IHG Strengthens Europe Development Team With Two Senior Appointments
New roles will help strengthen IHG’s luxury presence in Europe, accelerate UK&I growth
November 08, 2018 // Franchising.com // IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has today announced two new senior appointments to further reinforce its development presence in Europe.
- Josh Littman joins IHG as Head of Luxury Development, Europe, responsible for overseeing development opportunities for IHG’s luxury brand portfolio in Europe.
- Jon Colley has been appointed as IHG’s Head of Development, UK and Ireland, responsible for accelerating our growth in this key market.
IHG is already a global leader in the luxury segment with InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, and our acquisition of Regent® Hotels & Resorts in July further expanded our footprint in this fast-growing, high-value segment. Our luxury boutique brand, Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, continues to expand in Europe, with signings including Paris, Frankfurt and Barcelona, as well as the Kimpton® Fitzroy in London. This UK debut follows an agreement by IHG earlier this year to rebrand and operate a portfolio of hotels in the UK, which secured an additional three Kimpton properties in the UK, and made IHG the country’s leading luxury hotel operator.
The UK remains a key market for IHG and accelerating our growth across our brand portfolio continues to be a focus. This includes opportunities for our new upscale brand, voco™ Hotels, which currently has two hotels in the development pipeline in the country, in addition to four properties that will rebrand as part of the UK portfolio deal.
Both roles will play a significant part in further developing and driving our brand portfolio in Europe.
Josh Littman joins IHG with a wealth of experience in hotel development and the luxury hotel sector. Josh began his career in operations, sales and marketing for Mandarin Oriental Hotels before working with Kerzner International’s Atlantis and One & Only brands. Prior to joining IHG, Josh was Vice President and Head of Development, EMEA, Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos. Before Hard Rock, Josh worked for real estate financial and economic advisory firm, Economics Research Associates, where he consulted on a wide variety of global luxury hospitality and real-estate investment and development projects.
Jon Colley joins the business with deep experience in hotel development and investment. He began his career in banking, working for Barclays as Relationship Manager in the Leisure team, before joining the Royal Bank of Scotland as Business Development Director – Hotels. He then spent five years at Hilton Hotels & Resorts as Development Director, UK and Ireland, before joining International Hotel Group as Chief Investment Officer before becoming Chief Executive Officer.
Rajit Sukumaran, Chief Development Officer, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa (EMEAA), IHG, commented: “The appointments of Josh and Jon into these new roles reflects IHG’s focus on accelerating growth in key markets, as well as capitalising on some significant opportunities for IHG in the high-value, high-growth luxury segment. Both join us at an exciting time as we pursue opportunities to develop both our existing and newly launched brands in Europe, and their expertise will be key to strengthening IHG’s presence in the region.”
About IHG®
IHG ® (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with a broad portfolio of hotel brands, including Regent Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo®, EVEN® Hotels, HUALUXE® Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, voco™ Hotels, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express®, Holiday Inn Club Vacations®, Holiday Inn Resort®, avid® hotels, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®.
IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns more than 5,500 hotels and approximately 826,000 guest rooms in almost 100 countries, with more than 1,800 hotels in its development pipeline. IHG also manages IHG® Rewards Club, our global loyalty programme, which has more than 100 million enrolled members.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales. More than 375,000 people work across IHG's hotels and corporate offices globally.
Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.ihgrewardsclub.com for more on IHG Rewards Club. For our latest news, visit: www.ihgplc.com/media and follow us on social media at: www.twitter.com/ihg and www.facebook.com/ihg.
Media Contacts:
Michael Kissman
michael.kissman@ihg.com
+44 (0) 7970 889 317
Tieran Bhuhi
tieran.bhuhi@ihg.com
+44 (0) 7976 178 485
SOURCE IHG ® (InterContinental Hotels Group)
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