Meet Ally, Hops' Customer Success Manager

Ally Parsons knows what it feels like to finish a long shift and still have a cash-up to reconcile. Before becoming Hops' Customer Success Manager, she washed up, waited tables, managed kitchens and ran hospitality businesses of her own. Today she brings that experience to onboarding, training and supporting Hops customers.

Her route into the team began on the other side of the relationship: she first used Hops while working at Mildreds. In our interview, she explains how years of running venues shape the way she helps operators get comfortable with their systems.

From washing up to running venues

Ally started work as a washer-upper at 13. By 16, she was managing an Italian bistro in south-east London, where the general manager had taught her to cook and manage a team.

She later spent around a decade in Egypt. After taking over a members' club, she went on to run The Snug, a five-room B&B with a bar and kitchen; The Tipsy Teapot, a 300-seat restaurant; The Mad Hatter bar; and Siren nightclub. Alongside the businesses, she organised community support, including a free nursery and interest-free loans for staff.

Stock control was a daily discipline. With a specialist's help, she built a system around Excel, with screens the team could use. Bar teams counted at the end of the night and passed their figures to reception, keeping the numbers current before everyone went home.

A Hops customer before a Hops colleague

Back in the UK, Ally managed sites for groups including GAIL's and The Breakfast Club. At Mildreds, she began using Hops in her own day-to-day work.

She then became an independent consultant, helping operators set up stock systems, recipes and payroll. When clients asked her to recommend and implement a stock system, she chose Hops. Working closely with the team eventually led to a full-time role.

That background gives her a practical starting point for training. She has counted stock, chased discrepancies and closed venues herself. The questions customers bring are familiar operational problems.

Helping teams understand the numbers

Cash-up is one of Ally's favourite parts of Hops to show an operator. At the end of a tiring shift, finding figures and re-entering them into spreadsheets adds work just when a manager wants to close. With till figures pulled into Hops, the task becomes reviewing the information and completing the remaining details. Our Finance tools support that end-of-day process.

Stock take is another focus. Ally has seen teams complete a count without understanding what to investigate afterwards. The health check she describes in the interview flags unfinished invoices, draft credits and missing recipes before teams examine variance, then directs attention to the largest discrepancies.

The purpose of training is to help people understand what their numbers mean and what to do next.

Support that continues after setup

Ally understands that a support call often comes after an operator has already dealt with missing staff, delivery problems and the pressures of service. Her first job is to reassure them that the problem can be worked through.

For someone who has had a difficult software rollout, her commitment is direct:

"We will hold their hand all the way through the process. We're not just going to disappear."

In the interview, she describes four or five setup sessions in the first couple of weeks, covering ordering, transfers, wastage, stock take and recipes. Four variance reviews follow, helping each client learn to trust and investigate the figures. She continues checking in once the system is running.

That approach is also visible in Ally's work supporting La Cage before opening, where preparing the recipes and following through on missing detail were part of handing over a usable system.

And her desert island dish? Pork belly, preferably cooked by someone else who has the patience to get the skin properly crisp.

To meet the team and see how Hops could work in your operation, book a demo.

Read the full original interview: Meet Ally, Hops' Customer Success Manager.

View the original LinkedIn post: Hops' introduction to Ally, published 21 October 2026