International Women’s Day 2023

It’s International Women’s Day and we’re celebrating all the fantastic women who are part of what makes The Inn Collection Group what it is today.

Women are represented strongly across the company, all the way from the teams at the Inns charged with making people happy to the board of directors driving the growth of the pub with rooms operator.

Growing in both terms of the number of Inns that are part of the group and revenue incoming, just some of the brilliant individuals who are instrumental in that success are highlighted below.

Driving the growth and development of the estate, Louise Stewart is The Inn Collection Group’s property director and leads the team responsible for the renovation of sites.

Since joining the company in 2021, Louise has deployed her more than 20 years of experience in the commercial property industry to full effect and has overseen a multitude of high-profile projects.

These have included the refurbishments of The Hog’s Head Inn at Alnwick, The Bamburgh Castle Inn at Seahouses and the complete transformation of The Northallerton Inn from the town’s redundant police station.

She is also a key member of the acquisition process with the group bringing landmark properties such as the former Park Hotel in Tynemouth, The Waterhead Inn at Ambleside the Midland Hotel in Morecambe into the estate.

Joining the group from consultants Silverstone Building Consultancy, where she was a director, Louise has vast experience in project managing multi-million-pound refurbishments of commercial property and new-build developments, as well as pre-acquisition surveys and feasibility studies.

Following rapid growth in recent years, the company’s people function is headed up by experienced professional Liz Robertson, who oversees the attracting of talented people to the organisation and their ongoing development once recruited.

Liz joined the group after 14 years with Fenwick Ltd as the head of HR and training and has a passion for leading and developing people and their careers.

Promoting the company, digital marketing manager Zoe Cooper has been with the company for three years and started out as the senior marketing executive before progressing to lead all aspects of digital marketing within the group.

Developing its online presence, Zoe has been instrumental in developing strong sales in the digital sphere, with more than £4m worth of bookings coming from that stream in 2022.

She has recently been joined by a  newly appointed brand manager Megan Dryden, who is leading on the group’s efforts to increase awareness of the individual inns sitting as part of the wider group as well as protecting its distinctive identity.

Joining from Newcastle-based Black Rose Pubs, she has a wealth of experience in the hospitality industry and strengthens the ICG team as it looks to continue its impressive performance.

Driving revenues across the group, the revenue management team is entirely female, with Lisa O’Neil leading Charlotte Adamson, Rachel Ironside, Lisa Kozakova and Rebecca Taylor with a particular focus on strong occupancy rates to then drive incremental revenue across the estate.

Rachel is a new addition to the team that has joined from Inn-telligence, a hotel management company, whilst Lisa joined after the group acquired The Black Swan in Helmsley where she served as business development manager for six years.

Charlotte has worked her way up through The Inn Collection Group having also worked as a member of the front of house team at The Commissioners Quay Inn at Blyth in 2019, before moving into central reservations function before making the switch to revenue.

That is a path that has also been trodden by Jan Moffett, who has progressed from a member of the team at The Bamburgh Castle Inn to one of the supervisors in the central reservations team.

As one of the first points of contact for customers with The Inn Collection Group, Jan uses all of her experience of the company and the estate to create an effective team of agents able to provide the best possible service to those they engage with.

The lady with overall responsibility for these functions is Kate Bentley, The Inn Collection Group’s rooms director.

Kate worked with the Inn Collection Group on a consultancy basis, when she presided over a dramatic increase in bedroom sales across the group before coming on board full time.

Heading up Marketing, Reservations, and Revenue, Kate started her career in creative marketing agencies before moving into the world of hospitality revenue management, where she co-founded a Revenue Management Consultancy that has worked with hotels and inns nationwide, managing their rooms and drive profitability.

It’s not just at the central support hub where The Inn Collection Group has strong women representing the company either, with key roles across its 32 site strong portfolio also filled by inspiring females.

Ensuring the highest standards are maintained at Seahouses’ The Bamburgh Castle Inn, Ady Brannigan is the venue’s head housekeeper and has been ensuring  guests step into fresh, welcoming spaces for more than 15 years.

In that time, she has worked at both of the company’s most northerly sites, with stints at The Lindisfarne Inn alongside her tenure in Seahouses with her cheery demeanour shining through.

Driving excellence, Ady ventured from Northumbria to Cumbria in 2020 and brought all her experience to bare, as she established a brand-new housekeeping team at The Ambleside Inn upon its reopening.

There are also strong women at the very top of the teams at individual inns too, with a host of female general and assistant general managers across the estate.

This is no more so true than at two of The Inn Collection Group’s highest profile venues, with Nellie Bolton part of a wife and husband team in place as GMs at the soon to reopen The Swan in Grasmere and Rebecca Hardcastle the assistant GM at Dean Court in York.

Beckie is another leader with vast experience at her site, having started in front of house straight out of school and staying with the venue after it was acquired by The Inn Collection Group in 2021.

Laura Wilson is currently leading the team at The Stables, Whitby, which is undergoing an exciting refurbishment and set to reopen very soon.

Out in the field and overseeing all matters for seven sites across Co. Durham and North Yorkshire, Nicola Fortune is another valued member of the company who has progressed up through the ranks.

Originally serving as general manager at both The Commissioners Quay Inn and The Bamburgh Castle Inn, Nicola now ensures the smooth operation of her sites and working with the teams at here Inns to maintain the highest of standards.

With a recruitment drive currently in progress across the group as a result of 12 sites re-opening, these brilliant women will undoubtedly be joined by other formidable female talents in their fields by the end of the year.

To all those currently with us, thank you for everything you do!