Hall & Woodhouse
Delivering great food, drinks, and hospitality consistently across 180+ venues
The Challenge
Hall & Woodhouse is a national pub operator with over 180 venues primarily in the South of England, operating diverse formats from cosy community pubs to high-street gastropubs. They pride themselves on delivering great food, drinks, and hospitality - but ensuring consistency across such a varied estate presents significant challenges.
The Problems Facing Multi-Site Operators
Subjective Feedback
Relying on subjective feedback from guests or staff makes it difficult to identify genuine operational issues versus individual preferences or isolated incidents.
Limited Operational Visibility
Without structured assessment, head office has limited visibility into how well operational standards are actually executed across diverse locations and formats.
Benchmarking Difficulty
Comparing performance across regions, formats, and operating models requires standardized measurement that most operators lack.
Performance Management Gaps
Without objective data, performance management conversations with pub managers rely on anecdotal evidence rather than concrete examples.
Hall & Woodhouse understood that consistency in guest experience is key to brand loyalty and profitability. They needed systematic, objective insight into how well their brand standards were being delivered.
Our Approach
We designed a tailored mystery guest programme with custom assessment briefs and comprehensive reporting aligned to Hall & Woodhouse’s specific operational standards and business goals.
Customized Mystery Guest Briefs
Each mystery guest receives a specific brief developed in collaboration with Hall & Woodhouse. These briefs outline exactly what to monitor, aligned with internal standards and strategic priorities.
Assessment criteria typically include:
- NPS & Overall Satisfaction
- Food Quality, Presentation & Temperature
- Food & Drink Pricing vs. Perceived Value
- Drink Quality - pour quality, temperature, freshness
- Staff Interaction - product knowledge, upselling, friendliness
- Cleanliness and Ambience
- Brand-Specific Service Steps - adherence to Hall & Woodhouse standards
- Allergen Information Handling
Briefs vary by visit type - lunch versus dinner, weekend versus weekday - ensuring insights reflect real-world trading conditions across different dayparts and occasions.
Comprehensive, Objective Assessments
Mystery guests submit structured reports post-visit including:
- Scored responses against each criterion
- Time-stamped photos documenting presentation, cleanliness, and atmosphere
- Verbatim commentary with observational detail
- Qualitative experience summary with NPS rating
This provides a complete, impartial view of how well each pub executed the brand experience.
Dashboard + Individual Reports
Live Reporting Dashboard
Visit results appear in a real-time dashboard enabling:
- Tracking individual pub performance over time
- Comparison of venues by region or format
- Filtering by specific criteria to investigate patterns
- Estate-wide performance trends
Full PDF Reports to Pub Managers
Each pub manager receives a comprehensive PDF report including all photos, scores, commentary, and specific observations. This gives managers concrete examples for team briefings and training.
Regional & Head Office Summary Reports
Regional managers and head office receive summary reports showing comparative performance, trend analysis, and areas requiring strategic attention across their portfolio.
The Results
Measurable NPS Improvement
Hall & Woodhouse has seen consistent NPS uplift across the estate since implementing the structured mystery guest programme.
Faster Operational Issue Resolution
Issues flagged by mystery guests - from food presentation inconsistencies to service protocol gaps - get addressed quickly with objective evidence supporting corrective action.
Consistent Food & Drink Standards
Mystery guest feedback with photographic evidence has driven more consistent food presentation and drink quality across the estate. Managers have clear visual examples of standards to share with kitchen and bar teams.
Greater Staff Accountability
Objective mystery guest feedback supports performance management conversations. Staff understand expectations clearly when feedback is specific, evidence-based, and aligned to brand standards.
Data-Driven Performance Management
Regional managers and head office can have informed conversations with pub managers backed by objective data rather than subjective impressions or guest complaints.
What This Programme Delivers
For Pub Managers
Detailed reports with photos and specific observations provide concrete examples for team training and standards reinforcement. Managers know exactly what’s working and what needs improvement.
For Regional Teams
Comparative performance data across their portfolio identifies which venues excel and which need support. Regional managers can spot patterns and share best practices.
For Head Office
Strategic oversight of brand standard delivery across 180+ venues, with the ability to track improvement over time and identify systematic training or operational needs.
For Hall & Woodhouse Guests
Consistently excellent experiences whether visiting a cosy village pub or a high-street gastropub. Mystery guest insight ensures the Hall & Woodhouse brand promise is reliably delivered.
Tailored to Your Brand Standards
The mystery guest programme isn’t generic - it’s customized to Hall & Woodhouse’s specific brand standards, operational priorities, and diverse venue formats.
From checking that dogs have fresh, clean water (because they’re guests too) to evaluating allergen information handling, the assessment criteria reflect what actually matters to Hall & Woodhouse’s brand experience.
Different venue formats receive appropriate briefs - community pubs are assessed on criteria relevant to their offer, while gastropubs are evaluated on expectations appropriate to that format. This ensures fair, relevant assessment across a diverse estate.
The programme has become embedded in how Hall & Woodhouse manages operational excellence: pub managers use reports in team briefings, regional teams monitor dashboard trends, and head office uses insights to inform training priorities and operational standards.
That’s the difference between mystery shopping as an inspection exercise and mystery shopping as genuine business intelligence that drives continuous improvement.
Ready to ensure consistent brand standard delivery across your multi-site operation? Contact us to discuss how tailored mystery guest programmes with custom briefs and comprehensive reporting can deliver objective operational insight for your business.