The Celtic Collection: ‘Variety and versatility makes us stand out’

Can you tell us a little bit about your career leading up to The Celtic Collection?

This is actually the third time I’ve worked at Celtic Manor and now The Celtic Collection, so I obviously can’t stay away from the place! I was working in a bar in a Cardiff hotel when I made my first move into events by deciding things looked a lot more interesting on the other side of the bar. Things didn’t start brilliantly when I got lost while giving my first site visit show-round and I had to take the client back to reception to ask the way.

My first stint at Celtic Manor Resort was as an events executive and I then got the opportunity to help launch the new Holland House Hotel in Cardiff as event sales manager. On my first day at work, Princess Anne was there to officially open the hotel. I returned to Celtic Manor as head of event sales in 2014 and found myself back managing most of the team I’d worked with previously. 

In 2018, I got the opportunity to move to Australia, first as director of sales at a hotel in Adelaide, and then as sales manager at the city’s Convention Centre. It was an eye opener to see the different business culture – visiting a client often meant jumping on a plane! Then, just like a boomerang, I flew back and came home to The Celtic Collection as sales director.

What are your day-to-day responsibilities at The Celtic Collection?

I manage the sales team across the hotel properties within The Celtic Collection with the responsibility for ensuring we achieve and exceed our sales targets. I spend a lot of time speaking to and meeting our clients – new and old – to ensure they are fully up to speed with our latest developments and making sure our properties are their preferred choice for events, conferences or a place to stay when away on business.

I work with conference agents to ensure we’re on the right business travel programmes and we exhibit at all the key industry shows across the UK, so I’m heavily involved in the planning of these as well as attending and meeting clients and organisers during the events.

We also plan and deliver imaginative site visits and hotel experiences here at our properties to showcase why clients should choose us. No two days are ever the same – especially now that we are not just the Celtic Manor Resort, but an expanding collection of six very different hotels, each with its own individual style, character and appeal.

Besides delivering the 2014 NATO Summit, what other events have you helped deliver? 

The exciting thing about being sales director at The Celtic Collection is the sheer variety of events that we are able to deliver. We cater for literally every market segment from a bespoke incentive for a few people to conference for a few thousand – like the NATO Summit.

While events like NATO grab the headlines and are an undeniable adrenaline rush to work on, it can be more rewarding to deliver a more intimate event where you have worked closely with the client to develop creative solutions for their brief. We are lucky at The Celtic Collection to have so many fantastic spaces – from our rooftop garden terrace at Celtic Manor to waterfront dining at our Tŷ Hotel in Pembrokeshire – to deliver something truly special. It is really exciting when you get to work with events that want to colour outside the lines.

What makes The Celtic Collection’s venues perfect for hosting events? 

The variety and versatility of our venues is what really makes us stand out; there really is something for everyone. As an events team, we are never happier than when we are set a challenge. We have an amazing operational team that will always go the extra mile to help us rise to those challenges.

We also have a back catalogue of exceptional events that we can refer to in order to help clients visualise how their ideas might become reality. For Celtic Manor, our location is also a unique asset. Thanks to our proximity to the M4 motorway, we are within two hours travel time for 60% of the UK population, including London. Yet, we feel like a world away once guests and delegates arrive on site, and immerse themselves in our 2,000 acres of breathing space.

How do Celtic Collection venues channel Wales as a destination for business events through its culture and catering? 

As soon as you enter the lobby at The Celtic Manor Resort, you’re met with two huge dragons carved out of oak, weighing one ton each, which instantly provide a talking point around our heritage and culture. Our far-reaching views of the countryside maximise our location, meaning delegates can exit the motorway and within two minutes enjoy the panoramic scenery from the bar, while sampling a Pembrokeshire Gin or a Welsh whisky. 

Our meeting rooms are also named after Welsh castles, another indication of our pride in our Welsh identity. Throughout the Collection, we work with local suppliers wherever possible, and showcasing our wonderful natural larder – whether it be food or drink, is a key priority across the portfolio. 

At Tŷ Hotel Milford Waterfront, guests love to dine at our in-house restaurant, Dulse, which is named after a seaweed found on the surrounding coastline and the menu really represents Wales with its locally sourced produce.

Can you share with us some of the company’s sustainability goals? 

Our mission is to harness the power of people to create positive environmental change at our venues to ensure what we do today does not impact the lives of future generations. All our hotels have integrated Building Management Systems, which maintain efficient heating, cooling and lighting only when areas are in use. Almost all lighting is LED and we operate on 100% green electricity, while all food waste is sent to an anaerobic digestion facility to generate low carbon electricity, with zero waste sent to landfill.

At The Celtic Collection, we’re also lucky enough to have our own sustainability manager, Fitzroy Hutchinson, who advises clients on how their events can best be delivered to meet their own sustainability goals. This includes utilising our First Great Western discounted fares, mapping from where their food is sourced, and how their waste is handled when they leave.

The Welsh Government has a clear focus on the renewables sector, and there are fantastic opportunities for sea and wind power with our 870 miles of coastline across the country. This was recently demonstrated when two new freeports were announced for Wales to support the drive to Net Zero. The Celtic Manor Resort itself has 93 hectares of woodland, where we annually offset 465 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

What’s next for The Celtic Collection? 

The new Tŷ Hotel Newport opens in Spring 2024 – our third new hotel in as many years – so things never stand still in The Celtic Collection. We are also revisiting our menus across the collection properties and working with our newly appointed executive head chef, Vinny Tzortzis, to refresh these and add more plant-based alternatives to support our sustainability initiatives.

The new Celtic Freeport announced for the Port of Milford Haven and Port Talbot is a very exciting development for our Tŷ Hotel Milford Waterfront and we have already seen a noticeable increase in corporate business. We will be working with our partners and clients to make sure we all make the most of this fantastic opportunity.

We’ve also just announced an exciting partnership for The Celtic Collection with Commonwealth Games Wales in the run-up to the next event in Victoria, Australia, in 2026.  Having hosted golf’s Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in 2010 and being the official hotel partner of the Welsh Rugby Union at The Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff, sport is a big part of what we do at The Celtic Collection and we are delighted to step up these activities with this inspiring partnership.

Our venues will host a number of planning and preparation meetings for Team Wales in the build-up to the Commonwealth Games, and we will benefit from the international profile of a global stage, while also enjoying outreach into the many sporting communities that Commonwealth Games Wales represents.