In His Own Words

The job: The buck stops with you. People want leadership from the senior men. You have to make a lot of the decisions yourself.

The enjoyment: What I enjoyed most was the strategy, the planning.

Delegating responsibility to employees: I don't like employing them and then not giving them the authority.

On achieving: If you want something badly enough, you do not have to be hugely intelligent. If you want it, you go for it, and you get it.

The company's transformation: Twenty years ago, a hotel was a hotel but now we are a business.

The importance of filling rooms: It is a different cost base and that is where the secret is.

Running a hotel or a business: It runs as smoothly as you have it organised. If you are not organised, it is a shambles.

The similarity between running a hotel and running a business: There is no difference in my book but there is a perception out there.

Retiring as managing director: I watch companies, I watch what is happening and I know there comes a time when the baton must be passed along.

What makes him angry: When we fail the customer, it makes me angry.