PERSONALITIES
ON THE ROAD WITH
Vivek Chadha
ANOTHER ACCIDENTAL HOTELIER CONNECTS FIRST WITH RISKY PROJECTS AND NOW HAS AIMS ACROSS EUROPE .
Contributed by PIPPA ISBELL
Vivek Chadha is a man of restless energy . Only 30 , he is the key driver behind the expansion of London-based hotel development company Nine Group , which over the past two years has become one of the fastest-growing private hotel companies in the U . K .
Graduating from university with a civil engineering degree , he got into the hotel business , like so many others , “ by coincidence .” He shadowed a project manager working on a hotel and found it “ more exciting than plain vanilla residential or commercial development .”
In 2011 , at only 23 years old , he came across an unfinished hotel development in Watford , north of London . The original developers had gone bust and he managed to acquire it by raising money from the banking contacts of family and friends . The development now is a Holiday Inn .
He counts “ convincing bankers to take on risky projects ” as one of the greatest challenges he has overcome , along with starting the business during a period of recession , and planning and achieving continued growth in the face of Brexit , which already is creating staffing challenges for the hospitality industry . Not a man to let such things stand in his way , just this March he founded Hotelhouse . co , a bespoke hospitality recruitment platform designed to reduce high staff turnover , increase retention , address the lack of suitable candidates and lower the high costs of hiring by allowing hoteliers to advertise their roles free of charge . The platform runs a strict qualifying process to be listed – a hotel must offer a minimum level of staff benefits and have a focus on employee wellbeing .
The Nine Group has acquired and developed 18 hotels over the past six years and employs over 900 people . It was founded on buying properties and developments out of administration . “ Back in 2013 , for two or three years it was possible to buy hotels valued around £ 25 million ( US $ 35
16 hotelsmag . com May 2018