What did he learn from those great names of hospitality ? “ I learned the priority in running a hotel is actually the people ,” says Gowili , whose meteoric rise in the hotel , from front of

house manager to GM in five years , surprised no one . “ You treat people the way that you want to be treated . They ’ re the ones that make a hotel . The Ritz may be a grande dame of London , but it ’ s bricks and mortar . It ’ s the people that bring it alive .”

Gowili will have his work cut out in a hotel that has 350 staff for 136 rooms , serves 200 for lunch and dinner in the restaurant and bar and does an average of 410 covers , seven days a week , for the famous afternoon tea .

Calm , formal , immaculate , 40-yearold Gowili epitomizes The Ritz . Measured in all he does , a sudden

burst of passion lights up his face when he expresses his frustration that hospitality is not respected as a profession in the UK in the way it is in Switzerland , France or even Germany . “ I don ’ t think we ’ ve done ourselves any favors ,” he says . “ We ’ ve still have a way to go to change the perception . There is still a lot of work that needs to be done within the industry to promote it as a whole . Two years ago we started the Ritz Academy , getting young people in , training them up and giving them skills .”

In his downtime , Gowili reads , follows industry stalwarts

like Harry Murray on Twitter and remains involved in the industry .

If he could change anything , he ’ d like to make The Ritz bigger . “ I ’ d love an extra 100 suites — we could certainly fill them ,” he says . But despite Andrew Love ’ s role on all the important local community organizations , Gowili will have to content himself alongside Executive Chef John Williams MBE , pushing the boundaries of afternoon tea . They recently introduced “ The Epicurean Tea Tasting ,” featuring six rare teas chosen by certified tea master Giando Scanu .

Nonetheless , Gowili is content . “ The Ritz is

The Ritz , and anyone who comes in has to treat it with respect ,” he says . “ It ’ s not for me to make major changes . it ’ s about fine-tuning and having respect for the legacy . We ’ re just custodians of this property and we need to maintain the brand , the service and the legend .”

Born a “ hotel child ” to a father who worked for 20 years at Trusthouse Forte , Gowili spent all his university vacations working in hotels . The only question is what led him to him study chemical engineering . Working with people lured him away from fluid mechanics . He has clearly never looked back .