Opening Fireside Chat: Hyatt SVP Felicity Black-Roberts

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  Felicity Black-Roberts

  Felicity is responsible for developing Hyatt’s diverse brand portfolio across EAME, heading a diverse team of subregional development experts. Since joining in 2016, Felicity has overseen Hyatt’s market entries into 31 markets, including Barcelona, Biarritz, Dublin and Madrid, along with brand debuts in 23 markets including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris and the French Alps. With 25 years’ experience in real estate and hospitality – spanning acquisitions, development, asset management – she understands the market from multiple industry perspectives. Prior to Hyatt, Felicity led acquisitions and developments for Starwood Hotels and Resorts in Western Europe, supported prominent brands including Forte, Le Méridien and worked with the investment fund Starman.

  Hyatt

  Senior Vice President, Development, EAME

  Fireside Chat

  Felicity Black-Roberts

  Senior Vice President, Development, EAME

  Hyatt

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  Mike Phillips

  Mike is UK editor of Bisnow. Before this, alongside three friends he bought pan-European property mag EuroProperty out of non-existence and re established it before selling the business to PropertyEU. Prior to that he was editor of Property Week, and has also worked for Estates Gazette.

  Bisnow

  UK Editor

  Moderator

  Mike Phillips

  UK Editor

  Bisnow

Understanding the Financing Frenzy: Capital Markets and Investment Trends in UK Hotels

Private Equity is seizing hotels faster than ever. What's behind the drive to buy, and how can local players get in on the action?

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  Chris Penny

  Chris Penny is a Senior Vice President in the European Hotel Asset Management team at Starwood Capital Group. He is based in Starwood Capital’s London office where he asset manages a number of the firm’s European hotel investments. In this role Mr. Penny leads the redevelopment, operational turn-around, rebranding, refinancing and disposition of a wide range of hotel real estate.

  Starwood

  SVP, European Hotel Asset Management

  Chris Penny

  SVP, European Hotel Asset Management

  Starwood

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  Scott Wolfe

  Scott Wolfe is the Director of Investments in Europe for Pro-invest Group, responsible for origination, underwriting, due diligence and asset management of hospitality and commercial acquisitions and developments. Prior to joining Pro-invest Group in 2021, Mr. Wolfe was most recently responsible for leading the feasibility and investment analysis function in Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa at IHG, involved in countless negotiations for management and franchise contracts supporting IHG’s increasing growth profile. Mr. Wolfe was an integral part of the deal team during IHG’s acquisition of the Kimpton brand and management platform in 2014 and Principal Hotels UK platform in 2018.

  Pro-invest Group

  Director of Investments

  Scott Wolfe

  Director of Investments

  Pro-invest Group

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  Michael Swank

  Michael Swank is a Senior Managing Director in the Real Estate Group based in London, where he is involved in Blackstone’s real estate acquisitions across continental Europe. Since joining Blackstone in 2010, Mr. Swank has been involved in a number of Blackstone’s investments in Europe and the U.S., including Reale Compagnia Italiana, Hembla (D. Carnegie), Obligo, Hilton Worldwide, and Gecina.

  Blackstone

  Senior Managing Director

  Michael Swank

  Senior Managing Director

  Blackstone

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  Namid Mangalji

  Namid Mangalji is a founding partner and the Senior Managing Director at EQ Group, a leading pan-European hospitality investor and operating partner. With over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Namid has built hospitality investment and management platforms across Europe, North America and Asia. Since 2015, EQ has directly invested in, managed or asset managed over €3.1b of European hospitality assets, most recently working with Ares Management to acquire a portfolio of 18 UK hotels with an EV of £400m through a series of complex transactions. EQ’s diverse hotel portfolio encompasses luxury resorts, large MICE hotels, Alpine resorts, independent lifestyle properties, branded urban and regional limited-service hotels. EQ was awarded the Hotel Asset Manager Award at IHIF in 2023 for the capex and turnaround of the Hilton London and Birmingham Metropoles, and was a finalist once again in 2024 for executing the acquisition, comprehensive capex, repositioning and successful exit of the Hotel Dames des Arts in Paris.

  EQ Group

  Senior Managing Director & Co-Founder

  Namid Mangalji

  Senior Managing Director & Co-Founder

  EQ Group

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  Carine Bonnejean

  Carine leads the hotel specialist team at Christie & Co, including corporate agency and investment teams, as well as our European advisory teams. Based in London, she joined the Christie & Co Hotel Consultancy team in 2005 and was promoted to Head of Consultancy – Hotels in 2015 and eventually to Managing Director - Hotels in 2019, to lead our UK and European advisory team and with a focus on developing our hotel profile in continental Europe and beyond. Over the years she has led several high-profile investment advisory projects in the UK and across Europe for leading hotel groups and investors. In 2022 she was inducted into the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), leading source of global hospitality expertise. Carine is a regular speaker at the International Hotel Investment Conference in Berlin, and more recently at the Annual Hospitality Conference in Manchester and Italian Hospitality Investment Conference in Rome. Carine holds an MBA in International Hotel Management from IMHI – a joint programme between Cornell University, Ithaca, and ESSEC business school, Paris. She also has a BSc (Hons) degree in Hotel Management.

  Christie & Co

  Managing Director – Hotels

  Moderator

  Carine Bonnejean

  Managing Director – Hotels

  Christie & Co

Developing and Building for the New Consumer: Today's Hottest Hotel Trends, Unpacked

From room service to bleisure and everything in between, what hotel owners and developers are seeing on site

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  Briana Swift

  Briana Swift joined Hyatt in February 2017 and now acts as Regional Vice President of Development for Northern Europe. With 10 years’ experience in hospitality, Briana is responsible for the growth of Hyatt’s brands throughout DACH, the Nordics and Benelux; her responsibilities span deal sourcing, negotiations, development strategy and portfolio retention. Prior to her current remit, Briana worked in a pan-regional capacity dedicated to furthering Hyatt's expansion in wider Europe and Southwest Asia. Briana previously worked at Starwood Hotels and Resorts in a role which supported their development strategy across Western Europe via real estate branding and positioning. Briana holds a Master of Science in International Hospitality Management from the University of Surrey and Bachelors' Degrees from Boston University.

  Hyatt

  Regional VP of Development, Northern Europe

  Briana Swift

  Regional VP of Development, Northern Europe

  Hyatt

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  Desmond Taljaard

  Desmond leads the L+R Hotels team and all activities related to Hotel development and acquisitions, asset management, operations, construction and design. Since joining L+R Hotels. Desmond has led the acquisitions of a number of hotels, including the Fairmont Barbados ad Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort. He also led the acquisition of the Atlas Hotels portfoilio of 50 IHG and Hilton branded limited service hotels, together with a portfolio of resort hotels in Spain and the Balearics. Desmond served from 2006-2012 as COO Europe for Starwood Capital, with responsibility for Asset Management and leading all hospitality acquisitions. These included the Golden Tulip Group. Comprising 200 managed and franchised hotels worldwide, and the £300m+ acquisition of the Principle Hayley Group. Desmond also co-chaired the Starman JV which re-positioned 32 service Le Meridien hotels across Europe. Previously, Demond was M&A and Development Director for Whitbread Group plc, driving the exit from the UK Marriott business for c£1000m and the creation of a JV with Emirates Airlines to roll out Premier Inn in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Desmond also served as Global Head of Real Estate for Hilton International between 1995-2003. Desmond is a Chartered Accountant and holds a BSc (Econ) Honours degree from LSE.

  L+R Hotels

  Managing Director

  Desmond Taljaard

  Managing Director

  L+R Hotels

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  Eoin Carroll

  Eoin is an experienced project leader who has worked on a large number of landmark schemes including, most recently, the newly opened Park Hyatt London River Thames, the refurbishment of the Grade II* listed 200-room London Marriott Hotel County Hall overlooking the River Thames and the multi award winning 1Hotel Mayfair. Working with a wide range of brands Eoin has developed a detailed understanding of hotels across the market, from budget to luxury. His ability to manage and coordinate large teams makes him a vital interface between clients and contractors. He produces highly detailed coordinated technical packages, as well as leading project delivery. “I love getting under the skin of the technical detail of a project and translating our client’s vision to our contractors"

  Studio Moren

  Associate

  Eoin Carroll

  Associate

  Studio Moren

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  David Beale

  With over 30 years of experience in the construction industry as a project and cost manager, David has specialised in the hospitality sector, delivering bespoke project management and quantity surveying services. He is passionate about making a meaningful impact and is committed to demonstrating the true value of his services, ensuring clients view him as a trusted partner.

  Cumming Group

  Sector Lead

  David Beale

  Sector Lead

  Cumming Group

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  Rebeca Guzman Vidal

  Previously Head of Group Retail Strategy at Chelsfield, Director at CBRE and co-chairs the ULI Europe’s Retail and Entertainment Council. Co-hosts the podcast “Retail is Dead”. 15+ years in real estate.

  Curate Ventures

  Founding Partner

  Moderator

  Rebeca Guzman Vidal

  Founding Partner

  Curate Ventures

Presentation

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  Duncan Wall

  Duncan is responsible for driving business in the hospitality and leisure sectors at Wireless Infrastructure Group (WIG). WIG specialises in delivering seamless indoor mobile connectivity solutions, empowering venue owners to enhance customer and visitor satisfaction. By enabling the delivery of robust and reliable mobile services, WIG’s solutions support smart building initiatives and ensure that today’s modern hospitality and leisure venues benefit from high-quality connectivity. With over 25 years of experience in the technology, media and telecom industries, Duncan has held senior positions at prominent organisations including 3Com, Hong Kong Telecom (PCCW) and Arqiva. He holds BSc (Hons) in Engineering and an MSc in Communications Engineering from Plymouth University.

  Wireless Infrastructure Group (WIG)

  Director

  Duncan Wall

  Director

  Wireless Infrastructure Group (WIG)