Jessica Southworth and an unexpected TEDx partnership

Jessica Southworth 0:00

So we concentrate on how people leave us and how they feel and feel like TEDx does exactly the same. So again, we talk about alignment and it's like if we can do that and leave them children better than again, maybe how how we found them, then that's all we want to do. It was somebody in the room but anonymously donated a hundred and twenty-five K. If if hotel football would never have supported us at a cost price to put on a dinner, that person would never have been in the room. He also didn't anticipate that many people. Like when I say people were queuing out the door around the stadium.

Simran Whitham 0:35

What makes Manchester so special to you to you and I suppose as a brand as well? But for you personally, what makes it so special? It doesn't have to be one answer, it does have to be one thing. Okay, so it has to be

Title 0:48

This is the TEDx Northern Quarter Podcast.

Simran Whitham 0:50

Jessica. Hello. Welcome to the official TEDx Northern Quarter podcast, TEDx and Talks.

Jessica Southworth 0:55

I feel very special right now.

Simran Whitham 0:57

You are very special. Do you know why? Because you're a very special partner of 2026's conference, Hotel Football. Thank you for being here today.

Jessica Southworth 1:04

No, thank you. Do you know what? When we first started to speak, you know, when something really resonates, and I'm like, we need in. I don't know how we're gonna do it, but we do it.

Simran Whitham 1:14

So I have to give a huge shout out to Matty White, who actually recommended me to you because I was like, Matty, like who's a good hospitality brand recommend? You went, I know, just the person. And funnily enough, you'd actually liked the video of him saying he was gonna be hosting. So I was like, that's fake, that's alignment.

Jessica Southworth 1:28

Yeah, 100%. And yes, anyone that I know would say that that was meant to be. So thanks, Manny.

Simran Whitham 1:33

Love that big shout out to Manny, who's actually in here after you, funnily enough. But I want to talk about hotel football. You have joined us as an amazing partner, but had you ever heard of TED Talks before I approached you?

Jessica Southworth 1:46

Yes. So probably now, about six, seven years ago, I went to my very first kind of travel conference. Didn't know anyone, there was hundreds of people there, and I remember one woman, she did a TEDx style talk, um, and she was incredible. I'd never seen anything or heard anything like it, and it was basically just for this travel conference, but then that led me on then to look at exactly what it entailed. So, yeah, for years I've got a few of my faves, like a few, a few of my faves, um especially from industry and things where you've seen people do it, and it's it's a bit of a not even a guilty pleasure. I just love it because you learn so much and it's just different perspective. So, yeah, I'm excited.

Simran Whitham 2:28

I'm really excited to work with you as well because you've been honest, I've worked with so many hotels over the years across multiple different events, and you have been genuinely, and I'm gonna go on camera saying this, one of if not the best hotel partner just because of your approach, just how lovely you are as a person as well. You and Emily have just been absolutely lovely. But just the fact of how proud of Manchester we seem to both be like we love this city because it is the best city in the world, as people as people in LinkedIn are sick of me saying, but I feel like this is the year of Manchester, which I'm actually going to talk about in my opening keynote speech.

Jessica Southworth 3:01

Love that.

Simran Whitham 3:02

I'm gonna say this was Manchester's year, and I could not have thought of a better hotel than someone who is not only proudly mank, but when people see about Manchester abroad, as I'm sure you probably've been abroad, they all say, Oh, Manchester United, Manchester City.

Jessica Southworth 3:15

Literally, it's the first

More than a hotel: values, authenticity and community

Jessica Southworth 3:16

thing you get asked.

Simran Whitham 3:16

First thing you get asked, and you are one of probably one of the most prominent hospitality venues, not just a hotel, but also club, like football players that you have there, was founded by football players in particular. Your brand that you've built across Manchester is so strong, and how do you feel like for hotel football? What made you want to get involved with a TED conference?

Jessica Southworth 3:38

So for us, I think definitely how it it just feels like both align really well. So I feel like for for everybody that goes onto a TEDx, they are unapologetically themselves. They've they want to speak about something they believe in, um, and it's fine if people want to agree or disagree, etc. And it's like with hotel football, we're exactly like that. We're not for everyone. However, we're deeply rooted in the city, the community, and we do what we believe is right, and at the end of the day, it's more than just a hotel. So we concentrate on how people leave us and how they feel, and feel like TEDx does exactly the same. So, again, we talk about alignment, but it's where values like that come into play. We just felt it was it was a good fit, it was the right fit.

Simran Whitham 4:26

And for people that might not know what I don't know how you wouldn't know who hotel football are at this point with the amount of social concept. How would you what would you if you had to give the sales pitch or the elevator pitch for what hotel football is in Manchester, how would you describe it like who who are hotel football?

Jessica Southworth 4:43

We are so values, inviting, surprising, playful. So we're everything that you'd expect from a four-star hotel, service, quality of food, um in terms of the interior, etc. Yes, it's a bit quirky, it's a bit playful. However, we try and take the edge off being too overly corporate. Everybody should feel like the Rivie IP. Um everyone should feel that they've taken something away or they have an experience, and we we talk, we we've talked briefly about kind of our IP, um maybe what we stand for, how important we are, but it is essentially everyone is there on a different part of their journey, and especially when you mention football, football brings people together, and we believe that we're at the heart of that. So although we sit across one stadium, we have fans from any team, believe it or not, and because we are hotel football, it is we've essentially built this community of people. Um, I think when you look at match day, for me, it's probably one of my favourite days, it's one of my favourite days of the week. It's sad when there's not a match day around because we'll have people from far and wide. We'll have people coming for a one-off experience and they've come from um say Australia, etc. You'll have people that repeatedly have come to us for every game for the past 11 years. So I think for us, we're not just a hotel in the city, it is a community and a feeling. Whether people like it or not, people have got some sort of experience within the city, whether they support one team or another. So, yeah, deeply uh rooted in there. But that comes from our owners, yeah. You know, their belief in Manchester, they wanted to give back after they finished playing football, and I believe they've given a great deal back to the city just with that one building.

Simran Whitham 6:33

Oh, absolutely. I mean it ties quite nicely into what I wanted to chat about, which it lives in the shadow of one of the most iconic stadiums in the whole of Manchester. And I just we all know that Manchester, to me, anyway, I know I say it's the greatest city in the world, but with Manchester, it's got this very special community spirit that you don't find in places like London, Bristol, Edinburgh. And I feel like when I walked through there, one just your staff have been incredible. I can tell you embrace community, but also the fact that even your social media, like I can tell that you just celebrate Manke Union football and you've created what feels like a community culture for people that just are football infuses. That obviously you touched upon that, you know, if you're not interested in football, then it might not be for your taste. Yeah, and that's but that's fair. But what you've built for that particular industry is so beautiful, and like you're very well known in the hospitality sector of Manchester as well. Uh actually quite surprised. I'm quite well connected in hospitality, and then people have been like, Do you know Jess? Jessica, I'm like, Yeah, like you get around, don't you, Jessica? Everyone, everyone knows you in the hospitality sector of Manchester.

Jessica Southworth 7:31

Just block me, that's fine. Junky.

Giving £10,000 away instead of throwing a party

Jessica Southworth 7:34

Um, I think you you mentioned it there with community. I think we're all about collaboration. So, again, if you look through social media, there was a period of time where we took it from being salesy into community, and we've had a better response with our content and how we portray ourselves because we've just been who we are. I think there was a time when we were a little bit more polished, a bit more reserved, and we were worried about maybe how a wider audience would take us. But actually, when we just all started being ourselves individually, the personality comes through, and I feel like we've connected with people a lot a lot more. Um which for me, for me, you know, I mean anyone will tell you collaboration over competition any day of the week. So, again, partnering with like you know, an organization like yourselves for us, if we can do something that leaves the city better than we found it, we will do that. Um one thing we probably don't do a lot of is talk about um maybe community impact. So little things to tell you, snippets about our team. I know you said the embrace community. Last year we turned 10 and we were given an up, we were given basically a a figure, and we could do team celebration, um, any sort of activity, what what it was that we were gonna do with this money, and everyone decided that we wanted to do a competition for someone to nominate a charity. Um, so this this pot of money was like £10,000 because we were turning 10, and our team decided that's exactly what we were gonna do. We were gonna give it back to someone that needed it. So, again, you know, we had people nominating different charities for different reasons, and in the end, again, alignment. We ended up with uh an organisation called Mate Life Kind, helps young people across the Northwest. They received this gift from the hotel, and it was only a few months later they actually disclosed that they were ready to close and they were ready to give up, and then they'd received this injection, which has helped us deliver a programme um for the past 12 months. It's just finished last week. Um, it's helped us deliver a programme to young people about confidence, you know, um how you present yourself, maybe an interview, uh you know, not trying to get yourself involved in the wrong crowd. So it's allowed them to do this series of events um in some of the most vulnerable parts of Manchester. And it's like if we can do that and leave them children better than again, maybe how how we found them, then that's all we want to do. And we'll continue that.

Simran Whitham 10:04

I absolutely love that because this is one of the great things about hospitality events and what they'd really do with community impact is when you think of a hotel or you think of a music venue or any venue, you don't think about all the other stuff that they do on the site, you just see the venue. But your success as a business as a venue is allowed you to go and do other things as well, and it goes back into community impact, and that is that I didn't even know that that's absolutely fantastic.

Jessica Southworth 10:27

I think since the hotels opened, it'll be a little bit more now, but we've done just over a quarter of a million pounds to local charities, so that's anything from um local council to help with playgrounds. We went out and did a street talk bus. Um, me and my general manager a few years back went out and we paid for this bus for the council to use in sale and trafford, and it goes out into parks Friday night, people are up to no good, etc. And it just brings people in. Sometimes these children don't eat, but they can get a meal on the bus. Um, maybe they learn something because they're not necessarily engaged in school, but they'll learn maybe some sort of topic on that bus as well. So loads of different projects. Um, we'll also throw it out to the team and see if this is something that's important to them. So for three years, the hotel actually supported me and my sister personally. So we were ambassadors for a charity called Nakoa. Um so it was children of alcoholics, and the hotel again gifted things at cost to help us put on a charity gala that this charity had never done. And it's just that this is just what we're all about.

Simran Whitham 11:32

So it's that's so interesting because I've noticed with your hotel and took it, you seem very charitable, like with like working with collaborations. Like when we came to you of our packages, and you said we want to do this, we want to do that. It was literally infectious energy, and then me and Andy sat down, I was like, I'm sure they're doing way more than what's in that package, like when you add up everything, but you like it doesn't matter to me because we see that impact of working with people.

Jessica Southworth 11:56

Yeah, imagine how many platforms you're giving to people.

Simran Whitham 11:58

Well, that's what we founded this podcast for. So the reason I founded TEDx Northern Quarter with Andy is that for me, what really upsets me is we walk past people every single day in the street, every single day, and it's so easy to be the main character of your own story. But when you actually look around, like you're literally walking past people like you who are do leading those initiatives at hotel football that changed lives. You're walking past police officers that might be helping young people or stopping violent knife crime, you're walking past engineers that are working on technology that you use every day. One of the speakers we have for this year is a rocket scientist that literally helped develop the satellite technology that you use for Uber Eats.

Jessica Southworth 12:35

I saw that and I'm really excited.

Simran Whitham 12:37

But you don't think about that. He's got I think he's got like 21 Instagram followers, but you wouldn't think it looking at him. And these are the people you walk past

NACOA, family and what one opportunity can change

Simran Whitham 12:44

every day. And I think people get so focused on just the product or the brand, but they don't think about all the other stuff that that brand does. Yeah, they have a service of you, your service is that you are a hotel. Yeah. But then you don't think about that stuff that they're doing. It's so good that you were you a recipient of the charity, or do you say that you were an ambassador that got brought into the charity?

Jessica Southworth 13:03

So we were ambassadors, um, so very long story short, our dad passed away a few years ago and he was an alcoholic, he'd been an alcoholic all his life. Fine, but we decided we wanted to give back because um actually in the UK, one in five children have either one or two parents that are dependent on alcohol. So it's a charity that is not for profit. We happened to get involved, and at the time they'd never done anything big scale, so no gala dinner without needing money up front to do it. People would volunteer to do it, but they demand maybe you know a pot of five, ten K. And it's like it's not feasible for a charity that doesn't that doesn't actually turn a profit. Um so we'd I'd literally said to my general manager at the time, I really want to do something. What is it we can do? So when we started the Nakoa Northern Gala 2023, no, 2022, 23 was the first one. We did three years um with the help of the hotel. We were able to do tickets at a lower cost just to get people in and get the charity visible. Um, and actually in the second year, an anonymous um it was somebody in the room but anonymously donated 125k to this charity that cake that keeps them open for five years. And that was somebody in the room that bought a ticket, but if we'd never have if if hotel football would never have supported us at a cost price to put on a dinner, that person would never have been in the room and that charity wouldn't have had that. So it again it's all and it's all it all aligns at the right time, doesn't it?

Simran Whitham 14:38

And it all starts from an idea.

Jessica Southworth 14:40

Yeah.

Simran Whitham 14:41

So this journal, which will be important to you at the end of the podcast, the opening quote in it is that words and ideas can change the world, and it's by Robin Williams in a film called The Dead Poet Society. And most people don't think that when all these great things happen, it comes from someone having an idea. Like yours. Not that I'm saying you're taking all the credit, but if you and your sister hadn't been ambassadors and had that idea at the time, that charity might not be open today, five years ago.

Jessica Southworth 15:04

Everything compounds, doesn't it? Yeah, like it's one thing isn't just from one action, it's like multiple conversations or interactions. Who knows what we might be doing next year because of something that started now. So yeah,

Giving something back to Manchester

Jessica Southworth 15:15

yeah.

Simran Whitham 15:15

I mean, I feel like we've already started. So I will c I will come on to it, but I I know our speakers are looking forward to it on the on the 10th. But for me, I wanted to ask you because we've talked about community a lot and Manchester for you. Your founders, extremely fantastic, successful footballers, they could have done anything. Yeah, like they could have done it like very well for guys, could have done anything they wanted to do. Why did they choose to build a hotel like in Manchester and a football like did they build the stadium as well? Was that the was the stadium already there and they built the hotel?

Jessica Southworth 15:46

Yeah, so the stadium was already there. Yeah, um, they decided to do what they did because they they wanted to give back to a city that had supported them for so long, all their lives. So they played in that stadium. Um, pretty much all of them stayed in in the club throughout the whole duration of their careers. Um and when they retired, they just made a decision that they wanted to give back, and obviously, as close as to the stadium as you could possibly get, they just happened to be a bit of a slither of land. Um, so the person that owned the land at the time just made an agreement, and they're still part of the action at the hotel to this day. So even though they sold the land um to the guys, um, you still see the owner of the land around on match day, he still gets involved. Um, he still likes the buzz of match day and everything else, um, and he's still really supportive. Um, and then he he does actually do a podcast from the hotel actually every so often during during the season. Um, but he but everyone has stayed very well connected, but essentially they just wanted to give back to a city that they love. Um, I mean moving on from hotel football, we do have the stock exchange as well, and again, only in Manchester. And again, it's just because this the guys are so passionate about Manchester, so it's just it's just love of the city that supported boys throughout our career.

Simran Whitham 17:05

I mean, I feel like this line leads very nicely into what I want to chat about. But for you, we're both Mancunians. I can hear it. Where in Manchester are you from? What part I'm trying to pick are you are you from Salford? No, are you from Thameside?

Jessica Southworth 17:18

Yeah.

Simran Whitham 17:18

Are you? Are you actually? Yeah. Are you from Ashn or Duckingfield?

Jessica Southworth 17:22

Drawsden.

Simran Whitham 17:23

All right, Draws. So I'm from Ducker.

Jessica Southworth 17:24

Oh yeah?

Simran Whitham 17:25

Yeah, so I'm from Duckingfield.

Jessica Southworth 17:26

So I met someone else last week and he was like, oh, you were from Denton.

Simran Whitham 17:30

Yeah.

Jessica Southworth 17:30

And I'm like, hey, it's Manchester, aren't you?

Simran Whitham 17:32

No, I can tell in you'd the A, A, you said A. Yeah, A. We said we say that until like A.

Jessica Southworth 17:37

My mum grew up in Staley Bridge. Staley V. So every now and again I'll say a few like on my coat.

Simran Whitham 17:42

Every now and again she says something, I'm like, Come on, mum, you've been in Manchester now for you can't hear it as much because my missus is from Yorkshire, so my accent has changed since we've been together, but I used to have a proper mank, like mank accent.

Jessica Southworth 17:53

See, I do feel like as you get older it does r refine a little bit, but then I worked in Liverpool for about five years, honestly. I would get to work on a Monday, sound really mank. By the time I got to Friday, my husband would be like, You're doing that twang again, stop it.

Simran Whitham 18:08

Yeah.

Jessica Southworth 18:09

And I would have this like e thing. The reason is a bit bizarre.

Simran Whitham 18:12

Were you doing the ree, the ree?

Jessica Southworth 18:14

Yeah, it was hard.

Simran Whitham 18:15

Yeah.

Jessica Southworth 18:16

Anyway.

What makes Manchester so special?

Jessica Southworth 18:17

Simran Whitham 18:17

Yeah. But what m I've got to ask you, because I love talking to Mankeans about this. We are a special city. This is the I mean 2026 is literally the year of Manchester, I'm thinking, but what makes Manchester so special to you to you, and I suppose as a brand as well, but for you personally, what makes it so special? It doesn't have to be one answer, it does have to be one thing.

Jessica Southworth 18:37

Okay, so it has to be the people. I feel like it doesn't matter what anybody is up against, there is always someone that is willing to help. Um, so not necessarily just being friendly, you'll go to some cities, not gonna um, you know, I'm not gonna bad mouth any other city, but you'll go to some cities and anything could be happening, and people just don't acknowledge anybody around them. Whereas I feel here, you always know someone that can help, support, guide. It doesn't matter what happens to the city. We all know things have happened over past years that haven't been great, and everybody clubs together when it's needed. I feel like here somebody could just have, you know, the shirt on the back, they might see somebody else needing it, and they will happily help and support where they can and give that give that shirt over. So I feel like definitely the people I think we're resilient and I think we know how great we are. We know, but it's almost like we're not cocky, we're just we're just pretty confident in in what we do as a city, how we collab, um how we have grown, you know. Definitely the past 10-15 years, this city has elevated itself so much. Very, but I think we're still very I feel I think we're still quite a humble city at the same time as well. So I feel like we have the balance right. So yeah, I don't know. I've never moved because I wouldn't want to move.

Simran Whitham 19:56

I don't ever want to move either. The most I think the furthest I would ever do is like a countryside element on the outskirts of Manchester, but I I don't ever want to leave. This city is so special. So and I've watched it, and you how old are you, Jesse? Do you not mind?

Jessica Southworth 20:09

37.

Simran Whitham 20:09

Right, 37. So I'm 31 in a week. And we'll have watched I'm so old. It's so it's changed. I remember going into Manchester when I was like 14, 15 years. It was like, I'm going to town without my mum. Um it's amazing.

Jessica Southworth 20:22

How exciting was that, by the way? Let's get yourself in Afflex Palace.

Simran Whitham 20:25

I know. It's great. Afflex. Oh, the hidden gem. Afflex Palace. Oh, the hidden gem. Is hotel football a hidden gem, Jess? Is it a hidden gem?

Jessica Southworth 20:33

Oh do you know what? I think it is because some people still don't know where they're, even though you can't miss it.

Simran Whitham 20:40

Sorry, I'm just that. I think I think if I had to say one thing about my city, is that we need to get rid of this hidden gem epidemic that we've currently got. Afflex Palace is a hidden gem, mate. It's been there forever.

Jessica Southworth 20:50

It's been there for ages.

Simran Whitham 20:51

Yeah.

Jessica Southworth 20:51

I played right into that, didn't I? Yeah.

Simran Whitham 20:54

Oh well, you didn't actually see this. Um the original video that we did for you started off with me taking the mick of hidden gem culture. So when I said come to it was literally come with me to this hidden gem, I was like, please don't post that, please. I was like, I can't, I can't cope with the cringe. I just can't.

Jessica Southworth 21:09

But you do look at it sometimes and you're like, who has done that? Because if you lived in this city, you know it's a staple. It's the southerners, it's the southerners.

Simran Whitham 21:18

We can say that, we can say that, it's fine. But I'm I'm very simple for me, it's always the people. Like I love this city. Like I grew up here, and I've never ever been to I've been all over the world, been to nearly 40 countries, and I've never been to a city that just has community. And the way I describe it is that you can literally just be in different communities in the span of 10 minutes. You're in Northern Quarter, which is alternative, and then within two seconds, you're in your high street bars in Deansgate, and then within another few minutes you're in Posh bit of spinning fields. Um but everyone's just so intertwined. There is something for everyone, but it's all just so intertwined. And again, I believe you'll understand as you work in the hospitality sector. I've been to events in London, I've been to events in Edinburgh. Everyone's so friendly. When you go to see these events, you can just walk up to anyone. And I think we know that because we like, yeah, we embrace everybody here in Manchester. And I think that's why we're so proud of it.

Jessica Southworth 22:09

It is. It's like it's like being back at school, and it's you'd be like, oh, if you see someone on the room, go over and say hi. I feel like we're all still like that as adults. Yeah. Like you see something, like you say, you go to an event, you see someone lurking in the corner, they're a bit unsure, and it's like, oh, hey, do you want to join us? I feel like we're good at doing that.

Simran Whitham 22:24

As a man, you'll probably appreciate. So I've got a half-brother, and he'd never been to Manchester his entire life until like five years ago. His first night out with us together because we were it's long sorry, but we never knew each other existed for long portions of our lives. Our first ever night out was Manchester. I took him into Blue's Kitchen, Albert Schloss, and he was like, Man, he's a vibe. Like, and and he's a proper light, he's like proper like geezer, like geezer geezer. And he was walking through Manchester, he was like, mate, these people are bear friendly. Like just coming up to you, like everyone's saying hi to him. And he was like, I'm not used to this. Like everyone's like saying hi to me. And he was like, I can just talk to people. I was like, Yeah, we just do different things differently.

Jessica Southworth 23:05

Literally, yeah, literally that. I love it.

Creating experiences people remember

Jessica Southworth 23:07

Yeah, I love it.

Simran Whitham 23:07

And I see that so often, like, people are like, Manchester's such a friendly city, and I think that's what works so well with us. I think because we as Manchester brands have aligned so well to make this happen. Like, I'm I'm so excited for the tent for this gar the speaker garla, it's really nice, this football match. Like, I've always wanted to do a speaker activity, and the football match seems perfectly, but that ties me nicely to you is that we are hosting the first ever speaker dinner gar is it gonna be a garla or is it more like a sort of I don't know how to label it but really sexy dinner, yeah. And I'm looking forward to it. Overlooking the old Trafford, and it's gonna be it's gonna be bougie, I think, and having all the speakers and all the guests together, and we've never worked with a partner to do this much as well, and it feels like you've really helped us elevate the TEDx Northern Quad brand even further. We we've got a very good reputation because our coaching programme and getting our speakers ready for when they do it is great, but now you've really helped us take that experience for the speakers and the brands to a whole new level. Like they're all like, Oh wow, we get a big like dinner the night before, and we get to like a football match. I was like, Yeah, have you seen the suite that we're doing the rehearsals in as well? I was like, and they're like that's the secret one.

Jessica Southworth 24:14

There's a hidden gem. Yeah, that is the hidden gem. There you go.

Simran Whitham 24:16

We'll do that in the content. Come with us to this actual hidden gem.

Jessica Southworth 24:20

I love that. Yeah, no, I'm glad you say that because I think again, even where our guests are day to day checking in, we're always about that. Like, how can how can we make that experience different? So, even this is something we really wanted to do and get involved in, but the message is still the same. It's like actually, we want to be involved with this, but you know what? What else can we do? How not necessarily leaving your mark, but again, somebody's gonna take away a memory, or something might happen in that space, and they'll remember where they were however long down the line. And I feel like even just with our day-to-day guests, that's what we try to do.

Simran Whitham 24:58

It's very interesting you've said this because I had a question that I actually wanted to ask you on this. Okay. In your career at hotel football, what's been the most memorable memory that you've had, where it's been a guest or an impact or an event you've had? Like for you, when people say what's the highlight of your career at hotel football? Like, what's like been the one sort of memory that you'd say that you've done there?

Dave, a rooftop and a thousand people

Simran Whitham 25:19

Jessica Southworth 25:19

Okay, so if my general manager is listening to this, and I'm gonna really apologise because I know we don't see eye to eye with this one, however, I do like Sam Tan Dave, and he is a big United fan. And a few years back we had arranged for him to come and do his album launch up on the rooftop in Heaven, so where you'll all be playing football. Oh yeah. And he brought his keyboard and he did a private setup there. It was amazing. I was in my element. Probably too many people tried to arrive. It did end up being a little bit chaotic on the ground floor, which again, our team had to deal with quite a bit of stress for that. So, but for me as Jess, up on that rooftop, I had no idea what was going on downstairs. All I knew is I'm sat there, he's launching his album, currently breaking all the streaming records, and he sat on the rooftop in hotel football. And I was like, this is epic. I was like, That's it, I've made it. Then when I realised the chaos downstairs, I was like, Okay, if this is the last thing I ever do, at least he was good. Yeah, at least Dave remembers that. Yeah. Um, so that was that was a really good one because I thought for him, he also didn't anticipate that many people. Like when I say people were queuing out the door around the stadium. Like me and one of his friends went out and videoed the amount of people there, and he just did not expect it.

Simran Whitham 26:39

Was this a free-ticket event or something? Or did it just show up?

Jessica Southworth 26:41

And all he did was say he was in Manchester, he did a post from the rooftop, didn't even tag us. I was a little bit annoyed at the time, thanks, Dave. Um, didn't even tag us, but people recognised that window and the view and came from everywhere within the space of like an hour. There were like at least a thousand people waiting for him, and he'd never seen that. So, again, that was something he didn't expect, and you know that that will sit as a memory. I mean, since then we I have actually stayed in touch with his team, which has been quite cool. Um, and he had asked to come back for his launch last year, and I was like, hey, to my GM. I was like, I know it's gonna be a no, but if I didn't ask, it wouldn't sit right, and he was like, probably not. It's like I think you need somewhere bigger, so which they did that they changed the location and used like a bigger arena, which is probably more suited. But yeah, at the time that was that was amazing, it was just after lockdown. Um, it had been quite a lonely hotel during that time. Um, so yeah, no, that was a that was a good one to bounce back because that'll definitely always stick up there for me. Definitely. Oh but yeah, that sounds incredible, especially when you're a bit of a fan. Oh yeah. Football's football, but Dave's Dave. My colleague actually left the other day and she's got she got me a mug and it literally says, I love Dave.

Simran Whitham 27:57

I have that though. I did an event years ago where I got to meet like one of my favourite music and he performed at one of my events. And to see him on stage at my event that I organised, and there was a queue of fans wanting to meet him. I joined the queue of fans, and I'm running the event, so I joined the queue, and people were like, Wait, isn't that the CEO of the company? I'm like, Yeah, I'm a fan mate, and I was like, I've got stuff that I need signing. And people everyone's like, you know, you can just cut to the front of the queue. I'm I wouldn't do that, I'm not a fan, but it's those little moments when you work in hospitality events, and you're just like it's a bit surreal, isn't it?

Jessica Southworth 28:25

Yeah, like there you expect to see people related to football, our sport, but I didn't expect that. So yeah, it's good. Like it.

Simran Whitham 28:33

I'm looking forward to seeing our speakers in the space as well.

Jessica Southworth 28:37

Yeah, we've got it's a good group of speakers. I'm I'm looking forward to it.

Simran Whitham 28:41

You've tied nicely. Who who are you looking most forward to? Is it all right? I won't make you pick a specific one then, and I won't let you pay favourites, but is there three sort of like three speakers who if you've done any research that you're kind of looking forward to, or is there any that you're sort of excited for?

Jessica Southworth 28:56

Do you know what? I've for a number of years I have followed Jay Skye. We do say Jay Sky, don't we?

Simran Whitham 29:04

Yeah, Jay Sky, yeah.

Jessica Southworth 29:04

Yeah. So I'm actually I'm really intrigued to see him like just in the flesh in person. Because I feel like there's been opportunities in the past and maybe paths might have crossed, but I've never actually got to meet him. So I'm actually quite intrigued because I feel like he's quite a cool individual. Um again, do you know what someone else I'll always um I'll always kind of advocate for? Scott Thomas. And again, he's been a supporter of the hotel before now. Um so he did some of his events upon the rooftop again, just to get people into hotel football. So again, reciprocated. Um so I am I am actually looking forward to seeing these two, to be honest, at the minute. But I'm really looking forward to getting to know everybody on the night before. Because I feel like then I'll be like, I just I can't move all day. I'm gonna have to just sit there all day and not move, watch everybody.

Simran Whitham 29:51

It's gonna be incredible. I'm looking forward to it because it's so the camaraderie is gonna be so high. Like we did the speakers dinner last year, we took over Mowgli's and the staff blessed them, they weren't prepared for it. No, no, in a good way, like they were wholesome. The staff were getting in pictures with everyone, and they were there. Like I don't think they realize because you've seen some of the people we have speak, they've got millions of followers. Yeah, I remember we all walked into Mowgli's with some people who got millions, and the staff were like, Wait, that's and you can you know you can see them all whispering at the back and they're like, Yeah, wait, isn't that thing yeah?

Jessica Southworth 30:17

Like to put yourself in their shoes, that's such it's such an exciting feeling. And I mean, our guys, our guys will be the same.

Simran Whitham 30:23

Oh, yeah, and they can come have pictures and everything, it's fine. Like, we're gonna it's gonna be fun. There's gonna be some big speeches as well. I'm gonna be doing a big speech with them all, like rallying them. It's I'm looking so forward to it, and honestly, it feels so aligned because for me with Manchester, I wanted Matty White as the host, I wanted Matty White, I wanted to work with a Manchester Hotel as the partner because for me, this just it has to be for Manchester because we even chose the name from the fact for you. It was a choice between Northern Quarter and Deansgate. They offered us TEDx Northern Quarter, TEDx Deansgate. I was like, it's Northern Quarter every day, every day. My favourite bit of the city, Northern Quarter. I just want Manchester brands to come together because as we've highlighted, with the city has changed a lot. Like we are called the second London, even though I don't like that because we're not London, we've got our own individuality. But I think in some ways we're better than London, I really do think so, and I think it's because we have these we come together so much. Yeah, they have the finance, but we've got

Collaboration over competition

Simran Whitham 31:17

the community.

Jessica Southworth 31:17

Yeah, uh you're right, and where you said before about the different the different areas of the city, but actually they all link, they're all like imagine loads of little like Venn diagrams, that's all I can think about. Like this, I've got little swirls going on in my head. In London, you could be ten minutes away from somewhere else, and it's completely different. The feeling is totally different, but not always in the best way. So, yeah, yeah, Manchester's got it.

Simran Whitham 31:44

It has indeed. So, Jess. I've got to ask though. Yes for TEDx, what is it ultimately that you are the most excited for? Obviously, it's a TED conference for Manchester. Got some amazing speakers, both from Manchester and outside of Manchester. But for you as a brand with hotel, we talked about what in that community collaboration, but is there anything in particular that drew you towards the TED brand in particular? How does it feel for hotel football to be working with the biggest conference platform in the world?

Jessica Southworth 32:18

So a few years back we did a bit of um an activity, and it was basically if you were to name the hotel a football player, who would it be? And everyone said different names. And I remember at the time saying hang on, Schreinsteiger, or maybe a Balotelli, potentially, but at the time I said Schreinsteiger, and I was like, literally because he is who he is, there's no wavering, doesn't matter. Um, but he he's part of the team, plays for the team, etc., does well. So I think we are excited because TEDx does exactly this. Everybody on there is exactly who they are, there's no wavering from who they are, but actually they're there to collaborate and elevate each other as well, and we're that's exactly who Whole Tower Football is. Um, whether it's our team, whether it's our guests, etc., um, or like you say, the community, we we're exactly that. So I'm I'm ex I'm excited to have had the opportunity to to partner, but then on the day just seeing it to come together, because again, no one will realise what has gone on behind the scenes, like what you know you and Andy have had to do to pull together. No one sees that, but actually seeing an absolutely polished production in the end, it's gonna be exciting knowing that all of the work that's happened in the background, and you're gonna enjoy it.

Simran Whitham 33:39

I'm gonna tell you, when you and your team sit in that crowd, I can't wait. Like we've got Kate Green there, got a gospel choir farming for you. It's gonna be dare I say, in ten years of events, this is the one of the ones I'm looking most forward to. I say this every year, but I'm looking forward to it. It's gonna be great.

Jessica Southworth 33:54

It just means you'll want to do another one, doesn't it?

Simran Whitham 33:56

Oh yeah, and we'd love to work with you again in the future. If you have us back, that is.

Jessica Southworth 34:00

Absolutely.

Simran Whitham 34:00

Don't worry, and I apologize if if I try if if we eat too much food on the 10th.

Jessica Southworth 34:05

Oh no, don't worry, we're all about the food.

Simran Whitham 34:07

Oh yeah. Manchester's got some of the best. But on that note, Jess, we're coming to the end. Now we have a tradition on this podcast. I mentioned this earlier before. This is the famous TEDx Red Journal.

Jessica Southworth 34:18

Now I feel special.

Simran Whitham 34:19

You are special because you get to have this. So, what we do is with everyone who comes on this, whether they're a speaker, a sponsor, or a partner, yeah, is that I said earlier before that we believe every single person has an idea worth sharing. So we ask everyone who's come on this to put an idea, a question, or a thought they would like the next guest to answer. So, a question that has been left for you to answer by one of our 2026 guests. You'll get to ask your own, you'll get to write your own question for the next person. Okay. But I might need Stefan's help with this one as well, because I know you understood it quite intensely as well, didn't you, Jess? Very open. It was a very open question. Oh my god, the or the question that has been left for you to answer is from one of our 2026 speakers, Jess Nix, who is the creator of a neurolinguistic programming methodology which is called D Bitch Your Brain. Phenomenal speaker. Now, so what are you currently? The question she's quite open-ended, so I'll need to explain this. And Jess, if you listen to this, I hope I do this justice on your explanation. She's asked you the question of what are you making it mean? And what that means is what else could it mean? So, what are you doing? Something which could be a long-term goal, a day-to-day activity, or something that's important to you right now, and what are you actively doing to make that thing mean something?

Leave people better than you found them

Simran Whitham 35:45

Jessica Southworth 35:45

Okay, so this has probably been ongoing and will continue to be ongoing. So, similar to how we talked about with the brand itself, the the there's a reason why I why I wanted to be at Hotel Football, I always try and leave people better than I found them. So, um a couple of days ago, one of my colleagues has left for Pastors New. It's an amazing opportunity. This person I've worked with for eight years. Every time I get an opportunity to say someone's name in a different space where I think it might benefit them, I do that repetitively. I have other friends that will do the same. Um, this has been like maybe a long time, a long time coming, but just trying to build people up, you know. I think conversations that I'll have, you can do that. Why can't you see yourself there? So I do actively do this in my day-to-day in my work. However, probably the biggest, the biggest moment is actually with my daughter. So she's 20 now, so I was like 17 when I had saffron. And to see her go in and doing freelancing, and we sat at a conference the other week with one of my one of my friends was doing um a bit of a panel talk, and it was the full circle moment where I knew everything up to this point. I'm obviously doing it okay, because all of a sudden I hear this voice start to speak and do this 60-second pitch about what they were doing, and I'm like, that's saffron. She wasn't anywhere near me, she was sat at the back of the room with her friends, and this is a person that five, six years ago wouldn't come out of a bedroom, wouldn't speak to anybody, couldn't speak without stuttering when she did. And I'm like, that is continually talking people up, telling it to go for opportunities, and I'll do that personally, but also in a work position as well. And that if if I see someone that's able to blossom, whether it's Saffron, whether it's whoever, whether it's you, if I can do that, then I know that it does have meaning, um, and it's more important than maybe anything that I can do for myself. So yeah, that'll continue. It's a day it's a daily thing. And if I if I spot anything that I think will benefit someone, you have to tell them. Does that answer it?

Simran Whitham 38:02

That does. I think I think Jess is gonna be very happy with that answer.

Jessica Southworth 38:06

I mean, I hope so.

Simran Whitham 38:07

Oh, she will, she'll love that. And you'll get to meet her as well. She's gonna come up to you on September 10th for like your answer.

Jessica Southworth 38:13

Yeah, Jess, if it's no good, then I won't have dessert. You can have my dessert.

Simran Whitham 38:18

What is for dessert? I am US. Oh, is it a cheeky sticky toffee pudding? Yeah, come on. That's my favourite. Okay. That's one of my favourites.

Jessica Southworth 38:24

Yeah, you can have that then.

Simran Whitham 38:25

Okay. Thank you, Jess, for joining us for TEDx & Talks Podcast. Thank you for support for you and hotel football. And we're really, really excited for this September.

Jessica Southworth 38:36

Thank you for having us. We can't wait.