Harrison, specialists in hospitality architecture, interior design and brand storytelling, has announced a new strategic partnership with food and beverage consultancy experts, Conceptional, a leading food and beverage consulting firm specialising in hotels and experience-driven environments, food and beverage consultancy experts. Together, they will create a new client-focused solution which marries operational excellence and strategic design, helping hotels across the UK and Europe rethink the role of food and beverage as a central driver of guest experience, loyalty and commercial performance.
The collaboration responds to a clear shift in hospitality: as hotels move away from room-centric models, food and beverage has become one of the most powerful drivers of guest choice, loyalty and commercial performance. Yet in many hotels, F&B continues to underperform not due to lack of ambition, but due to misalignment between concept, operations and design.
By combining Harrison’s 35 years of expertise in spatial design, architecture and guest-led environments with Conceptional’s deep understanding of F&B strategy, operations and guest behaviour, the partnership offers a fully integrated approach to hotel food and beverage. From early feasibility and business case through concept development, design, delivery and long-term performance support.
“Hotel food and beverage has moved far beyond convenience,” says Reoewein Niesten, Founder & CEO of Conceptional. “Guests expect experiences that reflect their values: wellness, authenticity, flexibility and connection. What hotels often struggle with is translating those expectations into concepts that work operationally and financially. This partnership allows us to design F&B concepts from the guest backwards, while ensuring they are commercially viable and operationally sound.”
Addressing an Industry-Wide Challenge
Across the hospitality sector, hotel F&B outlets continue to underperform due to misalignment between concept, design, and day-to-day operations, as well as increased competition from strong local restaurants.
Industry data highlights that up to 50% of total revenue in lifestyle and luxury properties can be attributed to F&B, while 78% of travellers say dining is a deciding factor when choosing a hotel. Despite this, many hotel restaurants and bars have a common blind spot, leading guests to seek local alternatives.
The Harrison and Conceptional partnership directly address this gap. Working as one team with one process, the collaboration brings together research, positioning, storytelling, functional planning, design, and operational thinking from the earliest stages of a project. Concepts are developed holistically, giving equal weight to guest experience, brand storytelling, operational flow, staffing models and financial performance.
The result is food and beverage that functions as a strategic asset rather than an afterthought designed to work for owners, brands, hotel management teams and day-to-day operations alike.
“Food and beverage spaces within hotels should transcend being simply a space for hotel guests. To truly work as profitable assets, they need to attract guests to stay in-house, but also to connect with locals and function as destinations in their own right. No one wants to feel like the lone patron in a dull and uninspiring space, but add personality, vibrancy and life, and it can unlock new revenue potential.” says Philip Harrison, Chairman and Founder of Harrison.
“However, design only succeeds when it performs in the real world. You can have a spectacular looking space, but if the reality means it doesn’t work as a smooth flowing operational space, it’s a failure. Equally, Hotel F&B only works when it is treated as part of a cohesive ecosystem, rather than a standalone entity. By partnering with Conceptional, we can align creative vision with operational intelligence, creating spaces that are intuitive for guests, efficient for teams, and commercially resilient for owners.”
From Spaces to Destinations
The partnership is built around contemporary guest expectations, including the rise of all-day dining, wellness-led menus, flexible ‘third place’ social spaces, sustainability-driven concepts and immersive, story-led environments that attract both hotel guests and local audiences.
Together, Harrison and Conceptional help hotels unlock the full potential of food and beverage by increasing guest dwell time, spend and repeat visits, while strengthening brand relevance in competitive markets.
To mark the launch of the partnership, Harrison and Conceptional have jointly published a new industry insight brochure examining how a guest-centric approach to hotel food and beverage can drive higher spend, loyalty and long-term value.
The publication explores current consumer trends, commercial benchmarks and emerging F&B formats, and outlines how aligning strategy, design and operations from the outset can transform hotel restaurants and bars into destination-led, revenue-generating experiences.
A New Approach to Hotel F&B Transformation
Harrison x Conceptional are now working with hotel owners, operators and developers across the UK and Europe who are looking to reposition their food and beverage offer as a key driver of revenue, reputation and guest loyalty.
By placing guest behaviour, brand storytelling and operational performance at the heart of every project, the partnership aims to set a new benchmark for how hotel F&B is conceived, designed and delivered.
Source: Harrison
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