mitchells-and-butlers

Mitchells & Butlers

Transcripts mishear this as “Mab”, “map”, “MMB”, “midget and butlers”, “Mitchellson Butler’s” — all map to Mitchells & Butlers (M&B, mbplc.com).

Current truth

• Consultancy phase wrapped 2026-06-12 (wrap-up call: ewa-turney, richard-whitehouse, Elliot). Richard’s verdict: useful, “accelerated thinking”, our OpenAI relationship gave them a feel for what’s happening.
• Engagement model going forward (Richard’s terms): NO open-ended retainer. Framework consultancy agreement between M&B and Ghost Team — rate card + statement-of-work template; each piece of work instructed via a brief SOW. Plus a free bi-monthly sync (our cost of sale) where we share what’s happening in the space and they decide what to instruct.
• The app build is NOT ours: underway with Guestwise (their tech partner) — a group portfolio app alongside branded apps. Target live end of July / beginning of August; Richard impatient, wants to push it — M&B believe they’re the only large hospitality operator building AI apps right now and want first-mover “glory”.
• We owe (elliot-garreffa): (1) full recommendation doc + workshop research materials — committed to send 2026-06-12 (today); (2) framework agreement draft with rate card + SOW template → Ewa and Joe Shaw — drafting next week (by ~2026-06-19); (3) opportunistic: test the water with the Claude/MCP-apps team on a joint-marketing launch (M&B portfolio app + exclusive incentive, e.g. 10% off bookings via Claude).
• They owe: Ewa to align with Richard offline on contract setup and loop in Joe Shaw (contracts). Richard to speak to “Kate” (marketing) about the channel-exclusive launch offer; bookings via the app are attributable (Guestwise can tag source).
• First SOW candidates agreed: (a) web/AI-readiness audit — session with their SEO/search lead (“Jonty”); (b) sense-check of the app once live (NOT inside Guestwise’s dev cycle — Richard explicitly wants their sprint cadence left alone); (c) web-MCP readiness review (which primitives matter before building anything; on roadmap, no rush).
• Discovery angle that landed: app-store optimization ≈ SEO — keywords in app name/description/tool names/tool descriptions drive surfacing. Richard’s instinct: seed the apps with M&B’s proven high-performing search terms (Mother’s Day, Father’s Day) then iterate. Our differentiation vs their existing partner rep.com (Reputation.com, general AI visibility): we do AI app/connector optimization specifically, not AEO.
• Champion/decision-maker: richard-whitehouse (senior, owns engagement model + budget instinct). Day-to-day: ewa-turney.

Open questions

• Names to confirm (Elliot-only call, all uncertain): “Jonty” (their SEO/search-optimization lead), “Joe Shaw” (contracts/legal), “Kerry and Aiden” (apparently the Guestwise build contacts), “Kate” (marketing).
• “Peter expressed… built a sentiment tool” (Richard, on industry peers) — almost certainly PizzaExpress misheard. Confirm.
• “Residara” (Richard: aggregator booking platform that “can’t compete” on exclusive offers) — likely ResDiary. Confirm.
• “Gusto” — Elliot cited it as the only restaurant/hospitality connector live on Claude. Which Gusto (UK restaurant group? something else)? Transcript garbled (“not Ghostwriter obviously”).
• Rate card levels for the framework agreement — to be set before sending; Richard expects to negotiate.
• Was the 06-11 two-app build pricing (£32.5–35k) ever pitched? Build went to Guestwise — pricing model retained as reference (2026-06-app-build-pricing-delivery).
• Status of the second brand app from the 06-11 pricing session — which brand was it?

Timeline

• [2026-06-12] (internal discussion — company-brain call) Both founders recapped the M&B shift as “moving off paid monthly research to a free 30-minute monthly check-in (no prep, just a conversation; deeper work becomes a paid engagement).” Note: the client-facing wrap-up call (same day, below) recorded the cadence as bi-monthly — treat the wrap-up wording as authoritative; reconcile the monthly-vs-bi-monthly cadence when scheduling.
• [2026-06-12] (call — wrap-up session, Ewa Turney + Richard Whitehouse) Consultancy wrapped; Richard positive (“definitely accelerated thinking”). Engagement model set: framework agreement + rate card + SOW template, no retainer; free bi-monthly syncs feed instructed work. Build confirmed underway with Guestwise (group portfolio app + branded apps), live target end July/early Aug (“Kerry and Aiden” timeline) — Richard pushing to be first to market; says industry meetings this week showed no other large operator building apps (peers: “PizzaExpress”(?) sentiment tool with no action; competitor Stonegate doing phone-answering AI). Existing partner rep.com (Reputation.com) does general AI visibility — Ewa’s pain: data hard to action, volatile, personalized. Elliot demoed the discovery platform (Claude category/prompt tracking, 100k+ prompts run, keyword reverse-engineering, recommendations loop) and shared market intel: ChatGPT no-mention app surfacing fully rolled out, multiple apps per prompt; Codex moving under ChatGPT improves tool calling; app store 200→1,500 since early 2026, ~20–30 new apps/day; Claude connector usage exploding, Claude going consumer (AllTrails, Audible), Claude submission wait long (“you basically have to know them” — we can help get them in the door). Launch-marketing idea (Richard): exclusive incentive via Claude channel (e.g. 10% off bookings) as opening gambit, possible joint marketing with the Claude team — Elliot to probe; Richard to talk to “Kate”. Commitments: Elliot sends recommendation doc + workshop materials today, drafts framework agreement + rate card + SOW template for Ewa and Joe Shaw next week; Ewa aligns with Richard offline on contract setup.
• [2026-06-11] (internal working session) Apps proposal priced (see 2026-06-app-build-pricing-delivery): two apps — Toby Carvery venue booking (tools: find nearest venue, venue details, check availability, confirm booking) + a second, more complex brand app (confirmation email, DB writes, multiple APIs) — near-identical architecture, ~21 dev-days, priced £32,500–35,000; additional brand rollouts £6,500 each strictly “no additional development, no changes to booking flow or testing framework”, extras hourly. Claude connector + performance testing kept out of the table as “other services” on favorable terms for committed partners. Elliot’s read going into the 06-12 call: M&B may already have started development (“Guestwise” not on the call invite) — pitch must feel compelling and well-priced. Call set with Ewa + Richard, Elliot only.
• [2026-06-09] (internal discussion) Vincent reviewing Elliot’s M&B proposal.
• [2026-06-08] (internal discussion) Elliot: final M&B deliverable must be done today (“as long as it takes”); apps proposal drafted, to share with Vincent for pricing review. In the quarterly session the same day he referenced writing the M&B proposal explaining agent-readiness priorities.