Colleagues heaped praise on Conor O'Leary, managing director of Gleneagles, who has been crowned the 2023 Hotelier of the Year and the 40th winner
The 233-bedroom, five-AA-star Gleneagles, set within 250 acres of Perthshire countryside, has been fêted as one of the world's most luxurious destination hotels since it opened in 1924. But no business can stand still, and in the past few years under the leadership of Conor O'Leary, it has undergone a dramatic repositioning from golf-led hotel to a "glorious playground" fit for the 21st century.
It now attracts multi-generational guests who come not to just golf, shoot, fish and fine dine, but bring their families to visit the spa, indulge in activities, such as falconry, riding, gundog training and – for the younger guests – tree-climbing and ferret school.
Last year also saw the opening, to much acclaim,of the 33-bedroom Gleneagles Townhouse in Edinburgh, the business's first luxury city hotel, complete with all-day restaurant, roof terrace and members' club.
While all that showcases O'Leary's remarkable vision and business acumen, it is his natural talent for leadership and the fact he has consistently demonstrated a commitment to nurture, develop and empower the people in his teams that has earned him the title of 2023 Hotelier of the Year.
O'Leary is responsible for the entire operation, from commercial functions, people and culture, projects and marketing to finance, F&B, guest relations and leisure. But he wears this mantle lightly. In fact, it's hard to get him to talk about his own achievements, because he constantly signals the input of others in the team.
"I will always stress that it is a team effort – not forgetting the owners, too," he explains. "It is not a job you do on your own. I'm conscious we are the current team looking after Gleneagles and that it will be 100 years old next year. We have the responsibility of keeping it relevant and making it better for the next generation."
And he is modest about winning this award, too. "It's wonderful. I am 46, so I've been in the industry and aware of these types of awards since I was about 18. There's still lots to do in my career, so it is part daunting, part exciting. I've known a lot of previous winners and understand why they were awarded, so to be equally awarded… it is so humbling."
Stable foundations
O'Leary grew up in Stratford-on-Avon, a tourist-led town that gave him a rich pick of weekend jobs in local hotels and restaurants while at school. But it wasn't until he started a business and economics degree at university and realised that it wasn't for him that he started to look at the industry in terms of a career. He worked in bars while he figured out his future, and quickly realised that it lay in hospitality.
It was 1999, and from the start he was diligent about learning his craft and building a solid career: "I wanted to do it in an international city in the five-star market," he says.
He was offered the head waiter role at the Royal Garden London, an experience that gave him his first sense of what makes a good employer. "That was a great environment," says O'Leary. "They trained me, moved me around, set me up with wine courses and so forth. Not everyone was doing that in those days."
With ambitions to grow his hotel career through F&B management and gain international experience, O'Leary stuck to big brands, going on to work at some of the best five-star hotels in London. Between leaving Royal Garden in 2003 and relocating to Hyatt's flagship property in Dubai in 2014, O'Leary rose through managerial F&B roles at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, the Bentley Kempinski, the Langham, the Ritz, Hyatt Andaz Liverpool Street and Hyatt Regency London-the Churchill.
As director of F&B at the 600-bedroom Grand Hyatt Dubai, O'Leary was able to consolidate and showcase his knowledge. With 14 outlets and the largest convention space in Dubai, the hotel represented Hyatt's biggest F&B operation in the world, and while there, he gained experience in major refurbishments as well as contracting and managing leased outlets, such as China White nightclub. His success in significantly increasing profitability and guest satisfaction earned him recognition as a Hyatt specialist in F&B, supporting and advising other operations in the region.
It proved a valuable learning curve. "It was fascinating to go to Dubai from London," says O'Leary. "London was a collaborative work environment with people who were clear on work-life balance, but that hadn't filtered to Dubai. The staff had experienced different training and had a different understanding of the world, so I had to change my management style to be more directional and task-oriented."
Similarly, at that time F&B in Dubai was a little behind trends compared to London and New York. "I would like to think that in my way I helped evolve all that – certainly in the property I was in," he says.
The international experience also sharpened his business acumen. "London is more about competition among the five-star hotels and what it means to have the best F&B offering. Dubai was more business-focused. It is a commercial city and our job was to pull levers to make money. That is what I took away – more commercialism in terms of decision-making."
It's hardly surprising, then, that after three years he caught the eye of the new owner of Gleneagles, a business with a hefty F&B division that now comprises nine restaurants – including the two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Andrew Fairlie – bars and golf outlets. Sharan Pasricha, founder of Ennismore, had bought the hotel from Diageo in 2015, describing it as a "sleeping giant". To unlock its potential, he spent a year understanding the hotel's history, team and customers before launching an ambitious five-year plan, including a multimillion-pound renovation, rumoured to have cost more than £50m.
By 2016, O'Leary was on board as hotel manager with a remit to design F&B concepts that would generate a return. His success is reflected in his meteoric rise. By the following year he had been made general manager, by 2018 he was joint managing director and since July 2020 he has been managing director.
The results say it all. The business is reporting a 33% increase in turnover on pre-Covid levels, driven by a strong growth in rate and continued improvement in occupancy, which of course has led to strong performance in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation performance over the period.
Hole in one
It is no mean feat to pivot a famous golf hotel such as Gleneagles, especially when facing the challenge of managing rising costs. "We used to be famous for golf, but golfers only accounted for 10% of rooms, about the same as the spa," says O'Leary. "We were not focusing enough on our other strengths, so we've put a huge emphasis on families and doubled the number of activities. For example, we now go outside the estate and take people on nature walks, driving experiences or fishing."
With 60% repeat business, there is a constant pressure to add new experiences. For instance, the team are tapping into the fact corporate guests now want to bookend their stay with a family leisure break, while a new service means curators now ring guests in advance to help them plan activities. So O'Leary's standout qualities are undoubtedly his ability to translate vision into reality and deliver on the bottom line. But underpinning all this is his talent for team-building and forming collaborative professional relationships.
"I understand the owner's direction for the hotel and make sure we hire the right people and build a team so that between us we can evolve it. I understand the market. I look at what products we respect and want to reflect in our own product. That is my job – a combination of understanding the market, understanding the owners and articulating that to the team. And the team run with that, add their ideas to it and buy in to drive that forward." This feeds into O'Leary's relentless quest for quality to ensure all areas of the hotel are independently best in class. "I'm not an expert on what makes the best fishing experience, for instance, but I have to be able to understand what that looks like, and I have to get the right team in place who do know."
But there is nothing stuffy about the reborn Gleneagles with its "relaxed luxury" vibe. O'Leary sets the tone for service, ensuring that staff, many of whom are locals, are trained but empowered. "We want to sound like Gleneagles in Scotland, not just anywhere," he says. "We outline our services, but let our team deliver them in way that feels comfortable. For instance, all the equipment used for a shoot will be of an excellent standard, polished and clean, but how each member of that team understands the customer and delivers the experience will be different."
Customer focus
Since Covid, his focus on employee engagement, training and development has redoubled. "We were lucky that the owners supported us, so we kept our workforce. But it was challenging, so we now spend as much time on our people's journey as we do on the guests'. We learned how important it was to have a settled workforce compared with the risk of not having it. We could see what was happening in London," says O'Leary.
As a result of these efforts, retention is better than ever. This year has seen an 8% improvement on 2022, and staff turnover is now the lowest since Ennismore acquired the property in 2015.
It seems O'Leary is living up to his own standards of what makes a good leader. "The people whom I admire and see as truly successful are those who understand the importance of their team, their team's engagement and the culture of the organisation," he says. "If you don't have that, forget whatever else you are good at. I have seen managers who have not understood that, and their career has not moved on. Beyond that, you need an awareness of the industry and what today's customer and tomorrow's customer want. You can never do enough of that."
And as a forward-thinking hotelier, O'Leary also makes sure Gleneagles gives back to the community. The team engage with local tourism and community projects, including supporting the local Community Action Plan and working with local charities around mental health and homelessness, as well as providing work experience opportunities for local school children. Among other initiatives, the hotel works with industry charity HIT Scotland and offers several scholarships, including the Andrew Fairlie Scholarship for aspiring chefs. O'Leary also recently took on the role of honorary catering advisor to the Armed Forces.
With all that responsibility, it's no wonder O'Leary is an advocate of finding things to enjoy outside of work. For him, it's spending time with wife Ilana and four-year-old daughter Eadie. "We are a social family so we like having people round and cooking and playing golf and being outdoors with the dog. And my wife and I like finding out what is new in restaurants, whether that is up the road or internationally."
It's that curiosity and passion that has driven O'Leary as he has led the transformation of Gleneagles, retaining its iconic status while at the same time gaining him a place among the industry's icons too.
What the judges said
Harry Murray, president, HOSPA (1986 winner) "This charismatic and inspirational hotelier has successfully focused his attention on employee engagement, training and development to deliver the highest possible standards of service and hospitality."
Robin Hutson, chairman of the Pig Hotels and Lime Wood Group (2003 winner) "This is not a simple property to run, the level of service and attention to detail that the team deliver under Conor's direction is very impressive for such an extensive property."
Sally Beck, general manager, Royal Lancaster London (2019 winner) "Conor stood out for his consistent follow-through on great initiatives and his continued all-round support for his team, his hotel, the wider environment and industry."
Adrian Ellis, general manager, the Lowry, Manchester (2022 winner) "Conor was an outstanding choice for this year's Hotelier of the Year. His fantastic achievements in growing business results at Gleneagles as well as the continued improvements made to quality of services and warm approach with team members were extremely impressive."
Gordon Campbell Gray, founder, Campbell Gray Hospitality (2002 winner) "Despite the scale and complexity of the hotel he oversees, Conor always exudes a sense of supreme and impressive calm. I have known Gleneagles since I was a boy, and it has always been one of the most special places in Scotland but it has reached a new level under the professional eye of Conor."
Andrew McKenzie, managing director, the Vineyard at Stockcross (2009 winner) "Conor has an unfussy style and very easy manner; he wears his role lightly, which is no easy task when you consider he runs one of the world's iconic hotels. He is a great example to up-and-coming hoteliers."
Fiona Duncan, hotel critic and travel writer "I recently had the chance to spend time at Gleneagles and saw at first-hand why under Conor's benign, professional and committed leadership, the hotel provides its guests with such a superb all-round experience. Crucially, Conor understands that Gleneagles' place in the community and its long history are integral to its success today."
Richard Ball, executive chairman, the Calcot Collection (2006 winner) "Conor stood out for his achievements around employee development and engagement which have inspired and equipped his innovational team to reach ever-higher standards and revenue growth at Gleneagles. We loved how Conor has developed Gleneagles to be force for good in both the industry and community."
Sue Williams, general manager, Whatley Manor (2017 winner) "When you think of the enormity of Conor's role, leading the regeneration of such an iconic hotel, with well-documented success and then leading his team to deliver such a standout level of service, you know you are in the presence of a most worthy winner."
Stuart Bowery, multi-property general manager, JW Marriott Grosvenor House London (2013 winner) "Conor is a true gentleman and grounded hotelier, who has steadfastly managed a significant transformation of Gleneagles. With its scale and complexities, Conor fosters a highly engaged team at a destination that retains its iconic status and relevance."
Andrew Stembridge, executive director, Iconic Luxury Hotels (2010 winner) "Conor is undoubtedly on the crest of a wave, setting new benchmarks for hospitality at both Gleneagles and in Edinburgh, leading the resurgence in Scottish tourism, and all with great humility and respect for everyone around him."
Jonathan Raggett, chief executive, Red Carnation Hotels (2009 winner) "Since taking over at the helm of an already amazing and iconic hotel, Conor and his team have completed a five-year full refurbishment of the whole asset and doubled profits in the same period. He is a hard working and charismatic leader who is hugely respected by his team, guests and industry peers."
What the sponsor says
"Casna is extremely proud to sponsor the Hotelier of the Year award, as it highlights the excellent work taking place in today's hospitality industry. Being successful at this level takes a huge amount of hard work, commitment and a total dedication to exceeding excellence. These are the standards and ethics that we share at Casna and this is why we sponsor this prestigious award.
"The hospitality industry continues to be an industry that offers huge opportunities for young professionals and it is more important than ever before to recognise those individuals at the top of the industry that help drive the business forward and inspire future generations to consider hotelkeeping as a career of choice. Casna is also committed to inspire growth and development through our Casna Leadership Academy.
"The Hotelier of the Year award is an accolade of the highest honour that Casna is delighted to have been associated with for the last 15 years."
