Peter Lederer retires from Gleneagles after 30 years

06 November 2014 by
Peter Lederer retires from Gleneagles after 30 years

Peter Lederer, 64, has announced he is to retire as chairman of Gleneagles hotel, Auchterarder, at the end of the year. A replacement has not been named.

He will also step down as a director of drinks multinational Diageo in Scotland, which owns the hotel.

The news comes a week after general manager Patrick Elsmie announced his own retirement as managing director at the 232-bedroom hotel. Current general manager Bernard Murphy will take up the role.

Lederer's career at Gleneagles, spans 30 years. He joined the five-star hotel as general manager in 1984, becoming managing director in 1987 and chairman in 2007. He is credited with leading the transformation of the hotel from a seasonal golf resort into one of the world's leading luxury hotels and was instrumental in bringing the 2014 Ryder Cup to Gleneagles in September this year.

Arguably, Lederer's contribution to the wider Scottish hospitality industry has had even more impact. Notable high-profile roles include being chairman of VisitScotland from 2001-10; a board member of the Leading Hotels of the World and chairman of Hamilton & Inches and the Saltire Foundation.

In recent years, Lederer played a broader leadership role for Diageo's business in Scotland, representing the company on the CBI Scotland board and the Secretary of State for Scotland's Business Board. He also led the establishment of the Diageo Learning for Life Scotland programme, a £5m initiative launched in January 2014 to help young unemployed people find training and job opportunities in the hospitality industry.

Together, Gleneagles and Lederer have won numerous awards. Highlights include Gleneagles scooping the Hotel of the Year Catey in 1985, and Lederer winning the Leisure and Tourism Catey in 1993 and being named The Caterer‘s Hotelier of the Year in 1997. More recently, in 2011, he was given the Lifetime Achievement accolade at the AA Hospitality Awards. In 2005, Lederer was made a CBE for services to the industry.

Diageo corporate relations director Charlotte Lambkin said: "Peter's contribution to Diageo and to Scottish public life has been remarkable. He was instrumental in transforming Gleneagles into a global benchmark for luxury and quality hospitality and for bringing the Ryder Cup to Scotland, with such success.

"He is rightly respected across Scottish civic life for his leadership and for his major contribution to the hospitality and tourism sector in which he has been an outstanding figure for the past 30 years."

Lederer's career started after a four-year hotel and catering management course at Hendon College, London, and an Advanced Management Programme at Insead near Paris in 1994. He lived in Canada for much of his early career, where he filled operational, administrative and senior management roles in Ottawa and Montreal with the Four Seasons hotel group and Plaza Hotels in Toronto. He was also a partner for two years in a hospitality consulting group.

Commenting on his retirement, he said: "It has been a privilege to be part of such great industry, both hospitality and Scotch Whisky, which are at the forefront of promoting Scotland on the world stage. I would like to thank all of those I have worked with over that time.

"Anything I have achieved in my career has always been part of a team effort and I'm grateful for the support I have received along the way."

Patrick Elsmie to step down as Gleneagles MD >>

It's swing time at Gleneagles >>

TagsHotels and Careers
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