Acorns 2021: Iona Macleod, 26

Front office manager, Kimpton Blythswood Square, Glasgow

Nominator Gillian Mylles, hotel manager, Kimpton Blythswood Square

Iona Macleod started as a graduate manager at Blythswood Square in 2017 and two years later, aged 24, was offered the role of housekeeping manager. Despite inheriting a fragmented team and having no housekeeping experience, she helped complete the rebrand from Principal to Kimpton Blythswood Square, which included a soft refurbishment and a million-pound refurbishment of the penthouse.

It was certainly a challenging first management role. She was the seventh manager in nine years and the 50-strong team were unengaged. However, through hard work she built a culture of trust and was not only commended by the director of people for the group but nominated by her team as Manager of the Year 2019.

The numbers say it all. There was a positive improvement in the guest satisfaction metric from 15% in January 2019 to 100% by March 2019. And by improving standards, she increased audit scores from 92% during an AA audit to 100% for the Visit Scotland audit.

Macleod has developed resilience and strong people management skills, making her an obvious choice to take the front office role following a restructure. Her remit is to stabilise and engage the team, improve guest satisfaction metrics and take the opportunity to become more commercially focused.

She won a place on the HIT Art of Leadership scholarship in Lausanne and is completing the HIT Talent development management course. She has also mentored five apprentices.

What is the most positive people change you see for your sector post-restrictions?

“I’ve noticed a need for and an appreciation of heartfelt human connections. The kindness across all sectors post-restrictions is second to none. The desire to work as one and the focus on mental health and achieving a good work-life balance have also been encouraging.”

Photography: Hospitality Media/Adrian Franklin

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