Master Innholders: Taking the reins

Tell me about your history in the hospitality industry. 

My career in hospitality started back in 1999, when my wife, Rohaise, and myself decided to relocate to Scotland from London to join the family business as managers of the property.

While Rohaise had had some previous experience working in hotels, the experience was quite the baptism of fire for me. I learnt very early on that there was no such thing as ‘not my job’ and that an independent family business requires you to be multi-talented and to wear many hats at the same time. 

Despite this, the opportunities it provided for us to grow and develop a business really drove us to excel and make the hotel something truly special. In 2004 we bought a share of the business and joined a successful three-star hotel with 18 bedrooms and two rosettes.

Today we are proud to run a five-star resort comprising of 30 bedrooms, two restaurants, two bars, an outdoor adventure company and luxury self-catering. It’s also allowed us to invest in our staff – we’ve grown to a total of 55 staff with apprentices, and also offer an in-house training facility and on-site accommodation for them. 

Throughout my career, I am also immensely proud of my accomplishments. The highlights include winning Catey Independent Hotel of the Year, AA Scottish Hotel of the Year twice, and being chair of the Pride of Britain Hotels. Becoming chair of Master Innholders is also an immense privilege and something I am very proud of.  

Why did you join the Master Innholders in 2012?

I was first introduced to the Master Innholders when a friend encouraged me to apply as he thought I would be a good addition. The opportunity to give back to our industry through the initiative was compelling, and I was already achieving some success at a regional level.

I also came to realise that for The Torridon to be successful, we needed to think bigger than just Scotland and that a national perspective was paramount. The opportunity to network with leading UK hoteliers and contribute to that conversation was exciting to me, so I jumped at the opportunity.

I was also at a stage in my career where I wanted to be able to contribute to the industry by offering career-changing education and support, as well as helping to develop leaders of the future.

Since joining, I have been fortunate to be on the executive board for many years, being both treasurer and the vice chair and have supported previous chairs in the development and growth of the Master Innholders.

What qualities do you think you will need for the role as chairman – have you had experience in a similar type of role?

Personally, I stand for integrity, hard work, self-belief, and a sense of fun and these are the qualities I wish to bring into my new role. 

Every chair needs to be a communicator, facilitator and leader but I believe it is the personal qualities that someone brings to the business that will define their tenure. Integrity and being authentic are important to me as they define who I am – my friends and colleagues will tell you that I do exactly what it says on the tin. 

As for self-belief and confidence, I think it ultimately comes through trusting others. Surrounding yourself with a good team that can support and challenge you is essential If you want to grow as an individual.

And finally fun – what is the point of all that we do if it is not fun? The more joy there is in what we do, the more positive outcomes we can collectively achieve. The past few years have challenged this for all of us I am sure, but we are a resourceful bunch with plenty of fight and having fun and passion as we go about our work is key. 

 What are some of the challenges you may face? 

The last two years have been challenging and no doubt the next two will be as well. I would like to encourage the hotel industry to be positive and proactive about the future; whether it is raising funds for charitable causes, offering to mentor the potential future leaders of our industry, encouraging young professionals to apply for the Aspiring Leaders programme, as well as promoting widely our Masters Innholder scholarship programme, all of us have a part to play.

We need to continue to raise the profile of Master Innholders as a leading force in the hotel industry so that we continue to be inclusive and representative and that we have the best UK hoteliers as members. The leading force needs the very best hoteliers as we are recognised as standard-bearers for the industry, and we must continue to influence standards of hotelkeeping while extending professionalism in the industry. 

What goals do you have as chairman for the next two years?

There are many goals I wish to achieve in the next two years, starting with our Hotel Leadership Conference and positioning it as the go-to event in our industry.

I also wish to continue to develop our programmes, such as our Aspiring Leaders programme and various scholarships to ensure we can continue to grow and foster the younger generation into real game changers within our industry.

With that in mind, I also will be looking at how we can strengthen our mentoring programme for both our mentors and mentees. One-on-one training is so powerful and I wish to be able to offer that on a wider scale.

I am also very proud of our charitable work and will be looking at how we can increase our efforts for those less well off during the current cost of living crisis.