John Ashworth :

An independent consultant, John specialises in the leisure sport and tourism industries. He has big firm consulting experience with Coopers & Lybrand and PKF (Pannell Kerr Forster), where he was a partner in the firm. Working independently since 1994 his clients have included developers, resorts and hotels, clubs and public sector and tourism organisations.

John’s skills include:

• Improving the profitability of leisure businesses, market repositioning and operational change
• Reviewing current performance and business prospects for 3rd party investors, lenders and purchasers
• Preparing and implementing marketing and sales strategies for club memberships and associated real estate
• Supporting planning applications for sport and leisure developments
• Market and financial feasibility studies

www.johnashworthassociates.com

bridget Baker :

Originally from a hotel industry operational background Bridget has worked as a consultant since 1990. She was a Senior Consultant at PKF and Managing Consultant at HLL Humberts Leisure.

Working independently since 2006 she has undertaken assignments in the UK, Europe, The Middle East and Africa. Bridget is a fellow of the British Association of Hospitality Accountants. Her particular areas of expertise include:

• The conference and exhibition markets including operational reviews, strategic planning and feasibility studies
• Expert witness and advice for planning appeals for hotel projects
• Financial market due diligence
• Strategic advice and hotel operational reviews
• Hotel market demand and financial feasibility studies
• Operator selection

www.bridgetbaker.co.uk

Jose Rihan :

Following an early career with InterContinental Hotels Group, Jose worked as a senior consultant for PKF. Following this she was Acquisitions Manager for Hospitality Europe BV – a pan European hotel owning and asset management company and then spent six years as Vice President Europe with specialist hotel real estate broker Molinaro Koger. In this role she worked on the transaction of city centre and resort properties across the UK and Europe. Most recently Jose worked with hotel asset managers Hamilton Hotel Partners.

Jose is a member of the British Association of Hospitality Accountants and her specialist skills include:

• Acquisition and development support and advice
• Operator search and selection
• Detailed hotel operational reviews including action plans for implementation of recommendations
• Profit assurance reviews
• Pricing reviews
• Asset management
• Hotel market demand and financial feasibility studies

Lynne Snow :

A ‘hands on’ operational manager Lynne has a depth of practical experience in the management of hotels and conference centres. Starting her career with DeVere Hotels she quickly rose to become a General Manager with Crest and then Forte Hotels. In 1995 she took over the management of Aston Business School Conference Centre and in 1999 became Head of University Conference Services and Director of Conference Aston.

Since becoming an independent consultant in 2008 she has undertaken diverse assignments including the opening of a new non-residential conference centre in Birmingham and chairing the inaugural European Conference for the International Association of Conference Centres (IACC) in the UK.

Lynne’s specialist skills include:

• General operations management
• Managing change
• Business planning
• Value engineering
• New build operations and planning
• Business process improvement
• Success through people
• Sales and operations synergy
• Customer focus for added value and revenue development

Stella Stroud :

Following management training with Sheraton hotels, Stella worked in sales and marketing roles at hotel and group level. In 1989 she joined PKF as a consultant and then in 1992 became Marketing and Consultancy Manager for Mazard Hotel Management, a company that specialised in management of hotels and conference facilities that were in receivership or experiencing financial difficulties. Mazard was successful in assisting numerous hotels to improve trading and profitability preparing them either for independent operation or for financial restructuring or sale.

In 2000 Stella returned to operational management as Sales & Marketing Director of Chewton Glen, a 5-star country house hotel. She became an independent consultant in 2005 and has since undertaken assignments in the UK and overseas.

Stella’s specialist skills include:

• Sales management and planning
• Customer relationship management
• Revenue management
• Financial planning
• Preparation of effective sales action plans
• A thorough knowledge of marketing, promotions and advertising in the hospitality industry
• Reservations and bookings management and systems

Peter Gray :

An independent consultant, Peter specialises in the drinks, pubs and hotel leisure industries. He was MD of the UK Free Trade business for Carlsberg before joining Swallow Hotels as Chief Executive, looking after the UK hotel estate and the pub estate in Scotland. He then gained consulting experience with Grant Thornton where he was a Director in their Entrepreneurial Advisory Division whilst spearheading their drive into the Leisure Sector.

Examples of work undertaken

• Strategic Reviews
• Feasibility studies
• Operational reviews
• Commercial due diligence
• Business development
• Cost reduction plans
• Cash generation initiatives
• Raising of funds