know that?

1314
01:11:30,480 --> 01:11:34,560
Yeah, 10/10/12 years ago.
Oh my goodness, I.

1315
01:11:34,720 --> 01:11:36,440
Didn't know that.
And Heather's just had one.

1316
01:11:36,640 --> 01:11:41,080
Heather's just had her hip
replaced and Pauline, Pauline

1317
01:11:41,080 --> 01:11:44,440
had her's done earlier on this
year and she's amazing and

1318
01:11:44,440 --> 01:11:48,440
Heather had her's done.
We'll be about four months ago

1319
01:11:48,440 --> 01:11:51,000
now and she's back at work.
Oh, OK.

1320
01:11:51,000 --> 01:11:53,760
I'm just going to say this isn't
a good advertisement for, you

1321
01:11:53,760 --> 01:11:55,520
know, the youngsters coming into
the industry.

1322
01:11:55,520 --> 01:12:03,320
Yeah, I had a hip replacement.
Yeah, I think, yeah, I think

1323
01:12:03,320 --> 01:12:04,600
maybe it's, it's a bit different
now.

1324
01:12:04,600 --> 01:12:07,400
I think the years I think.
And I swear with my hip, it was,

1325
01:12:07,680 --> 01:12:10,960
you know, the, the gas cookers
used to stand in those cases.

1326
01:12:11,200 --> 01:12:13,720
Yeah, they were quite high.
It was years of standing with

1327
01:12:13,720 --> 01:12:19,920
one foot up cooking pots.
And I'm I'm sure that's how my

1328
01:12:19,920 --> 01:12:24,520
hip went from that action.
And also I also have a dodgy

1329
01:12:24,520 --> 01:12:27,000
shoulder and I think that's from
having a damp detail on it for

1330
01:12:27,000 --> 01:12:28,080
so long.
Oh, don't.

1331
01:12:28,080 --> 01:12:29,520
Yeah, got one there and your leg
up.

1332
01:12:29,520 --> 01:12:31,200
So, like, you're all like,
wonky, Yeah.

1333
01:12:31,920 --> 01:12:35,600
Exactly.
All sorted though the miracles

1334
01:12:35,600 --> 01:12:37,680
of the NHS.
Excuse me.

1335
01:12:38,080 --> 01:12:41,080
Well, Mary, thank you so much.
It's been really lovely

1336
01:12:41,080 --> 01:12:42,640
catching.
Up to catch up.

1337
01:12:43,000 --> 01:12:47,360
And hopefully our pals will
cross at some point.

1338
01:12:47,360 --> 01:12:49,800
I know we literally miss each
other in like the end of the

1339
01:12:49,800 --> 01:12:53,400
year in America, but hopefully
one one day our pals will will

1340
01:12:53,800 --> 01:12:56,240
catch up.
So thank you very much for doing

1341
01:12:56,240 --> 01:12:57,600
it.
Let us know next time you're in

1342
01:12:57,600 --> 01:12:59,280
London.
I will do.

1343
01:12:59,440 --> 01:13:01,240
Thanks, Mary.
Thank you so much for having me.

1344
01:13:01,240 --> 01:13:02,680
It's been really nice to catch
up.

1345
01:13:02,760 --> 01:13:03,720
Thank you so much.
Brilliant.

1346
01:13:04,280 --> 01:13:04,880
Thanks.
Bye.

1347
01:13:04,880 --> 01:13:06,400
Thanks.
Bye.

1348
01:13:11,560 --> 01:13:23,640
La La La La ladies, the ladies.
Now here's the leading ladies by

1349
01:13:23,680 --> 01:13:30,080
Geezers of Gear on tour.
Maybe she got some stories to

1350
01:13:30,120 --> 01:13:34,560
share.
Now here's the leading ladies by

1351
01:13:34,600 --> 01:13:41,080
the Geezers of Gear, Rockstar
ladies with some stories to

1352
01:13:41,120 --> 01:13:45,880
share because la, la, la, la
ladies.

1353
01:13:48,320 --> 01:14:00,040
La, la, la, la, la, la ladies.
Yeah, she's a high.

1354
01:14:04,080 --> 01:14:06,880
Now here's the leading ladies.

Mary Shelley-Smith

Business Director, Eat to the Beat / Global Infusion Group

Mary joined Eat to the Beat in February 1990 after completing a degree in Food Science at
Strathclyde University. Mary’s illustrious career has seen her baking scones for the Pope
and presenting a birthday cake on stage to the Dalai Lama at Glastonbury and meeting the
Queen on her 90th Birthday when she came to see the catering set up at the Royal Windsor
Horse Show. Mary also has extensive experience of delivering catering in the US, having
recently delivered catering for Coldplay and Judas Priest’s tours and heading up the in-
house catering operation at Merriweather Post Pavilion.

As Business Director for Eat to the Beat, Mary leads the account management, operations,
finance, warehousing and onsite teams who are regularly delivering major event, tours and
TV productions. Passionate about driving sustainability, Mary works hard to ensure that it
is integral to the business’ day to day operations with the entire team encouraged to think
creatively and take responsibility in reducing its environmental impact.

For over 34 years Mary has been part of the Eat to the Beat team, a specialist division of Global Infusion Group.

Eat to the Beat specialises in artist, production and crew catering for the music, entertainment, film & TV industries. From locations and worldwide music and production tours to one off shows and providing dressing room riders, our clients are rock stars, actors and bands who have all been enticed by our delicious food, friendly and professional approach and ultra-efficient logistics.

G… Read More

#335 - Mary Shelley-Smith - The Evolution of Catering: Insights from Mary - LEADING LADIES PODCAST

Mary Shelley-Smith

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