Seren Collection launches management consultancy to ‘support Welsh hospitality’

The Seren Collection has launched management and consultancy services for independent hotels and restaurants across Wales as part of a “natural evolution” of the company.

Neil Kedward, chief executive of the Welsh hospitality group, told The Caterer: “We have been actively talking about this opportunity for many years as some of my industry peers will tell you, and so this really is a natural evolution for us.

“Companywide we have so much strength in depth and the ambition is there to do more to support the Welsh hospitality sector – this is one way we can do that.”

Neil and his wife Zoe founded Seren with the purchase of a derelict country house in Pembrokeshire in 2008, which they transformed into the Hotel Catey-winning Grove of Narbeth hotel.

Seren's four other venues include the Coast restaurant in Saundersfoot, the Beach House restaurant in Oxwich and the Penmaenuchaf hotel in Gwynedd.

Neil said Welsh hospitality has “steadily been transformed” over the past ten 10 years, offering “high-profile hotel venues and restaurants” to a growing volume of international visitors.

He added that there were benefits to providing consultancy services while “being embedded within the sector”, as it meant the team had a “better understanding of the very real day to day challenges venues face".

The inspiration for the scheme came from the group's team and will see the involvement of senior managers across Seren’s venues, such as Karen Weisheit and Christie Hayes, as well as senior directors Thomas Ferrante, Mourad Ben Tekfa, and Alexios Stasinopoulos.

Neil said Seren is “regularly approached” for advice from a range of businesses and is currently “talking to perspective clients” after it launched the service last week.

There will be full management support packages for strategic and operational change, as well as advice on capital project investments.

Neil said the costs will “vary greatly” depending on the level of support being offered.

He added: “The team are ready to do more for Wales and we feel that this is a great opportunity for us to share our expertise. We are inspired by Wales and we’re looking forward to meeting new clients and learning more about their vision and projects for the future.”