Deirdre George

My career to date has provided me with a vast amount of experience in all areas of business management and at every stage of my fifteen year career has honed these skills to allow me to be successful in what I do. I love to strategise and my ability to effectively identify opportunities, to plan and execute actions utilising resources to the benefit of a company has delivered great results. I enjoy bringing people with me and instilling vision and passion I feel for projects and take great pleasure in imparting my knowledge and experience to rising stars so they too can grow and achieve great things.

The importance of team is vital and I have learned that my ability to listen and communicate with people at all levels is the key to driving loyalty and success. I have found the ever changing nature of business and the need to change and initiate action to stay ahead of the curve has been very rewarding to me and effective for the companies i have worked for. I have developed over my career into a dedicated conscientious person who causes positive change on my environment whilst delivering profitability and work on the achievement of success in everything I do.

Jurys Inn Group Ltd

2014 to 2016

Regional Operations Manager - UK North

·                Outperformed UK North competitors in market performance, YTD 2016 UK North is exceeding the market in Rev Par percentage change by 3.9%

·                Key part of a management team that delivered outstanding results which supported the attraction and sale of Jurys Inns to become part of  the Amaris Hospitality Group

·                Consistently outperformed market in the region in 2015 and 2016, through management of the Sales and Revenue function, both at property and with my colleagues in the support function.

·                Developed a number of people to a GM Role, directly responsible for six existing; successful GMs who progressed through the company

·                Company Nominated Trustee of Jurys Inn Defined Benefit Pension Scheme

Jurys Inn Group Ltd

2011 to 2014

Regional Operations Manager - UK South

·                Consistently exceeded budget for UK South during my tenure, improved profitability for the region which made the company more attractive in the marketplace.

·                Successfully negotiated closure of Jurys DB Pension Scheme. Protected members and improved extended benefits and rectified the funding gap for the scheme.

·                Outperformed UK South competitors in market performance, Significantly improved average rate in the region and exceeded RGI percentage change  by 3%; 2012 - 2014

·                Introduced a GM Networking Environment improving support structure and sharing of best practice and improving a sense of overall regional strategy.

Jurys Inn Heathrow

2010

General Manager

·                Successfully renegotiated Tam aircrew contract. making savings of over 100k; paving the way for improved AVR and market performance which is still occurring

·                Consistently grew Revpar and AVR , 9.2% & 11% respectively to support the overall turnaround strategy.

·                Bridged the gap of Revpar underperformance against market and grew Revpar index by 10% improving market share for the property and group

·                Generated significant ORC improvements in relation to F&B benchmarks, 7.5% increase YOY, increasing customer satisfaction and improved turnover figures.

Jurys Inn Chelsea

2004 to 2010 

General Manager

·                Achieving the majority of KPI’s in the hotel improving performance for the region and career progression possibilities winning Hotel Manager of the year at 2009 Employee Awards

·                Crises Managed a Boiler Implosion at Jurys Chelsea keeping the property open with no complaints or loss of revenue despite no hot water for five days.

·                Achieved bottom line targets; ‘05-’08 increase of 52%, which improved positioning of a strategically important property in the group

·                Grew Revpar and AVR,  ‘05-’08 31% & 33% increase respectively, which supported the overall growth strategy for the property

·                Exceeded GAP analysis score consistently since 2004,  ’05-’07 increase of 11% resulting in ’07 score of 92.6%, which improved Guests Satisfaction and loyalty scores

·                Developed all managers at Chelsea resulting in all of them achieving promotions within and outside the company

Jurys Inn Islington

2004

General Manager (Maternity Cover)

·                Maintained standards and bottom line during GM’s maternity leave exceeding budgeted bottom line and customer service targets improving performance of property.

·                Successfully project managed a complete refurbishment of a 150-seater restaurant to ‘Innfusion’ brand, in line with the company strategy

Earlier Career

Jurys Bristol Hotel

2003 to 2004

Deputy General Manager

Jurys Cardiff Hotel

2001 to 2003

Rooms Division Manager

Hilton National Croydon

1998 to 2001

Shift Leader

·                Strategised on the introduction of a new Sleep Product across a branded hotel chain to reposition the organisation to a new market. Developed business plans, collaborated with stakeholders, agreed suppliers and set standards to deliver success. Negotiated efficient roll out and ensured continued performance. Generated positive PR with duvet disposal and communicated ROI importance and targeted properties. Strategy facilitated transition from a budget brand to a mid-scale corporate business improving room rate by 4%.

·                Led and supported Jurys Inn UK North region during a time of great transition to Amaris Hospitality. Communicated importance of continued success and acted as spokesperson for concerns. Identified strengths and weaknesses of the team to ensure performance delivery and provide effective support, providing structure and focus on key results. Delivered in excess of 92 million turnover for the region, improving all key performance indicators to ensure successful transition.

·                Turned around a struggling high profile strategic midscale corporate London hotel. Reviewed operation and compiled business plan to address key challenges. Renegotiated contracts and Improved team cohesion and morale. Campaigned and secured capital for refurbishment to support change in sales strategy. Within eight month generated an extra 310k on budgeted profit, laying foundation for significant market outperformance and growth.

·                Improved loyalty and progression paths for a UK North Region hospitality group to reduce labour turnover.  Gained in depth knowledge of teams and their needs, collaborating with Group and properties to address issues and facilitates support. Constantly demonstrated engagement culture and instilled culture amongst properties and support functions. Facilitated achievement of the highest employee engagement score for five years running and reduced labour cost by 6%. 

·                Persuaded and influenced business to instigate a Monthly Management Scorecard for the entire group. Analysed and gained agreement on required information collated from difference sources. Collaborated with the key functions to deliver information accurately in a timely manner. Produced template to improve speed and ease of collating, gaining approval from the Executive. Scorecard simplified communication of Key KPI performance criteria which has been adopted and used to this day by the company.

·                Crises Managed Jurys Inn Heathrow through the “Ash Cloud” Week to ensure high satisfaction scores.. Reviewed situation and made decisions based on experience to protect profit, delivering exceptional customer experience and providing calming presence and structure. Monitored morale, ensuring team remained strong to take care of customers and business. Mitigated costs to maintain profitability and increasing customers scores by 5%. This procedure is still used as a case study in assessment centres by the company to this day

BA (hons): Hotel & Catering Management, Galway & Mayo Institute of Technology, 1998