Foxhills Surrey promotes GM to MD

Foxhills Club and Resort in Surrey has announced the promotion of Tej Walia to managing director.

Walia has served as general manager at Foxhills for the past five years and will oversee the business operations and day to day running of Foxhills, as well as lead its sister club, Farleigh.

He has a hospitality career that spans more than 25 years across India and the UK and began with stints at Oberoi hotels, Kempinski, Grand Hyatt and The Leela Palaces and Resorts.

He also held leadership roles at Fawsley Hall Hotel, Dartington Hall, MGM Muthu Hotels, Macdonald’s Crutherland and Houstoun hotels in Scotland.

While at Foxhills Walia has led significant growth including the build and launch of its new £7m family building, The Pavilion which was part of a £25m investment project which also involved renovation and improvement work in the restaurants, bedrooms and golf courses.

Owner Mark Hayton, who is the current MD, will step into the CEO role.

Hayton said: “Since Tej joined Foxhills, he has made a real difference to the business, to our members and to more than 300 colleagues. He deserves this opportunity. It is 40 years since my family acquired Foxhills and I will now concentrate on ensuring ongoing resources are in place to meet guest expectations into the next 40 years.”

Walia added: “Foxhills is a very special place and it is my privilege to lead the superb team we have here. We recently held a long service celebratory dinner where a quarter of our 300 staff were eligible for an award having been with us for more than five years. That’s because this is a great place to work! Our guests and members feel that which is evident in all the fantastic feedback we get.”