Cycas Hospitality announces five senior hires to drive growth

Cycas Hospitality has appointed five operational and commercial hospitality experts to help supports its European expansion plans. Michael Mason-Shaw has joined Cycas in June as GM for the operator’s newest London property; Hyatt Place London City / East which is set to open in March 2021. With over 20 years’ experience opening and managing properties across the UK for Hilton, Marriott, Accor and Wyndham, Mason-Shaw brings an in-depth knowledge of the London hotel market. Following Cycas’s first UK partnership with Accor, in May Jonathan Bowen has also been appointed as GM of the Ibis Bridgwater opening January 2021. Cycas said Bowen’s combination of 15 years’ hospitality experience across the South West of England, as well as a strong relationship with Accor, ensures he is “well placed” to successfully open Cycas’s first property in the region early next year. Also joining its operational team is Petra Baer, who this September will become GM of Cycas’s first property in Belgium; the Residence Inn Brussels Airport opening March 2021. She joins from Marriott International, where she spent 22 years working across a range of the group’s best-known brands. In addition, from September Philip Steiner will take up the position of GM position for Cycas’s upcoming Moxy and Residence Inn by Marriott double-decker hotel in Slough opening in April 2021. Since joining Cycas two years ago as director of accommodations and serviced apartments, the company said he has been “instrumental” in introducing new operational systems across its portfolio to support the company’s European expansion. In recognition of his hotel operations expertise, in February 2020 he became the first-ever winner of HSMAI Europe’s Young Talent of the Year Award. In May, Cycas also further strengthened its central hotel support team by the appointment of Martin Hird as group director of sales. Hird joins from Interstate Hotels and Resorts, where he spent five years helping shape the sales function and was responsible for 30 hotels across the UK market. With 14 years’ experience of providing strategic sales solutions across a diverse portfolio of brands and markets, Hird will report to Cycas’s commercial director, Neetu Mistry. Wayne Androliakos, COO of Cycas Hospitality, said: “Our business is named after the Cycad palm; a plant prized for its resilience and adaptable nature, which allows it to continue growing in even the toughest conditions. “Whilst 2020 has been an unprecedented time for the hospitality industry, Cycas remains focused on building and developing a pipeline of incredible talent to match our exciting European pipeline.” He added: “We’re delighted to be joined by some of the very best people in the industry. And, with Cycas set to open ten new hotels over the coming year, we’re confident these appointments will help ensure we’re in the strongest position to maximise each hotel’s full potential.”