Oyo appoints new UK boss

Indian hotel group Oyo has appointed Rishabh Gupta as its new head of UK business, succeeding Jeremy Sanders, who is leaving Oyo to spend more time with his family.

Sanders, former chief executive and co-founder of the Coco di Mama restaurant chain, joined the group last year to lead its UK operations. Gupta previously led Oyo in Indonesia and will take over the role over an agreed handover period with Sanders in the new year.

Since launching in the UK in October 2018, Oyo has recruited 200 franchised and leased hotels in what was the group's first market outside of Asia and has since committed more than £40m of investment here.

Oyo said: “We are sad to say goodbye to Jeremy after an exciting year of UK expansion, during which we’ve hired 500 people across seven offices; brought 200 UK hotels with 5,000 rooms onto the Oyo platform across more than 50 cities and towns — from bustling London to the tranquil Scottish Highlands — and built the UK business from scratch to one that’s having a positive impact on the economies and communities in which we operate.

“Under Rishabh’s leadership, we look forward to continuing Oyo’s growth in the UK in 2020 and for the long-term.

“Our thanks goes to Jeremy, who has demonstrated the traits of a true Oyopreneur in growing the UK business so far.”

Founded by chief executive Ritesh Agarwal in 2013, Oyo is India's largest hospitality company with regards to number of rooms. The company is backed by investors including AirBnB, SoftBank Vision Fund, Greenoak Capital, Sequoia India, Lightspeed India, Hero Enterprise and China Lodging Group. Oyo partners with small-scale hoteliers to transform their service through technology.