UK: International Hospitality Media, the publisher of Serviced Apartment News, held its first face-to-face event since March in London yesterday.
Hosted at the Bermonds Locke aparthotel, which is opening tomorrow, the event, which was limited to 30 attendees, saw guests enjoy coffee and breakfast before being welcomed to the property by IHM CEO Piers Brown and Eric Jafari, creative director at edyn Group.
Event sponsor Andrew Harrington, founding partner of AHV Associates, then gave a presentation on the hospitality investment landscape and how it has been affected by the pandemic.
A debate then followed, titled Owner or operator – where does the power lie? The motion for the debate was “In the redrawn hospitality landscape, the imbalance of power between owners and operators is greater than ever. Real estate is king and owners are in the driving seat”.
Gerard Nolan, of Gerard Nolan and Partners, gave a detailed and heartfelt proposal for the motion, followed by an equally rigorous opposition from Ben Davis of Saxbury and Wyndham EMEA president Dimitris Manikis.
The discussion was then opened up to the audience, which contained owners, operators and owner/operators. Although the debate was pitched in a lighthearted adversarial style, the consensus in the room was clearly that operators and owners are interdependent and in the current situation they need to come up with more flexible ways to support each other through the crisis.
The socially distanced business breakfast was attended by representatives from PKF, Sir Richard Sutton, Barnham Broom, Watson Farley Williams, Think Hospitality, Brookfield, LyvInn, Cairn Group, Supercity, Roomzzz, Montcalm Hotels, Lamington Group, Lowy Group and more.
If you are interested in hosting or sponsoring a Dine and Learn session, please contact info@internationalhospitality.media
