About
Run by an operator, for operators.
The Foundry is a UK hospitality creative agency built on almost two decades inside the industry — not looking in from the sidelines. Creative delivery is the product; commercial judgement is what shapes it.
Jack Hardy, founder
Founder Jack Hardy worked from the floor up before bootstrapping a single independent venue into a four-site hospitality group. He remains an active hospitality operator today.
That means creative decisions are tested against what guests respond to, what teams can deliver and what makes commercial sense. Artwork has to hold up across real venue formats — printed on a menu, mounted at the door and shot on a phone. Campaigns should land in the trading periods that need filling.
Verified operator proof
Starting with one independent venue, Jack built and operated the business without external investment, expanding it into a four-site hospitality group with approximately £2 million in combined annual turnover. The group was grown and exited within a five-year period.
This experience covered concept development, branding, venue launches, marketing, team building, commercial growth and day-to-day operations. It now shapes how The Foundry approaches creative and consultancy work for hospitality businesses. These are Jack's own founder and operator figures, not a Foundry client project.
- Hospitality venues
- 1 → 4 sites
- Annual turnover
- c. £2m
- Growth funded by
- Bootstrapped
- Grown and exited within
- 5 years
Jack Hardy's founder and operator experience: one independent venue built without external investment into a four-site hospitality group with approximately £2 million combined annual turnover, grown and exited within five years. Not a Foundry client project.
How we work
Day-to-day creative delivery stays central. Strategy is included — it is not the product. Each monthly package pairs social media management, design and campaign work with an operator consultancy allowance, so you get the work and someone commercial to talk to about it.
When you ask about pricing, offer, service flow or how to launch a site, the answer comes from someone who has made those calls with a team on the floor. That advice is also available on its own through hospitality consultancy.
Build capability is in-house too: websites and digital products are designed and built by us, as the selected work shows.
Where we work
The Foundry is based in Staffordshire and works with operators across the United Kingdom — independent sites and groups running more than one venue. Coverage is scoped and agreed up front.
Hospitality experience
Experience built across national groups and independent venue brands.
Across his hospitality career, Foundry founder Jack Hardy has worked with brands and groups including REKOM, Revolution Bars, Stonegate Group, Bloom Cocktail Bars, The Deltic Group, Intertain Group and Club LIV.
That experience spans large-scale late-night operations, independent concepts, multi-venue groups and customer-facing hospitality brands. It gives The Foundry a practical understanding of how different operators structure their venues, campaigns, teams and guest experiences.
These organisations form part of Jack Hardy's previous career experience and are not presented as current clients of The Foundry. All trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.
Work with an operator.
Send a short enquiry with your venue and what you need. You'll get a recommended package or a properly scoped project back — not a generic proposal.