Hotel Solutions Partnership held their Global Annual Conference in west London on Wednesday 25^th January.

With senior and experienced consultants spread all over the world the annual conference provides the opportunity for all HSP members to come together to discuss projects, business, ideas for the future growth of HSP and to network.  This year over 20 consultants met at Rydges for a morning of presentations, discussions and overviews of recent successful projects by project leaders.

Katrina Craig, CEO, welcomed members and her introduction covered recent changes in the structure of the business, with the appointment of David Atkinson as VP Business Development, David White as VP Finance and the formation of the Executive Committee.   In addition to the ExCom appointments Ann Barriball has also joined the team in a Business Support and Administration role.

David Atkinson set out HSP’s marketing plan for 2017, with an emphasis on attendance at industry trade shows – the most imminent being Katrina’s attendance at the IHIF in Berlin next month, and David’s own participation at the ATM in Dubai in April.  The “Power of Networking” was very much the theme of the conference and David outlined HSP’s plans to maximize publicity, networking potential and forging a unique place for HSP in the consultants’ market in 2017.

David White provided a business analysis of work and projects during 2016, showing a healthy growth and breaking down the data by geographical region, project type and value, to further analyze how best to pitch HSP skills and services going forward.

Katrina and team were delighted to be joined for lunch by HSP’s much-valued Strategic Partners – Sir James Devitt of Herald Hotels, Andrew Harrington of AHV, Omega Poole of Brown Rudnick, Mark Norris of the Mark Norris Partnership, John McGuinness of SMC Leisure.

Following lunch, recent HSP project case studies were presented by the team leaders, showcasing  the breadth of skills and expertise within the HSP network.  Duncan MacArthur presented the recent Business Development Analysis and CEO Search for a country house Hotel in Suffolk.  Ian Oram set out an Investment Business Plan project for a recent European-based client; David Atkinson gave an overview of an Operator Search for a client developing a site in the Canary Islands and Ewa Kossakowska presented the Feasibility Study undertaken for a client in Albania.

The day finished with a discussion session covering a wide range of topics as HSP look forward to a busy and profitable 2017.

Rydges lunch