Balancing product, profit and people in hospitality: Alex Kirkwood

Welcome to our third edition of THE MONDAY GROUP Executive Insights Series, shining a spotlight on the incredible Australian talent across the Hospitality, Hotel, Events and Experiential Marketing sectors.

We’re very privileged to be profiling one of the stars of Sydney’s hospitality and wine scene, Food & Beverage Director at The Point Group, Alex Kirkwood. Today, Alex helps steer some of NSW’s most talked-about venues, from multi-concept precincts like Shell House and The International in Sydney’s CBD to iconic pubs like The Dolphin and Hotel Harry in Surry Hills and Hotel Canobolas in Orange.

Alex’s role is centred around balancing product, profit and people to deliver memorable guest experiences at scale. That standard is evident in the group’s recent accolades: Shell House retained two hats in the SMH Good Food Guide 2026 Awards, The Grill at The International secured two hats in its debut year, and The Wine Bar claimed Drinks List of the Year.

Their wine programs have also been recognised on the world stage, with Shell House and The Wine Bar at The International receiving top honours at the 2025 World’s Best Wine Lists Awards in London, and both Shell House Dining Room and The Grill earning 3 Goblets at Australia’s Wine List Awards 2025. It’s a trajectory that firmly positions the group among the country’s leading hospitality operators.

Having known Alex for close to a decade, THE MONDAY GROUP has watched his rise from Head Sommelier and General Manager roles to a group-wide leadership remit. In this Executive Insights conversation, he shares his path to success, how he develops teams, and his advice for the next generation of hospitality leaders.

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What set your career trajectory in motion?

I fell into hospitality like many of us; it was a stopgap while I waited for the “real” job to start, and it just never stopped. I started at 14, running cases of beer and being a barback. I loved the connection and the community and got addicted pretty quickly.

After a short stint at Sofitel Brisbane, I moved to help open ARIA Brisbane in 2009. I gained immense experience from meeting such wonderful mentors at Aria such as Peter Sullivan and Matt Dunne, who set me up for what a future career looked like. I started as a bar manager, moved into wine, and was excited by the world it opened up, with the chance to study, engage all the senses, travel, and build a real career in growth and management. I threw myself 100% into it.

I was 21 when I became Head Sommelier at ARIA Brisbane. Later, I moved to ARIA Sydney and did the loop through some of Sydney’s top venues – Rockpool Bar & Grill, Quay, Momofuku – before going back to ARIA as Head Sommelier and later General Manager. This was then followed by Shell House and now my current group role with The Point.

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Tell us about what your role covers today.

My role is a bit of a hybrid role, required to be agile and diverse to the business needs.

I work side by side with an incredible Operations Director that allows us both to focus clearly on our channel of workflow. They’re more operations-focused, while I cover everything revenue-facing, including product, guest experience, service, staffing – all the things that drive growth and build long-term business relationships and connections with guests, and not simply one off experiences.

I also oversee all wine programs and am grateful to work alongside some of Australia’s best Sommeliers – we’re proud to have one of the best wine teams in the country across the group.

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Which earlier experiences most shaped how you lead now?

I’ve had some amazing mentors who taught me presence, planning, forecasting and a sharp awareness of the industry.

ARIA shaped me a lot. I was there for almost 10 years across stints, and I still feel very connected to that venue and appreciative of the relationships I built during my time there, many of which continue to this day.

I like that I’ve got a core base in wine, and I still want to maintain a deep connection with that world. But as we develop teams and venues, attracting, fostering, and developing talent into key roles, similar to the positions I’ve held previously, is something I feel very lucky to be able to contribute to.

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What challenges do you come up against today in building and maintaining service culture and standards across venues?

Look, maybe it was slightly naïve, but I never expected people management to be such a daily focus, and I really like that side of what I do now.

Our group model is super agile with a lot of marketing, activations and promotional engagements, so we’re constantly testing ourselves and pushing to try something new.

We move really fast. If there’s an opportunity, it happens quickly, and I prefer that organised chaos to the more traditional corporate version of what an F&B director might do in a hotel, for example.

You have to be on all the time, execute plans and activations quickly, and capitalise on opportunities. The challenge is giving people the structure they need to do their jobs well while keeping the businesses front of mind and the guest experience consistently top tier.

And it’s hard to be creative across multiple outlets. So I think it is just about giving a really clear runway for people to then put their stamp and their personality on it and encouraging them to do so.

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How do you identify and develop future leaders?

We’ve moved from pub operator to big-city, fine-dining energy, so getting the right people to deliver those experiences is everything.

Since then, we have hired people with the right attitude, who are keen and hungry to grow. The focus is on giving them the opportunity to do so, giving them mentors day to day, and continually shifting their focus and direction so they can keep growing and developing their careers like I have. Providing that kind of pathway is really important.

The longer we stay together, the better we get because we all grow with each other and everyone gets better by being surrounded by excellence. We want to keep adding extra layers to ensure the team is constantly growing.

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What’s your management style?

It’s about finding the right people, creating a culture where they can thrive, and then stepping out of the way.

I’m there as a support piece, to develop business growth or look at longer-term opportunities, but I hate micromanagement. I hated it when it happened to me, so I do as little of it as possible.

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What advice would you give to up-and-coming hospitality professionals?

Patience. It’s been my most frustrating advice, but it probably makes the most sense now because you need a broad understanding of the industry and the daily logistics and economics of running venues.

If you’re comfortable, keep moving. I put a limit on myself so if I got too cosy, I’d develop other aspects of my role or look to another venue.

A Master Sommelier, who I have great respect for, told me not to be the guy who just hops from venue to venue. I think I did about a five-year stint at ARIA after that conversation, so you need to find that balance.

And have something you can hang your hat on. I dived into wine pretty hard coming through, and having that as a fallback means you deserve a seat at the table. Set yourself up so your opinion matters and is justified because you’ve done the work and you can back it up.

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How important are collaborations and events to the overall business mix?

We can’t pigeonhole ourselves in the CBD. School holidays send corporates out of town, Fridays and Saturdays aren’t as consistent post-COVID, and there’s a daily focus on staffing and wage management to match how many guests are coming through the door.

In developing the brand for The International, we recognised that for venues of that size, you have to spread the net further to create interest. The younger, more playful events (Huge Moves, Loose Lips) really hit that box and helped guests understand what the venue is and how to use it.

Then we worked to provide something more premium with the Central Otago growers. We sold hundreds of tickets to a more product-savvy crowd.

The key is to never get comfortable, keep pushing, testing, and trialling who the audience is and how to engage them so we stay consistently busy year-round.

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What trends are you seeing across hospitality, food and wine?

A couple of years ago, it felt like every second opening was a French bistro, and right now there are more grills in Sydney than I can remember seeing in my career. But looking deeper, it’s less about concepts and more about what guests actually want. Diners want comfort, accessibility and experience. They want that Australian style of service; they don’t want Michelin-style service. They want warm, confident, personable hospitality.

That really aligns with Joel Bickford, our Culinary Director. Joel’s view is simple: “I just want to cook delicious food that people want to eat.” That takes the pressure off trying to fit everything into a rigid concept and lets the venue breathe and grow into what feels natural for the guest. Luxury is there if people want it. We might flash a bit of caviar through a beautiful sauce, but it doesn’t have to dominate the price point. If someone wants to lean into indulgence, we can offer it in a way that still feels approachable.

Guests are also more considered with their spending. Consumers are certainly more aware, and there’s far less freedom in how they spend. So trust becomes the critical piece. Developing long-term businesses that guests trust, where they know every visit will deliver a consistently great experience, is what really matters.

In wine, I’m seeing a similar shift. Natural and orange wines brought a younger audience into the category, but the trend got tangled up – natural gave orange a bad name for a while and vice versa. A lot of the world’s great wines are effectively natural, and that part of the conversation was often missed.

What’s emerging now is a more mature, confident drinker who still enjoys the playfulness of natural styles but is gravitating toward cleaner, tighter, more classic winemaking. Their vocabulary has improved, they know what they like, and they’re more open to exploring beyond the obvious if they trust the person guiding them.

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How is new technology, especially AI, influencing your business?

We’re across everything that’s happening, watching closely and reviewing what’s accessible to us.

There are some exciting developments ahead. AI will probably have the biggest impact on larger-scale businesses, particularly in areas like staffing models that can harness weather patterns; it’s quite remarkable. And maximising capacity through reservation systems is probably the obvious one.

While all of this is exciting, we’re still not at the point of giving up genuine hospitable engagement from someone in a reservations role who can properly engage with a guest, in favour of an AI model yet.

We like being small and agile enough to stay personal with every guest interaction.

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ABOUT THE POINT GROUP

The Point Group is a Sydney-based hospitality company with a focus on high-quality dining and bar experiences in unique and iconic environments.

The group’s portfolio includes standout venues such as Shell House, The International, The Dolphin Hotel, Hotel Harry, and Hotel Canobolas.

What sets The Point Group apart is its ambition to create modern venues that combine premium hospitality with smart operations and design. They describe themselves as “redefining the new normal for the hospitality industry in Australia and beyond.”

With a proven record of elevating heritage and landmark sites, the group is continuing to pursue new opportunities that align with its vision for bold hospitality in standout locations.

Need an expert insider to build a powerhouse team like The Point Group, or to get your foot in the door with Australia’s most exciting hospitality venues? Let’s talk.