Scottish hotel firm announces key hires to boost leadership
APEX Hotels has moved to strengthen its senior team as it looks to build on encouraging financial results.
The Edinburgh-based firm, which has hotels in Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Bath, has hired a new finance director and director of marketing, as well as general manager for its recently acquired Pine Trees Hotel in Pitlochry. It has also brought on board a new general manager of hospitality linen services.
The recruitment comes shortly after family-owned Apex reported a surge in profits for the year ended April 30, amid resurgent demand from the corporate and leisure markets. New accounts show the company made an operating profit of
£14.5 million for the period, up from £2.9m the year before, as turnover leapt to £74.8m from £47.3m.
Today, Apex announced that it had appointed Mike Watson, former chief financial officer and, latterly, chief executive of DC Thomson, as its new group finance director. He previously held senior finance roles in the hospitality industry with Greene King and in logistics with Kuehne+nagel.
Holly Hewett has joined the firm as group director of marketing, the latest move in a career spanning more than 15 years, that began at Walgreens Boots Alliance and has included senior marketing posts with pub giant Mitchells & Butlers and, most recently, Gaucho and M.
David Lapsley, an experienced sommelier, former restaurant owner and hotelier, arrives at the Pine Trees with more than 10 years’ experience in the hospitality sector. He was the joint founder of Etive, an awardwinning fine dining restaurant in Oban, prior to which he was managing director of The Wine Closet. He also held general manager positions at The Royal an Lochan in Argyll and The Putechan Hotel in Campbeltown.
Adam Keatinge, the firm’s new general manager of hospitality linen services, joins Apex from his role as general manager of Shortridge, a provider of commercial laundry services to hotels and restaurants across the UK. He is also a former account director of Professional Linen Services in Edinburgh.
Apex chief executive Angela Vickers said: “It’s great to welcome Mike, Holly, David, and Adam to the Apex family. We are excited to bring on three highly experienced and motivated individuals who all bring something unique to the business.”