Our Story

HGEM has always been a pioneer, being the first to coin the term ‘mystery dining’ back in 2003 when the company was originally founded as the Mystery Dining Company in Bath, England.

The firm was born from a conversation with well-known restaurant owner who was losing track of what was going on in his restaurants. He had a mystery shopping company working for him that was unreliable and failing to get results back quickly. We knew we could do better than that and so he gave us six restaurants as a trial to see what we could do.

We were able to complete visits and provide detailed feedback in near ‘real time’ which enabled him to implement changes and quickly see improvement. After this initial success, we won the contract for the whole estate and the rest is history.

Since then we have continued to seek innovative ways to empower hospitality operators in a competitive and rapidly changing market, and today work internationally with over 10,000 restaurants, pubs, hotels, cinemas and caterers including many well-known brands such as wagamama, Greene King, Malmaison, Empire Cinemas, Royal Ascot, Sodexo, and local high street institutions Pret a Manger, Lounges and EAT.

Today our mission is to establish ‘Guest Experience Management’ as a core discipline for hospitality businesses, providing award-winning tools and support to help operators monitor their performance and generate a culture of continuous improvement for teams.

Our People

Many of our people have joined us having worked in the hospitality industry and so it truly has shaped who we are and the way we behave. We understand the pressures and challenges of your teams because we have been there, and we’re passionate about supporting you to deliver a great guest experience every time. We have also been crowned Employer of the Year at the Bath Live Business Awards.

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Paul Pritchard

Business Intelligence Manager

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.

Jenny Steele

Business Analyst

Helping the business to identify their goals and working effectively with IT and systems development to deliver them.

Sue Kendall

Accounts Assistant

It’s really important to me that we get it right first time and on time and I feel fortunate to work in a team who really care about what it is they do.

Ash Sharpe

Client Relationship Manager

I enjoy partnering with clients to support and elevate them to the best they can be through the ownership of their guests experience.

Rebecca Moore

Assessor Recruitment Coordinator

I care most about maintaining our high standards of quality, and ensuring each report gives useful insight to our clients.

Benedicte Adriaens

Multilingual Report Validator

Being bilingual allows me to support our diners on both sides of the Channel. I enjoy ensuring the reports we send to our clients are of a high standard.

Ella Baron

Client Relationship Manager

I enjoy maintaining a positive relationship with my client by managing their challenges, and meeting their needs.

Gary Bond

Senior Web Engineer

I care most about getting stuff done right and helping my team to focus on that too.

Mia Leak

Mystery Guest Advisor

I enjoy reading about our mystery guests' experiences and supporting them by giving them advice. I’m glad that I am helping to improve hospitality whilst discovering new clients to visit myself.

Sally Whelan

Director

Sharing insightful guest experience information to enable hospitality operators to become ever more hospitable.

Anna Barresi

Client Support Coordinator

I love interacting with our clients, ensuring their requests are processed promptly and the solutions provided meet the high standards of customer service and quality in order to contribute to their success.

Hannah Allsop

B2C Marketing Manager

I love creating visual content whilst ensuring it’s fresh and in keeping with our brand. I also enjoy thinking of new ways to engage with our clients and mystery guests via social media.

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.

About Us