The Caterer interview: Steve Cassidy, senior vice-president and managing director of Hilton

The senior vice-president and managing director of Hilton has overseen a refurbishment to the brand’s oldest UK site. He reveals how food and drink experiences are leading the updated offering

 

It’s been 60 years of Hilton in the UK and this hotel – London Hilton on Park Lane – was the first. The brand must have changed considerably since 1963…

 

If you go back 60 years, this was not only the first Hilton, but it was also a platform for innovation in its day, such as ensuite rooms, TVs in the room and room service. Fast-forward and that’s all a given now. What we’ve done with the refurbishment is to try to reintroduce the feel of the 1960s, but to add modernity to it too. It’s been exciting to look back at our heritage and introduce it into some of the design concepts you see around the hotel.

 

But equally, it’s a big message of progress. This has been a huge investment, coupled with a number of other key investments around the UK, so it’s a symbol of the growth. It’s the transformation of the Hilton estate from one hotel 60 years ago to 160 hotels today, with another 20 in the pipeline.

 

The refurbishment has been extensive. Has it enabled you to reposition the property in the market? How have you harked back to the hotel’s roots?

 

Customers rightly expect value for money. We’re all aware of inflation and the cost of living increases that people are experiencing, so it’s appropriate that we’re investing in the customer experience.

 

Customers want differentiation, they want a unique experience, and through investments like this, we’re able to give them that. Where we’re sitting now [the Revery Bar in London Hilton on Park Lane] was a walkway into a reception area for the meetings and events space. It still provides all that functionality, but it also has a 50-cover bar and café.

 

And Hilton London Metropole has had a significant refurbishment too?

 

It has, along with its sister hotel, the Hilton Birmingham Metropole. One way to bring differentiation to life is through food and drink experiences, and that’s been a key feature of the refurbishments and investments. Here at London Hilton on Park Lane we have the brasserie that caters for a wide range of diners, we have fine dining on the top floor and a more casual food and drink offering in the Revery bar – it’s about offering customers choice.

 

There has always been an ongoing cycle of investment in our properties. What we offer customers has to provide value and that means modern facilities are crucial.

 

 

Both the Metropole hotels are huge. Do you have to make them resort-like to cater for all these parts and guest needs?

 

These hotels change personality throughout the week. They might host business people from all over the world during the week and have more of a domestic leisure audience at the weekend, with family members booking the rooms. Having a breadth of offerings is important to cater to all those different markets.

 

With new hotels and many refurbishments ongoing the London hotel market is changing fast. How do you see the market in the capital and the wider UK?

 

When you look at brand Britain and brand London, it’s never been stronger. Major events in the past few years, particularly the Coronation, have re-established Britain in the eyes of international visitors. We’re competing for those visitors – and they can choose to go anywhere in the world. Not only do they have a great experience when they come and see the various attractions around Britain, but when visitors are staying in hotels, it’s a great experience too. And that’s why we put our money where our mouth is.

 

Visitors are clearly seeing value in the UK due to the exchange rate. Are you able to push the revenue per available room as a result?

 

There’s a lot of squeeze on the bottom line because of rising costs, but we’re seeing huge demand for our hotels, particularly internationally. The US has been extremely strong over the last 12 months in particular, but we are still seeing travellers from markets such as Japan and China, India and South Asia, even the Gulf countries, so we’re really excited about that potential.

 

What are your plans for new hotels?

 

There are 20 new hotels in the pipeline and I think you’re seeing a story of thoughtful growth from us. We currently have 10 brands, and there will be 11 once we open Motto in Glasgow next year. We’ve also got a couple of hotels opening in key locations that are helping our regeneration story, such as Nuneaton in Warwickshire and Rochdale in Greater Manchester, where we are taking the Hampton brand. We’ve also announced a Tapestry hotel in Portrush in Ireland that will be called Marcus. Back when this hotel opened 60 years ago, establishing a Hilton in London meant you were suddenly on the map to an international audience that wasn’t available before, and so we have a mini version of that in places like Portrush. All of a sudden people from anywhere in the world are putting Northern Ireland into the Hilton Honors app and up pops Portrush. That kind effect, when it takes place in economies and communities, can be absolutely huge.

 

 

Are any brands priorities in the UK right now?

 

Obviously we have different price points and different value propositions for different customers and different occasions, so we hope to be able to match that with the stable of 10 brands that we have.

 

The new Tapestry collection provides us with the ability to create a unique brand in a particular location under the umbrella of a collection brand. For the more value-conscious customer, that’s working extremely well for us. We’re really excited about the Curio Collection brands in the UK. We have eight in the UK and another to open shortly. One of the first openings was Trafalgar Square, which is a neighbour of one of the most exciting developments we’ve undertaken, Admiralty Arch.

 

How are plans progressing for Waldorf Astoria London Admiralty Arch? It looks like an incredible location but a difficult building…

 

It’s interesting. The building is 100 years old, so it’s not as old as you might think. It was a memorial to Queen Victoria from her son, King Edward VII, so it’s a memorial first and a building second. We’re in construction at the moment and we’re hoping it will be open in the next couple of years. It will have around 100 bedrooms. Developing more luxury hotels in London can only be an exciting thing.

 

Have you seen a return of the business traveller? Which overseas markets are most vibrant right now?

 

This year in particular, the more transient business travel has started to come back and the big corporates have started to trade well. Perhaps a bit later in the cycle is the group and meetings business, but we’re seeing bookings for that strongly now as well.

 

Bookings are still very late, but they’re coming through. The big demand is leisure travel and for great experiences.

 

 

How has Hilton UK been trading through the summer?

 

We’ve been pleased. In Q2 we were 22% up for this region so there’s big growth, though coming off poor comparables. We’ll wait and see. We’re always cautious about what’s around the corner.

 

Globally, demand has improved across all segments and regions, with system-wide occupancy for the quarter reaching the highest-level post-pandemic and only two percentage points off prior peak levels, with September just one point shy of 2019.

 

We’ve had strong performance in Europe – and specifically the UK – driven by continued strength in leisure demand and recovery in business travel.

 

What are your priorities as chair of UKHospitality? Are there any initiatives you are keen to really get behind?

 

My main priority is to support UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls and the incredible team there and the work they do. Our industry changes communities and employs a lot of people and is a generator of significant economic value. It has the ability to affect improvements in economic generation faster, quicker and better than any other industry, so my job is to help Kate and the team promote that message.

 

Many businesses are struggling right now. How can UKHospitality help?

 

I think we need to keep beating the drum around the competitiveness of our sector. Taxation is a crucial element of that, and VAT plays probably the biggest role at 20%. You only have to look across Europe and, in many cases, VAT levels are in single digits. We’ve got to watch out that we don’t see calls for increased local taxes on tourism and hospitality because we’re already a high-tax industry. It’s important that we keep an eye on the competitiveness of our sector and taxation plays a key role in that.

 

Steve Cassidy's CV

 

2015-present Senior vice-president and managing director, UK and Ireland, Hilton

 

2011-2015 Area vice-president, operations, UK and Ireland, Hilton

 

2009-2011 Vice-president, revenue management, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Hilton

 

2006-2008 General manager, long-haul revenue management, British Airways

 

2003-2006 Commercial director, British Airways CitiExpress

 

1999-2003 Vice-president, Asia Pacific and Middle East, British Airways World Cargo

 

Hilton in the UK and Ireland

 

Number of hotels 171

 

Rooms More than 36,000

 

Number of brands 10 (Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, LXR, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton, Curio Collection by Hilton, Canopy by Hilton, Tapestry by Hilton, Hampton by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn)

 

Staff 19,000 including franchise