Recapping the Highlights of the Annual Hotel Conference 2023

This September, we took on an honourable role of a Patron Sponsor at the Annual Hotel Conference. Dubbed as the best UK hospitality investment conference, the AHC is by far a highlight in our calendar! The event, held annually at Manchester Central Convention Complex, attracts global hospitality leaders, experts, operators, investors and suppliers. It is a buzzing cocktail of networking, analysing trends, discussing current issues (and pondering impactful solutions), but most of all connecting with industry friends. Every year, the best in hospitality share their insights and approaches to dealing with market challenges and it is the place to find out the direction the industry is heading, spot trends and areas of focus, learn about inspiring initiatives and product innovations that drive sustainable business growth.

As a Patron Sponsor, Michels and Taylor joined the event’s Advisory Board to shape the content of the conference and this year the theme was ‘Adapt to Thrive’, reflecting the economic landscape of the last 12 months, with a focus to ‘support the industry, embrace challenges and inspire action, where we can adapt to thrive’ – as the organisers suitably put it.

Despite busy diaries, our leaders and colleagues attending the conference made a real mark on the conference this year, with standout content they shared with all the delegates.

Our CEO and founder, Hugh Taylor OBE, took part in a panel discussion alongside Joe Stather VP, Market Leader - Operational Real Estate at Questex Hospitality, Neil Kirk, COO of L&R Hotels and Puneet Kanuga, Chief Investment Officer at EQ Group on how industry insights will shape hoteliers’ business plans for next year. The speakers decoded industry data presented earlier in the day by STR, Christie and Co and HotStats and translated it into business strategy in a ‘Stats to Strategy: Applying the Data’ plenary session.  Positions of banks, the weight of capital, strength of MICE business, distressed hotels in EU versus the UK and impact of raising interest rates were just some of the areas the panellists touched on. Hugh shared his view by saying: “What you’ve got to do when you have a hotel is understand your market incredibly well, know what the drivers are, know the macro- and micro-environment... and make sure you can mitigate where required.” The talk was a real highlight amongst all attending, with one industry leader congratulating Hugh for his panel saying: ‘It was thoroughly refreshing to hear someone not afraid to “say it as it is”, he made for compelling viewing and in my view one of the standout performers across the 2 days, genuinely.’ Read more about the session here.

Next, our very own Sir David Michels gave a rare News Desk interview – another event highlight, given Sir David’s legendary status in the industry. Sir David was asked about his illustrious career and shared his views on the current set of challenges the industry is facing.

To top it off, we officially launched three new advisory services to help owners optimise their hotel’s commercial performance, without having to commit to a full Independent Business Review. The new products are: Remote Revenue Service, which manages yield management and pricing decisions for the hotel on a live, ongoing basis; Commercial Health Check, which gives the owner a full critique and detailed recommendations on their entire approach to top line management; and Property Services, which support owners with their capital investment programmes.  Throughout the conference, our expert team were available to talk to the delegates and answer any questions about the products, which garnered considerable interest and fit in well with the ‘Adapt to Thrive’ theme of the event.

Similarly to last year, the AHC was a great success with plenty of opportunity to network, meet with old friends, welcome visitors to our stand and make new connections, only this time we felt more at home being here for the second time. We made the most out of the two day’s agenda and meeting our industry colleagues.  The atmosphere, buzzing and infectious, left us with a positive outlook that our industry, full of great minds, passionate investors and those that offer a network of support is as resilient as ever.

You can learn more about the newly launched services by visiting the Hotel Management or Asset Management sections of our website, or by simply giving us a call.

All images on behalf of Questex Hospitality by www.simoncallaghanphotography.com