Learn how Mollie's is using technology to drive customer experience at The Caterer's Tech Summit

Join industry experts at The Caterer's Technology Summit on 21 June to hear from operators using the latest digital systems to advance their businesses.

Darren Sweetland, managing director of Mollie's, the latest operator to join the agenda, will talk alongside Carolyn Ball, director for delivery of net zero at Compass Group UK & Ireland; Ruth Carpenter, head of marketing at Pizza Pilgrims; and futurist Tom Cheesewright.

Mollie's, which was founded and designed by Soho House, is a group of 21st-century 'budget-luxe' motel-diners. The operator has rapid expansion plans across the UK and is using technology to support this growth. Mollies has ensured the entire customer journey is a digital-led experience, through innovative technologies like the Mollie's app, which allows guests to check-in online, access their rooms through a digital key and pre-book electric charging bays for the vehicles.

Sweetland will be joined by Jane Pendlebury, chief operating officer of HOSPA, Simon Stenning, strategic adviser and futurist at Future Foodservice, and Greg Bramwell, director of food at BaxterStorey. They will identify the latest technology trends in hospitality and discuss what tech is worth splashing the cash on, as well as which technologies are worth investing in now to future-proof your business.

Jenny McPhee, brand director at the Alchemist Bars and Restaurants, will be discussing the group's use of non-fungible tokens, while a second panel, featuring Compass, Pizza Pilgrims and Nutritics, will take a look at the impact of data and how hospitality operators can capture and make sense of datasets associated with allergens, calories and carbon.

Meanwhile, Tom Cheesewright, futurist and broadcaster on programmes across the BBC, Channel 4, 5, and Sky News, will open the virtual event with a look into the future of hospitality and how tech will impact the industry.

He said: "The more digital things become, the more people crave the physical – you only have to look at lockdown to see how people desperately wanted to get out and do something different when they were stuck at home behind a screen.

"But fast-forward 10 years when we're all spending 10 hours a day wearing mixed-reality glasses in the metaverse surrounded by virtual stuff and there will be a split. You might keep the glasses on in a fast-food venue and speak to virtual assistants behind the till, while a virtual Ronald McDonald roams around entertaining the kids. In complete contrast will be the Michelin-star experience, where you are explicitly asked to remove your glasses to enjoy the experience – it's about taking advantage of the technology being used."

Sign up now to this free virtual event and have your questions ready to ask our speakers on 21 June.