The chef that joined the ranks of the board of directors
East Anglia-based hotel group Agellus Hotels recently appointed chef Lee Bye to its board of directors. In this interview, Bye tells us a bit more about his new position, the experience of collaborating with an interior designer, and the group’s future plans.
When did you realise that being a chef was your calling?
I went straight into cooking from school, working in local establishments in the village I lived in. I cooked for around two or three years as a young lad and then flirted with some other industries, mainly the building industry, but then I realised that I much preferred being in the kitchen than being on a building site.
As a chef first, how does it feel to have been appointed to the board of directors for the hotel group?
It’s different; not many chefs go through their chef career aiming to be a director of a business, or the hotel business. I think, over the last few years I’ve put myself forward on offering my opinion on big decisions in the business, and luckily for me, that’s been listened to and well received.
Fortunately, some of my decisions have pushed us forward as a business and that opened the door for me to become a director, so it was not really ever planned. I’ve always walked through every door that has opened to me; I keep my options open and try to grow myself professionally as well.
What will your responsibilities be on the board of directors?
At this moment in time, it’s much of what I do in the business day-to-day. I oversee the teams, the business performance, and the general direction of the business going forward, as well as the health and the health and safety of our guests and our team.
It’s more about having a wider lens on where we want to take the business going forward with additional properties, and growing the properties that we currently have as well. It needs much more of a hands-on approach as well as day-to-day operation.
What can you tell us about working with Rose Murray on designing the interiors of Millers House and Quay House?
We found out about her refurbishment of the Ledbury in Notting Hill, and with the Ledbury being one of the most iconic restaurants in London, if not in the UK, we thought we had to work with her. We hadn’t heard of her before, so I gave her a ring and we met at the Ham Yard Hotel in London, presented our business and our plans to see if it would match up with her ambitions as well.
She was very keen to work with an English-lead company in more rural parts of the UK. Agellus is expanding on her portfolio and I think Tottenham Mill was a really good fit for the style of design that she does. It’s going to be a great collaboration.
What sets Agellus apart from the rest of the competition in East Anglia?
We always lead with quality first and foremost. We always ask ourselves “is this quality”, and whatever we do, it must remain in that bracket of quality. I also think we are leaders of developing people. The people in our business in East Anglia are given the opportunities to go through the ranks of the business – me being a champion of that in our company of someone who started in a minor, junior role and was able to go through the door that opened onto the board of directors.
We are very open-minded and give a lot of energy to grow in our team, which in today’s industry being able to retain your team is absolutely vital with such a staff shortage in the industry. I think we’ve naturally always done very well at retaining our team through giving them opportunities.
What does Agellus have planned for the latter half of this year and beyond?
We’re looking to have a property in Ely, which is in Cambridgeshire. It will then give us the opportunity to market our businesses as ‘city, country and coast’, so we’ll have properties in each of these areas of the East Anglian region. It’s one straight road, really. We’ve got three Agellus properties within the space of about an hour and 20 minutes.
