Operational Performance Advisory For Hospitality, Leisure, Events & Membership Businesses
If your venue isn't hitting its numbers, the problem is almost always operational, not marketing. Blackbook Performance works directly with owners and operators to find where you're losing money and fix it. Practical. Hands-on. 30+ years of senior operational experience.
Backed by a formal ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) Lead Auditor accreditation, which most hospitality consultants simply don't have. That's supported by a long list of hospitality venue clients and 52+ audits completed across Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial, Audi, Cupra and Skoda dealerships in NSW and QLD.
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About Blackbook Performance
Mark's career in hospitality spans more than 30 years, beginning in the UK where he developed his operational foundations across some of Britain's most recognised venues. He started at Rank Organisation's Botley Park Hotel and Country Club before moving into high-volume operations with TGI Fridays, where he was certified across bartending, floor service, door hosting and training. He went on to manage bar and restaurant operations across Europe, including Greece and Spain, before taking on assistant general management roles at Batten's in the Channel Islands, a cocktail bar, brasserie and fine dining restaurant whose General Manager was awarded a double Booker Prize for Excellence, for both Best Bar and Best Restaurant, presented at the Dorchester Hotel, London, by celebrated food writer and broadcaster Loyd Grossman. He then held a similar role at the Capital Radio venue in London's Leicester Square, a high-profile themed restaurant, bar and nightclub in one of the city's most competitive entertainment precincts, before transitioning into operational consulting across Asia and Australia, including engagements with Harvey Nichols in Hong Kong and the pre-opening launch of what is now Peppers Sentosa Villas in Bali.
Mark brought that experience to Australia's most demanding commercial environments, spending two decades on the floor and in the boardroom across luxury hospitality, premium private members clubs, commercial fitness and wellness, multi-site gaming and entertainment, and large-scale events. High-profile event deliveries include the Lord Mayor's New Year's Eve, Bazaar magazine, Tropfest, The Million Dollar Lunch in Melbourne, Night Noodle Market bars across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and Open Air Cinema in Sydney and Melbourne.
Most recently, Mark served as Chief Operating Officer of The Pillars, an ultra-premium private members club in Sydney's CBD, where he built the club's entire operating model from a $10M capex fit-out through to live trading, grew membership to 280+ within seven months, and oversaw the club's calendar of exclusive member events and brand partnerships, including collaborations with Diageo, Bollinger, The Dalmore, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Moët Hennessy Private.
Before that, as Group General Manager of The Good Time Group Holdings on the Gold Coast, he held full P&L accountability across a $90M+ multi-site portfolio, grew EGM revenue from $300K to $1.6M per week, and oversaw $23M in capital deployment across a new entertainment precinct and a hotel acquisition.
He has launched venues from the ground up, turned around underperforming operations, led workforces of 200+ across multi-site portfolios, and held full P&L accountability across substantial revenue environments. He knows where operations break, why they break, and how to fix them.
Unlike traditional consultants, Blackbook does not deliver slide decks and disappear. Mark holds a formal ISO 9001:2015 QMS Lead Auditor accreditation and has personally conducted 52+ audits across VW, VW Commercial, Audi, Cupra and Skoda dealerships in New South Wales and Queensland as a Volkswagen Group GSM Retail Auditor. It's a level of formal auditing rigour rarely found in hospitality consulting, and it means every Blackbook engagement is built on structured, evidence-based assessment, not just industry opinion.
The result is measurable improvement, not generic advice.
Why Blackbook Performance?
Operational performance is not theoretical. And the businesses Blackbook works with cannot afford advice that is.
Most hospitality consultants have managed bars and restaurants. Far fewer have owned and operated their own venues, carrying the commercial risk themselves rather than just the operational responsibility. And almost none hold a formal, internationally recognised auditing qualification. Mark has all three: 30+ years operating premium and high-volume venues, direct ownership experience as co-founder of multiple Sydney venues, and an ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor accreditation applied across more than 52+ formal site audits. That combination, hands-on management, ownership-level accountability, and formal audit rigour, is what separates a structured operational review from a general impression.
Mark brings direct, senior-level experience across every challenge Blackbook is engaged to solve, from venue launches and operational turnarounds to workforce architecture, compliance frameworks, and commercial transformation. Every recommendation is grounded in what actually works on the floor, at scale, under pressure.
What that looks like in practice:
A rare combination in hospitality consulting: hands-on multi-site management, direct venue ownership, and a formal ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor accreditation, with 52+ formal audits completed across Audi, Cupra and Skoda dealerships in NSW and QLD
International consulting engagements delivered across Hong Kong and Bali, including operational setup, bar design, menu creation and staff training for Harvey Nichols Hong Kong and the pre-opening launch of the Sentosa Villas in Bali, now operating as Peppers
Contracted by G2 Worldwide, on behalf of British American Tobacco, to design and deliver a 10-module staff training program across Kuala Lumpur's ten leading bars and restaurants
High-profile event bars delivered across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, including Lord Mayor's New Year's Eve, Bazaar magazine's tenth anniversary, Lexus Million Dollar Lunch Melbourne, Night Noodle Market bars, and Open Air Cinema Sydney and Melbourne
Venues taken from pre-opening through to full commercial performance, including a $10M capex private members club and an $8M entertainment precinct
Multi-site overhead reductions of 15% delivered through disciplined workforce analytics and labour-to-revenue modelling
Built and maintained a close operational partnership with the neighbouring Avani Broadbeach Residences (Minor Hotels), including weekly stakeholder meetings, conferencing delivery and food and beverage supply into the hotel
Premium membership businesses launched and scaled from zero, including 280+ members within seven months of launch at The Pillars
Forensic financial governance that uncovered a $70K reporting discrepancy and strengthened controls
Workforces of 200+ led across geographically dispersed, complex operational environments
ISO-aligned compliance and WHS frameworks built across regulated, high-volume venues
What Blackbook Does
Operational Performance Reviews
A structured, forensic review of your operations that identifies where you are losing money, where execution is falling short, and where the opportunities are. Delivered using the same formal audit methodology applied across 52+ ISO-aligned dealership audits, adapted to hospitality, leisure and membership operations. You get a clear, evidenced, prioritised improvement roadmap you can act on immediately, not a general impression.
Venue Launch & Operational Readiness
End-to-end pre-opening support covering operating model design, SOP creation, technology stack setup, financial controls, staffing frameworks, and compliance infrastructure. If you are opening a venue, the decisions you make before day one determine how the next three years go.
Commercial Transformation & Revenue Growth
Whether it is F&B margin, membership acquisition, event revenue, or ancillary income streams, Blackbook identifies where your commercial model is underperforming and builds the operational levers to improve it. Calibrated to your specific venue, your customer, and your cost structure.
Workforce Architecture & Labour Control
Roster design, workforce analytics, labour-to-revenue modelling, and team capability frameworks. If labour is your biggest cost and your biggest variable, this is where significant overhead reduction lives.
Governance, Compliance & WHS Frameworks
Audit-ready workplace health and safety frameworks, liquor and gaming licensing compliance, ISO-aligned quality management systems, and regulatory governance. Built for operators who understand that a compliance failure is not just a fine, it is a reputational event.
Customer Experience Design
A structured review and redesign of your guest and member experience, from service culture and floor presence to programming, retention, and the moments that drive loyalty. Drawn from experience across ultra-premium private clubs, luxury hospitality, and high-volume multi-site venues.
Who Blackbook Works With
Blackbook works with a select number of businesses at any one time. The engagements that deliver the most value tend to share a few things in common.
You are operating in a premium or complex service environment where execution directly impacts revenue and reputation. You know something is not working but lack the operational clarity or internal capacity to fix it. Or you are about to launch or scale and want to get it right from the start.
Blackbook works with:
Premium hospitality venues and hotel F&B operations
Private members clubs and lifestyle businesses
Commercial fitness, wellness, and leisure operators
Multi-site gaming and entertainment portfolios
Events and experiential businesses
Premium customer-facing service brands
If that sounds like you, the first conversation is straightforward. No obligation, no jargon, no pitch deck.
Testimonials
What Clients Say
Credentials
Qualifications & Accreditations
ISO 9001:2015 QMS Lead Auditor
Volkswagen Group GSM Retail Auditor - 52+ dealership audits completed across VW, VW Commercial, Audi, Cupra and Skoda in NSW and QLD
Advanced Diplomas in Hospitality, Management, Events, Business & Marketing
Certificate IV, Training & Assessment
Certificate III & IV, Fitness
RSA, NSW & QLD
RMLV, RCG, QLD
Approved Manager, NSW & QLD
BTEC Leisure Studies & Tourism
City & Guilds - Travel & Tourism
Technology Mark works across:
Oracle Micros · Lightspeed · SwiftPOS · Bepoz · Impos · OrderMate · Me&u · FoundU · Tanda · Deputy · Lightyear · Xero · Open Table · Seven Rooms · Asana · Monday · Claude (AI)
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Contact
Let's talk about your business.
Blackbook works with a select number of clients at any one time. If you are looking for practical, hands-on operational improvement, start with a 30-minute discovery call.
📧 mark@blackbookperformance.com.au
📞 +61 450 169 038
🔗 linkedin.com/in/marktarrant