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...

Olivia Charlton

Olivia Charlton

Client Success Manager

I like the opportunity to help provide solutions for our clients by mystery dining and evaluating their standards of service through Hub data.

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.

Polly Werran

Polly Werran

Mystery Guest Advisor

I’m really happy to be a part of a supportive team that strives to deliver excellent feedback to our clients.

Steven Pike

Steven Pike

Managing Director

It's really important to me that we put our clients in the driving seat and coordinate all our resources in pursuit of your objectives.

Keit Vende

Keit Vende

Head of Sales & Marketing

I wish I had tools like The Hub when I helped manage a bar 10 years ago. My mission now is to get the word out there about how hospitality tech can help.

Ghervana Tanzarella

Ghervana Tanzarella

Support Coordinator

I’m very lucky to be part of a team that is supportive, kind and consistently working hard to help push the standard of hospitality.

Nick Fisher

Nick Fisher

Assessment Training Coordinator

I really enjoy my role as everyday is different and the team are really friendly.

Justine Walker

Justine Walker

Assessor Resource Coordinator

I’m so lucky to work for such an aspiring, growing company. My role allows me to forge new relationships and nurture old ones.

Rebecca Mason

Rebecca Mason

Guest Community Coordinator

It’s great to be able to validate reports and gain a real insight into our mystery guests' experiences, but the most enjoyable part of my job, is managing the Diner Reward Scheme. Its lovely to be able to reward our mystery guests for their hard work and commitment.

Joanna Habgood

Joanna Habgood

Mystery Guest Advisor

I love how helpful and supportive the rest of the team are.

Ben Edwards

Ben Edwards

Mystery Guest Advisor

I really enjoy working to improve and empower hospitality amongst such a friendly and supportive team.

Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis

Infrastructure and Business Intelligence Manager

I really enjoy identifying the scope for enabling greater innovation and collaboration for internal teams and our clients and working together to deliver new value.

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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