Hospitality Networking Event 19 November 2024

The Lansdowne Club in London’s Mayfair played host to the Cheltonian Society’s Hospitality Sector Professional Networking Event on 19 November 2024. 

We had a brilliant panel of Guest Speakers, with heaps of experience across all areas of the sector, who shared their inspiring stories and insights. Afterwards there were lots of conversations, picking up on the speakers’ themes, and valuable connections made. It was really good to see the room filled with all generations of Society members, from those still at university and just out of it, to those with full careers under their belt.

"Epic event, and wonderful to see the Cheltonian Society is thriving, really enjoyed meeting and speaking to the OCs interested in what we do."

Below is a brief snapshot from each speaker:

Andrew Thomson (Xt, 1992) - Stay at Mine Ltd - Since leaving College in 1992 Andrew stumbled into the hospitality sector when he started working in a local pub. He holds a degree in Hotel & Restaurant Administration and has over 30 years of experience in the luxury sector. Before taking on his role at Be London, Andrew worked for renowned brands including The Dorchester, InterContinental, COMO Hotels & Resort and Melia Hotels. He joined Stay at Mine Ltd, a start up serviced apartment business, to help it grow and become the hybrid hospitality and property firm it is today.

Alex Head (A, 2003) - Social Pantry CEO - Alex Head founded Social Pantry in 2011, London’s leading independent and sustainable caterer. Social Pantry and Head are changing the face of catering, delivering high impact events with a positive social and environmental impact. Head’s dynamic approach to entrepreneurism has seen the company become a leading example for the employment of prison leavers; being awarded the highest B Corp score in UK Hospitality, 104.4; and catering for the those such as The Prince of Wales, Hillary Clinton and David Attenborough.

Arthur De Haast (L, 1975) - IHG plc - Born and lived in Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe) until he returned to UK to attend Scottish Hotel School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Arthur started his career working in hotels before becoming a hotel consultant with Stoy Hayward, Chartered Accountants and then moving to JLL, the global real estate services firm. Here he initially focused on hotel property before broadening out his career to become involved with international capital across all sectors. He spent time living in both Frankfurt and Tokyo. He currently remains in a part time advisory capacity at JLL while being a non-executive director on the Board of InterContinental Hotels plc and Chalet Hotels Ltd (quoted on Mumbai stock exchange).

James Webb (H, 2018) - Perowne International, Account Executive - Having left College in 2018, James attended Exeter University where he read History. With plans to join the military, he needed a role for a year, and this is where he found Perowne International. After working as a personal assistant for the CEO, he was offered the opportunity to work client-side, where he is now very fortunate to be working with incredible properties, travel with fascinating people, and work alongside brilliant journalists, broadcast professionals, KOLs and tastemakers globally to deliver the best media coverage possible!

Martin McWilliam (Cheltondale, 1982) - Bolthole Retreats – was initially in Corporate Finance (Lazard, Barings). He then established an investment bank in South Africa. After leaving in 2002, he went “plural”; becoming deputy chairman of a hedge fund, and non-executive director of various companies. He was headhunted to run Sudeley Castle estate in 2011. One of its activities was holiday cottages, which gave him the idea of establishing Bolthole Retreats in 2017, which now has 225 holiday homes under exclusive management. He employs 10 people in Cheltenham with billings of £11m.

Rich Hine (H, 2011)- British Polo Gin Events - After graduating from Newcastle University in 2015, Rich headed to Australia where he worked in the hospitality/gin sector. Whilst there he both developed his passion for hospitality and identified a gap in the market for British-made organic spirits and properly-run event bars. Fast forward nine years and Rich now runs British Polo Gin, one of the UK’s leading organic gin/rum brands, whilst also running high volume bars at private, sporting and music events across the country.

Tom Holt-Wilson (Xt, 1995) -  IHG plc, Head of Hotel Valuation CBRE UK Ltd - Left College (Xt) in 1995 and graduated from Durham University in 1999. After an MSc at the University of Reading, he qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 2005 specialising in hotel and leisure property. He joined CBRE in 2006. In terms of real estate, he finds hotels endlessly fascinating because of the owner’s ability to influence property value directly through the operation of the business. His career has been spent advising hotel owners, investors and lenders across the UK and Europe on the value of their hotels, buy/sell decisions and asset management during the hotel’s life cycle.

Thank you to everyone who attended, and those who spoke. 

"I really enjoyed the speakers session - so interesting and inspirational. It was a fantastic evening for networking and the venue was fabulous."