About Us

About Us


Introducing HGEM

Our Story

Software with a Service

HGEM has been a pioneer for over 20 years. In 2003, we were the first to use the term ‘mystery dining’ as a specialist form of mystery shopping. It reflected the deeper and longer experiences that are typical in hospitality, as compared with retail. Hot on the heels of the dot.com explosion, we were the first to use the internet to provide next-day reporting.

Fast forward to the mid-2010's, and there are many more ways to gain insights from guests from surveys and reviews. We embraced these and were the first to use the term ‘Guest Experience Management’ (GEM). Our mission was to establish this as a core business discipline for hospitality businesses and to be the best source of expertise and tools. That mission has been achieved.

Now, in the mid-2020s, HGEM's award-winning platform, The Hub, is used by tens of thousands of venues, large and small. Guest Experience Managers with operations and marketing roles use it to engage with guests and gain insights that help them to grow sales.

But our growth is not just fueled by our amazing software. Because working in partnership with our clients comes as standard. We act as an extension to your team, interested in your strategy and playing our part to help you achieve it. It's how we learn and innovate. Many of our team have had careers in hospitality, so we understand the terminology and the challenges. We call this 'Software with a Service' and you won't find it anywhere else.

Let's see what we can achieve together!


Come and meet our team...

Charlotte King

Charlotte King

Implementation Coordinator

Pradnya Nimbalkar

Pradnya Nimbalkar

Software Engineer

I care about continuously improving the quality of my work in the organisation and delivery of well designed, easy to use software which is enjoyable and simplifies users' life.

Emily Batten

Emily Batten

Business Development Executive

I enjoy building relationships with our clients, discussing current challenges and creating solutions to improve the guest experience across so many brands. Every day brings something new and exciting, and I have the best team to share it with!

Matthew Brunt

Matthew Brunt

Infrastructure Engineer

I enjoy supporting our team and working with the latest technology, enabling them to deliver great service and industry leading innovations, all whilst working among genuinely wonderful and encouraging people.

Anna Clarke

Anna Clarke

Mystery Guest Advisor

Every day brings something new, and I enjoy being part of a team that strives to improve hospitality while being supportive and helpful.

Tanisha Penney

Tanisha Penney

Change Manager

I love being able to support our clients in their journey to improve their guests’ experiences and doing so as part of such a friendly and dedicated team.

Rosa Esposito

Rosa Esposito

Mystery Guest Advisor

I am grateful to be part of such a friendly and supportive team and I enjoy learning about different guests dining experiences.

Paul Pritchard

Paul Pritchard

Senior Business Intelligence Developer

It’s really important to me that our data is secure, accurate and accessible and that our reporting infrastructure is fast, reliable and always available. We always ensure our reporting is engaging, actionable and insightful.

James Cottrell

James Cottrell

Senior Software Engineer

What I care and treasure about my role, is the opportunity to work with incredibly talented and positive individuals to create cutting edge technology.

Naima Jama

Naima Jama

Senior Support Coordinator

Jess Ward

Jess Ward

Assessment Technical Coordinator

I love helping others and solving problems, every day is different and there’s always a chance to learn something new and improve the experience of all users

Annabelle Simons

Annabelle Simons

Mystery Guest Marketing Assistant

It’s fun to get an insight into people’s lives through their dining experiences and be a part of improving the dining world.

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Our Mystery Guests

At HGEM we are fortunate to have a fantastic community of mystery guests that we try hard to nurture and support as stakeholders in 'empowering hospitality'. In return, they go the extra mile to provide detailed and practical feedback on their experiences. If you are interested in becoming one of our mystery guests, please go to mysterydining.net.

Learn more about what we do