Lesley McIlroy is head of marketing at Bill’s Restaurants. With an extensive background in commercial marketing for the hospitality industry, including roles at Comptoir Group, Peach Pub Company, Greene King and Hall & Woodhouse, she’ll be sharing her insights and expertise with show visitors as part of The Casual Dining Marketing Panel.
The WE ARE Spectacular marketing podcast (hosted by Mark McCulloch) will also feature wagamama’s Andre Johnstone, Pizza Pilgrim’s Thom Elliot, Revolution Bars Group’s Kate Eastwood, and Las Iguanas’ Lucy Harwood.
What do you feel is the key for operators to successfully compete against their competitors in 2019 and beyond?
Understanding how to utilise digital to appeal to their target customers.
What do you see as key trends in the coming year?
People are going to continue to care more about what they eat and where it has come from, so restaurants are going to do more and more to share that information with their customers. There is also more and more opportunity to attract and convert new customers on digital so we should see some exciting ways of making that happen.
What’s your bestselling dish / drink at the moment?
We are seeing a rise in the number of vegan dishes that are being purchased, especially where there is a vegan dish as a base and then the option to add halloumi or chicken. This totally follows the ‘flexitarian’ trend, which consumers are now following more.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Going into one of our restaurants and seeing the team and the customers enjoying themselves. I love seeing people in the environment we have created, having a great time.
And the most challenging?
Juggling all the different elements required and prioritising the ‘To Do’ list.
How important is the Casual Dining show to the casual dining sector?
It is really important that our industry has ways for people to meet, share and enjoy themselves. We are ultimately about doing this for our customers, so it is great to have a forum where we can do the same!
Describe the Casual Dining trade show in 3 words:
Informative, collaborative, relevant.
Who or what inspires you to be even better?
The team around me, from the waitering team on the floor in the restaurants, to the team in our head office. Seeing everyone working so hard to achieve our shared goals inspires me to do the best that I can.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Learn when to say no. And also, when sometimes you need to say yes!
See Lesley at Casual Dining 2019
The Casual Dining Marketing Panel – A WE ARE Spectacular Podcast Live: 1.45pm in Keynote Theatre 1 on Thursday 28 February. The session will feature –
- Andre Johnstone, UK marketing director at wagamama
- Thom Elliot, co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims
- Lucy Harwood, brand & marketing director at Las Iguanas
- Kate Eastwood, sales & marketing director at Revolution Bars Group
- Lesley McIlroy, head of marketing at Bill’s Restaurants
- Mark McCulloch, founder & CEO of WE ARE Spectacular
