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Andrew Stembridge has been appointed an ambassador for the Accessible Hospitality Alliance (AHA) as the organisation seeks to advance industry-wide efforts to improve accessibility and inclusion.
Stembridge is executive director of Iconic Luxury Hotels and has held senior roles across the sector.
A graduate of the University of Strathclyde, he later completed executive development programmes at Cornell and Cranfield.
His career includes being the youngest recipient of Hotelier of the Year, chairing the Master Innholders, and supporting sector initiatives including Hospitality Action and Room to Reward.
As an ambassador, Stembridge will support the alliance’s aim of promoting accessibility across hospitality and advancing more collaborative and practical approaches to improving inclusion.
The appointment follows a period of increased attention to accessibility across hospitality, including discussions at November’s AHA Forum in partnership with Thomas Franks.
The event brought operators together with people with lived experience of limited access to hospitality settings.
Stembridge said: “The current economic climate and labour market challenges make inclusivity more important than ever for both our guests and those who work in our industry. All of the Iconic Luxury Hotels properties are in historic buildings, some heavily listed, which presents physical limitations, but that only strengthens our resolve to find solutions and remove barriers wherever we can.”
“As a profession we have a duty to lead this conversation and ensure accessibility becomes a defining principle of hospitality.”
Robin Sheppard, chair and co-founder of the Accessible Hospitality Alliance, added: “We are grateful and appreciative of Andrew’s considered commitment to AHA, embracing the very definition of our industry.”
