I was born to be in the hotel business – quite literally! With great-grandparents, grandparents and my mother all having been hoteliers, I guess it was always going to go one of two ways, either complete rejection or follow in their footsteps. But the thought of doing something different never crossed my mind. Even as a small boy growing up in Scotland I loved the cosmopolitan buzz of hotels and the endless stream of different people. The minute I finished my Highers I joined British Transport Hotels on a brilliant training scheme that had formal education woven in with excellent work experience.
What I learnt working in the kitchen, greeting guests on reception or organising functions taught me the single most valuable lesson in this business – “walk the talk”. I see a lot of young people today who want managerial positions but don’t want to get their hands dirty. You lack credibility with staff if you don’t understand their responsibilities and the issues they face. Meeting the guests in different staff guises is also extremely useful in this respect and has taught me a great deal about service. Even today, I still try to keep my hand in and be out and about across Heritage Hotel’s 49 properties as much as possible and encourage others in our head office to do the same.
Now some may think it strange I have stayed with Forte for 20 years as people seem to move around so much in our industry, constantly looking for a bigger salary or a nicer car. At Forte I have had change thrust upon me, been offered change and indeed been able to effect change myself for my own development.
I have worked for five chief executives and the ownership of the company has changed hands a few times along the way as well. I have always embraced the good opportunities that have been offered me and I have sought and often created the type of role I wanted by demonstrating an opportunity for the business. So you don’t necessarily need to move on to move up. There is something very satisfying about having constant change and challenge.
I have a real challenge on my hands at the moment in developing the Heritage brand and ensuring consistent levels of quality and service delivery across a range of completely different properties.
Creating consistency is never easy but, working with Meridien, I learnt that with hotels it is about more than placing the same name over the door of each property, or having the same staff uniforms. Expressed simply, it’s all about pride and I saw Bernard Lambert and Alfonso Giannuzzi, two of Meridien’s chief executives, instill this to great effect. They developed an excellent brand on the back of people who were proud to work for the company and always sought to deliver a top quality service. They remain my inspiration as I move forward with Heritage Hotels.
I have also long admired how the Ritz Carlton and The Savoy are managed.
These are quality products and priced accordingly.You never see knock-down rates advertised and, as a consequence, you have a very firm image of these hotels and always believe they have excellent occupancy rates. We all need to deliver the bottom line but sometimes people are in such a rush to drive short-term bookings that they radically reduce prices. When this happens regularly you run the risk of damaging your brand. In my books, this demonstrates both a lack of pride in the product and indeed faith in your original decisions – and these undoubtedly took a lot longer to reach! So be proud, stick to your guns and follow things through.
One of the things I have taught myself over the years is to keep the business in perspective because the industry can be all consuming.
The boundaries between work and social time can become blurred. I feel at my professional best and most energetic when I know I am allowing time for me and my family.
1970: took five-year management training programme at British Transport Hotels. 1975: various management roles with British Transport Hotels.
1979: joined Trusthouse Forte International. 1982: became vice-president of operations, Nassau Beach Hotel in the Bahamas.
1989: opened Casablanca’s Royal Mansour.
1992: director of the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh. Became chairman of the Forte Grand Gateway Hotels in London, Edinburgh, Dublin and Amsterdam.
1995: director responsible for opening Le Meridien hotel in Brussels.
1996: appointed regional managing director for Le Meridien, covering the Caribbean, Africa and the Indian Ocean.
1998: joined Heritage Hotels as Managing Director in the Forte head office in London.
l Stretch the expectations of yourself and your team.
l Always keep close to your product and your people – spend time talking to customers and staff and listening to their recommendations.
l Have another language up your sleeve – it really does open up opportunities for you in the travel industry.
l Spend time visiting the competition, you will either learn things from them or reassure yourself that you are doing a good job.
l Never underestimate the importance of marketing.
l If you own a dog, make sure you walk it. There’s nothing better for preparing me for a busy day than getting out in the fresh air.