Operations Director, Hotels & Hospitality Lead, Consultancy, UK & Ireland
Some of my earliest memories are of hotels; my family has always worked in the sector. I remember when the Clarence Hotel, in Dublin, was redeveloped for U2 in the 1990’s and when the Greenwich Hotel in London became a boutique hotel developed in a historic RIBA award-winning building.
The exposure has given me a genuine passion and knack for the industry! It inspired me to pursue a career in hospitality myself, and now I have experience in everything from operations and development to asset management. Ultimately, it all led me to my current role - leading the hotel sector at Mace.
To me, ambition is synonymous with a desire for success. It’s sometimes a polarising word, especially for women in the workforce. But I embrace it and consider it mainly in terms of leadership. Redefining ambition as a leader means thinking about how to go further. For both individuals and teams, I see it as setting a standard and surpassing it.
The past few years post-COVID have been particularly interesting for the hospitality sector.
Average Daily Rate (ADR), the metric we use to measure the strength of revenues generated, has seen exceptional growth rates, as high as 20% in some leisure destinations. Perhaps unsurprisingly after periods of restricted travel, people are spending more on experiences, hotels included. But this level of growth is not sustainable in the longer term, as travel trends stabilise we will need to define the new 'normal' moving forward. At the same time, operational costs have been under increasing upward pressure, driven by wider trends in the labour and energy markets.
Another challenge has been the muted investment activity compared to pre pandemic levels. While there are higher volumes of people traveling and spending more, there has been limited investment into new developments, refurbishments, and projects with major CapEx costs because of upward pressures on cost of capital. While there have been pockets of activity in the luxury and extended stay segments, the general sense is that the market is waiting for base rates to begin normalising, which may reinvigorate investment activity.
Fortunately, we’ve historically had great success in the sector, and I see the potential for us to do so much more, especially if wider development and investment activity picks up. I’m focused on driving that forward next year.
Two main reasons come to mind. I felt a connection to Mace when I first encountered the business because it seemed to share my values around collaboration and curiosity. Another is the commitment to sustainability; Mace had not only become carbon neutral (counting offsets) by 2020 but, today, looks to take this further by driving industry change and supporting clients to deliver more sustainable buildings and a greener built environment. I also noticed Mace’s impressive track record in the hotel sector for delivering outstanding projects. I saw an opportunity to champion and build on that reputation.
It's motivating to be part of a passionate team. Whether project manager, cost consultant, architect or engineer, the people involved in delivering hotels always love to see a space evolve from concept to completion and enjoy the reward of being able to set foot in and experience that final space themselves. When you’re a part of that team and environment, it’s exciting to anticipate that end result and see it delivered.
Communication and time management are crucial. The hospitality sector attracts a diverse range of personalities and cultures, with language and cultural barriers all to navigate. It’s a people-to-people business. When dealing with clients, project teams and developments across different territories and time zones, it’s important to stay on top of everything, particularly during the crucial delivery phase.
Networking! It has been the same advice I've given to everyone over the past ten years. In my twenties, I spent at least three evenings a week actively networking, and as I've advanced in my career, it is still integral to my work.
Travel, of course! I've visited sixty countries and counting with my most recent trip being to Bordeaux in France, which was a beautiful place to visit. I also have a passion for the Arts: watching plays, ballet, and musicals. Recently, I have started collecting artworks as investments – it took me three years to acquire a piece by Ducan Jago, which was harder to get than a Glastonbury ticket!