Interview with Helder Pereira, CEO RBH Hospitality Management

Talk us through your hospitality career

Previously I was the managing director of Southern Sun Hotels, now known as Tsogo Sun Hotels in South Africa, and was also an executive director of Tsogo Sun Holdings which encompasses their hotel, gaming and convention centre business. We had 88 hotels and seven casinos and one of the largest convention centres in Southern Africa. I left in 2007 and came to Europe and using some invest interest in South Africa plus RDI in the UK to set up an management and asset company in the hotel business. I was tasked with taking the management part of the business and to expand into Europe, which I did. We started looking in 2009 and struck our first deal when RBI purchased the Splendid Hotel Group which I headed as CEO. We then acquired BDL a Scottish-based management company in 2013 and we are now here in 2018 with just under 70 hotels under management of which our shareholders own 18 of those.  

What was the reasoning behind the recent re-branding from “Redefine|BDL Hotels to RBH?

Well the main reason for the re-branding was the confusion in the marketplace to who we really were. That was mainly as a result of our original South African connections to Redefine. The Redefine Properties in South Africa, which is the second largest Southern African management company, owned a significant share and still do of Redefine International and Redefine International own 25% of Redefine BDL. So the community was confused when we came in as Redefine whether we wanted to manage the properties or were actually an investor. Now the only Redefine name that will still exist is the one in South Africa – Redefine Properties. Hence why we changed to RBH, it has removed the confusion.

What separates RBH from other hotel management companies?  

We like to think we are the top performers and any service company believes what separates them is the ability to deliver what the market expects. What makes us a leading management service provider is the ability to deliver consistent, high-quality results that are aligned to the owners’ interests. Bear in mind that different owners may have different interests –  some may want to buy and sell in five years, some to buy and hold, some to buy and develop – whatever they are we are the best at delivering those expectations.

How are you looking to continuously improve?

We have to deliver above market expectations in terms of how the hotels operate with yields and EBITDA for owners. I believe that is the only way you can measure. We are one of the few who differ from other management companies in terms of our structure. Our shareholder base with the exception of management are all investors in hotel properties. So unlike our competitors who are owned by funds or shareholders who have no interest in property our shareholders all own property. So if we are not performing for their assets we are accountable. Also because of that we have a base of income that is effectively almost guaranteed, unlike other services who come in and leave and therefore have a fluctuation of income. We also have a large owner base that owns management companies, which means fluctuation of income does not prevent us from keeping our key staff. We do not have to replace our top people so we can continue to provide a quality service.  

What are RBH’s goals for the future?

One is to consolidate the rapid gains we have made in the UK market since 2010 and ensure that the earnings that we deliver for our owners continues to be above the expectations and performance of the market. It is more important now as we have recently acquired a large portfolio which is a very exciting one and requires a lot of work.

Secondly, we believe the market is slowing down and as we are a cyclical industry by nature we want to consolidate now. Also we want to continue our expansion into other European countries, since conception we have always had the vision to be a European-based company and we have just consolidated strength in one country which happens to be the UK. That allows us now to leap into mainland Europe which is going to take time as we plan to go region by region.