Stand Out Hospitality recognised among the UK’s best business books from a field of a record-breaking 340 entries
Cassie Davison, author of Stand Out Hospitality and founder of Kith & Kin Hospitality, has been named Highly Commended at the Business Book Awards 2026, one of the UK’s most respected recognitions for business writing.
The Business Book Awards received a record-breaking 340 entries in 2026. Judges said Stand Out Hospitality “was highly commended for its warmth, practicality, and clear understanding of the hospitality sector. The judges particularly valued Cassie’s lived experience and the credibility it brings to the advice, while recognising the book’s strong relevance to hospitality SMEs.”
Drawing on over 25 years as a founder, setting up and running hospitality businesses, including pubs, bars, cafés and restaurants, Davison wrote Stand Out Hospitality to give independent operators a practical framework for building standards, identity, distinctiveness and customer loyalty, without losing the belonging and story that make hospitality businesses matter to the people and places around them.
“I wrote this book from inside the industry, not looking in at it,” said Davison. “Hearing that recognised by the judges means more than I can properly put into words. This is for every operator still figuring it out in real time, exactly like I was.”
Davison’s business earned 3 AA Rosettes, and she has received more than 25 awards for her venues, entrepreneurship and business achievement, including Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year (East Midlands), the Good Food Guide’s Midlands Restaurant of the Year, VisitEngland Highly Commended Pub of the Year, and Niche Magazine’s Business Woman of the Year. She now works as a hospitality SME expert, speaker and consultant, helping both founder-led hospitality businesses and the organisations that serve them understand how these businesses really think, prioritise and change.
