Tony Troy to step down as CEO at De Vere Hotels

Tony Troy will be stepping down from his role as chief executive of De Vere Hotels at the end of the month to “pursue other private investment opportunities”.

He will continue to support De Vere by taking on a non-executive director position.

Troy was chief executive of the Principal Hotel Company, a 34-strong hotel collection created from a portfolio of properties built up by American private investment firm Starwood Capital, consolidating the Principal Hayley Group, De Vere Venues, Four Pillars Hotels and two hotels from the Town House Collection. From the disparate collection of properties, Troy oversaw the consolidation of the hotels to create two distinct brands: Principal, an urban lifestyle brand, and De Vere, a collection of country house properties focusing on events, food and beverage spaces and gardens.

In July 2018, the Principal portfolio was sold to Covivio for £858m and it was agreed that Troy would remain for a period to assist the transition of the remaining De Vere Group to become a standalone business. Due to the pandemic, he chose to stay on to provide strategic support and direction. Having navigated through the challenging period, he will move into a non-executive role.

Cody Bradshaw, managing director, global head of hotel asset management, Starwood Capital, said: “Eight years ago, we embarked on an investment strategy aimed at consolidating more than 50 hotels across four different UK hotel companies to form a leading platform. Through Tony’s expert knowledge of the industry and his great entrepreneurial skills he made a significant contribution to the overall success of the strategy.”

James Burrell, who joined Principal Hotel Company as chief financial officer in 2014, will take on the role of chief executive.

Bradshaw added: “James is a proven executive with a successful track record of creating growth and value during his time with Principal, and we are incredibly pleased that he has agreed to continue his leadership role with De Vere as CEO. His leadership has been invaluable, particularly over the last two years, and we look forward to the group continuing to thrive under his stewardship.”