Skip to main content

News & Insights

Business leaders networking at the Peach 20/20 Conference  

22 Oct 2026

What does transformation really look like at scale?

Martie Smit, Commercial and Marketing Director at Mitchells & Butlers, joins Peach 20/20 to share insights from one of the UK’s leading businesses.

M&B operates one of the UK’s biggest and most diverse hospitality portfolios and Martie has spent 16 years building her career within the business, with experience spanning commercial strategy, marketing, innovation and transformation.

And there's a particularly compelling story behind the scenes.

M&B’s Ignite programme is a powerful example of continuous transformation in action. Dozens of initiatives across productivity, commercial performance, digital, data and the guest experience. Not one silver bullet, but many improvements, executed consistently at scale. And it’s delivering. Take a look at the half year results. 

Rewiring the P&L isn't simply about taking cost out. It's about building a better business. Smarter operations. Stronger propositions. Better margins. Technology that genuinely adds value. And hospitality fundamentals that must never be lost.

Martie brings the perspective of delivering an ambitious transformation programme across a large complex portfolio - with proven results. Bring your best pen and a spare notebook. See you on 18 November. 

Huge thanks to our Headline Partners: Access Hospitality, Diageo, Fourth, NIQ, Nutritics, Sona and Tevalis; Premium Partners: Discover Network, Enotria, Harri, HeyGuest, TiPJAR, and Uber Eats; Event Partners: Bird & Bird, Brakes, Botivo, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Hawkstone, Krowd, Lucky Saint, Northern Restaurant & Bar, & PayCaptain.

View all News & Insights
Loading
Testimonials

Testimonials

  • "Peach is my favourite industry event."
    Laura Harper-Hinton
    CEO & Founder | Caravan
  • "I come to Peach because the quality of the audience is great."
    Alasdair Murdoch
    CEO | Burger King UK
  • "I’ve never left a Peach event without five or six things I want to bring to our business."
    Tom James
    Managing Director | Bill's
  • "The most interesting information comes out of these type of events rather than inside the boardroom."
    Éadaoin McDonagh
    COO | White Rabbit Projects & MD | Lina Stores
  • "Being recognised by the industry at the Peach 20/20 Hero & Icon Awards is so special."
    Marta Pogroszewska
    NED | Bread Holdings
  • "Winning a Peach 20/20 Hero award means so much to us. We’ve been working towards this for eight and a half years."
    Tas Gaitanos
    Co-founder | Brother Marcus
  • "It’s great being part of the Atlantic Club, meeting some great colleagues from across the U.K. and the U.S., seeing new concepts and sharing ideas."
    Jon Knight
    MD Leisure & Concessions The Restaurant Group
  • “Peach 20/20 is a must-attend event in the hospitality calendar. Informative, thought-provoking and, most importantly, immense fun."
    Alex Reilley
    Co-founder and executive chair of Loungers
  • “Peach 20/20 is a genuinely enjoyable and thought provoking industry event. It’s one that those involved in hospitality really want to go to and treat seriously.”
    Karen Jones CBE
    Icon award winner and industry leader
  • "Peach 20/20 is a brilliant event, with an agenda that always hits the big topics with intelligence and insight - and with top class speakers."
    Nisha Katona MBE,
    founder and CEO of Mowgli Street Food