Matt Snell’s experience in the hospitality industry first began at the age of 10 when he was tasked with collecting glasses at his parents’ pub. He was appointed CEO of Boxpark, the London-based group of street food, retail and entertainment pop-ups, in March 2025, having previously served as chief executive of the restaurant chain Gusto Italian.
Since opening its first site in Shoreditch in 2011, Boxpark has expanded to six venues across the UK – five in London and one in Liverpool. The latest addition is Boxhall, Liverpool Street, a social-dining concept that launched last month.
Snell has no intention of stopping there, with aspirations to open five venues in the US and expand into the Middle East in the next three years. “We have a global ambition,” he says.
Here, Snell discusses his route to the executive seat, shares his best piece of leadership advice and unpacks some of the challenges facing the hospitality sector.
You’re approaching your 100th day in the role. What have you learnt over this period?
My chair asked me for a 100-day plan when I was appointed Boxpark CEO. But I didn’t do it because that’s short-term thinking. In terms of the first 100 days, it’s about trying to understand the culture, the team and where the opportunities lie in the business.
I’d prefer to do the plan after the first 100 days, because it’s more important to first get a sense of what the business is and where you can take it. If you have got to that point after 100 days, you’ll be in a good place.
Did you always want to head up a company?
I’m still not sure how I’ve come to be here. I suffer from terrible imposter syndrome. I grew up a working-class kid. My parents ran pubs when I was a child, so I was out collecting glasses from the age of 10, and I was paid with a glass of coke and a bag of crisps.
I started out as a bartender and I gradually worked my way up to be managing director and then CEO of the restaurant chain Gusto Italian, before being appointed chief executive of Boxpark. I strongly believe that hospitality is the ultimate meritocracy. You can achieve so much without having to be particularly talented – I’m not.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
What I really enjoy about being a CEO is communicating with lots of different people and finding new ways to engage them, whether that be our bartenders in Croydon or multi-millionaire private equity investors. That’s what keeps me coming back.
I am also very competitive. I’ve always enjoyed sports, so I enjoy winning – particularly when I’m winning at work. Being able to lead a business to win is one of the best feelings.
I’m very lucky, because I don’t really have a boss. You do have a board of non-executives that you’re responsible to, but the success or failure of the business is down to you and how you decide to lead that business. Sometimes that can weigh quite heavily, and you’ve got to be able to deal with that, especially through very difficult times. But I’m very lucky and privileged to do what I do.
Do you think having experience of working behind a bar helps you in your role now?
It means I have an immediate affinity with every single person that is working in the business, because I’ve done what they’re doing. Sometimes I need to remind the team that I’ve been there and done it, and I sometimes need to remind myself of that too. But it does help me to really understand the challenges in the business.
It’s not always a good thing; sometimes it causes me to become too operationally focused. As a CEO, the operation is only one part of the business. There are lots and lots of other moving parts that I have to understand and ensure they all work together symbiotically.
However, lots of people become CEOs without working their way up. Instead, they might have a background in finance, for example. One way is not necessarily better than the other, but it’s my own unique story and I think it does give me a real, genuine affinity with the business.
What’s the best bit of business advice you’ve ever received?
Be authentic above anything else. When I talk about leadership, I always talk about being authentic. But be sure to manage that carefully, because it can be a double-edged sword. We’ve all worked with leaders who use authenticity as an excuse for being aggressive or inconsiderate. So you’ve got to be able to combine your authenticity with a high level of emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence isn’t necessarily about being in touch with your feelings. It’s made up of five components: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, social skills and empathy. Being able to dial those different facets of emotional intelligence up and down enables you to be truly authentic in different situations and with different people.
If being yourself isn’t good enough for the business you’re in, then you’re in the wrong business.
What qualities do you look for when hiring your leadership team?
I don’t want everyone to be the same. I try to recruit people who are different and complement each other’s abilities. That gives you a really well-rounded team. Everyone’s approach to challenges will be different, which is a healthy thing, especially for a B2C business like ours, where we’re trying to understand and predict consumer trends.
The other thing I look for is people who are better than me – and they’re not particularly hard to find. I want people on my team who are much stronger in their chosen skill than I am. That gives me the confidence to let them get on with their role.
What’s the biggest challenge facing your sector at the moment?
Balance sheets were already really challenged coming out of the pandemic, as you would imagine. Since then, we have seen the war in Ukraine start, which had a massive effect on food prices – we saw 20% inflation on food. Then we saw the energy spike, which raised costs by 500% in some cases. The National minimum wage has also increased by 35% over that period and now we have the increase in national insurance contributions on top of that.
The hospitality sector has also faced a scarcity of labour, partly because of Brexit, which has made it difficult to live and work in this country as a migrant. That creates wage inflation, and we’ve seen real pressure on the labour line.
Every hospitality operator has had to increase prices as a result of these factors. But, when your prices go up dramatically, you generally see a drop off in volume. This is painful for me to say, but it gives you a real sense of the challenge that hospitality faces.
What’s your proudest achievement?
I’m proud that there are people I’ve worked with in the past who still come to me for advice or ask me for counsel and guidance.
It’s good to know that people genuinely value my opinion. There is no better feeling than helping somebody progress, grow and develop as a leader or as a person.
What’s one business book you’d recommend other people read?
If you’re leading an SME, I’d recommend you read Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. It’s more of an autobiography than a business book, but it tells the story of Nike in the early years.
For almost 20 years, the company had constant cash-flow issues. Knight would max out the overdraft one week, pay it back the next week and then max it out again the week after that. So every single month they were on the verge of going bust.
If you’re running an SME, it can feel like you’re flying by the seat of your pants and it could all come undone at any moment. However, you read that book and you realise that huge oak trees grow from little acorns. If you do the right things, it will turn in your favour eventually.
Knight illustrates that brilliantly in Shoe Dog and it’s a very entertaining read.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Everybody needs a hobby that is not attached to work; that allows you to switch off once a week. For me, it’s golf on a Saturday morning.
I play with a group of friends that I went to school with. We turn up at 8am on a Saturday morning, we play a round of golf and have a couple of beers and some lunch afterwards. That time is really important to me and it’s something I would never sacrifice.
I also go to the gym at least three times a week and I play paddle. I’m the most active I’ve ever been in my life, actually. It’s about being competitive but also being mindful. It really helps me to relax and switch off.
Matt Snell's experience in the hospitality industry first began at the age of 10 when he was tasked with collecting glasses at his parents' pub. He was appointed CEO of Boxpark, the London-based group of street food, retail and entertainment pop-ups, in March 2025, having previously served as chief executive of the restaurant chain Gusto Italian.
Since opening its first site in Shoreditch in 2011, Boxpark has expanded to six venues across the UK – five in London and one in Liverpool. The latest addition is Boxhall, Liverpool Street, a social-dining concept that launched last month.
Snell has no intention of stopping there, with aspirations to open five venues in the US and expand into the Middle East in the next three years. "We have a global ambition," he says.
