Kaspar Basse, founder and CEO of Joe & the Juice, said: “Everything goes through our employees and if it’s not engaging to our employees we would not do it, no matter how much money it would make. We feel our employees can tell us what would make an enticing, igniting customer experience better than a plan.

He added: “The only difference between the store and online is human intimacy. If you ignore this, you’re going to loose"

Jochen Halfmann, chairman & CEO of Vapiano, said: “Our approach is more centralised and organised, but on the other hand, our managers have total freedom in the restaurants.”

Tyrone Reid, managing director of Alabbar Enterprises, agreed that staff are the key to success. “F&B is such an emotional place. We provide the occasions that people remember. We don’t hire employees based on their merits, we hire based on their personalities and 51% of the interview is about themselves – the rest can be taught,” he said.