#138 - Hospitality Meets Niall Kingston - The Luxury Country House General Manager

02/27/23 • 45 min

1 Listener

Welcome to our Season 3 Finale week where I've got 3 wonderful chats from one of the finest businesses going, Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons (https://www.belmond.com/hotels/europe/uk/oxfordshire/belmond-le-manoir-aux-quat-saisons/).

On a cold Decembers day, I headed over to Oxfordshire to get some time with three of their incredible leaders.

And first up is Niall Kingston, The General Manager. Niall took the reins of Le Manoir at the age of 31, an achievement not to be sniffed at. Not only that, he's got an awesome career so far and some great stories up his sleeve.

As always, we get through loads including:-

Growing up on the farm (And hating it)
Trying Hotels
Studying
Placement in luxury
Putting in the graft
Vancouver
Working with unions
Luck & Timing
People are special
The right time to leave
The pursuit of excellence
Unexpected waterfalls in buildings
Excellence

Niall mentions luck throughout our chat but I'm an avid believer in that luck comes from hard work and talent, he's clearly got both in spades.

Enjoy!

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
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On a cold Decembers day, I headed over to Oxfordshire to get some time with three of their incredible leaders.

As always, we get through loads including:-

Growing up on the farm (And hating it)
Trying Hotels
Studying
Placement in luxury
Putting in the graft
Vancouver
Working with unions
Luck & Timing
People are special
The right time to leave
The pursuit of excellence
Unexpected waterfalls in buildings
Excellence

Niall mentions luck throughout our chat but I'm an avid believer in that luck comes from hard work and talent, he's clearly got both in spades.

Enjoy!

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Previous Episode

#137 - Hospitality Meets Pooja Sharma-Jones - The Chief Marketing Officer

Did you know that it's International Margarita Day today?

Well, sit down, pour yourself a beautifully crafted Mockarita and listen into my wonderful chat with the awesome Pooja Sharma-Jones, Chief "Mock"eting Officer (You see what they did there?) at Mocktails (https://mocktails.com/)

And it's quite a bizarre story how we came across each other, but we talk about that in the chat so I won't bore you with it twice.

We also get through:-

Nicknames
Finding the fun
Being inspired by parents
Studying marketing
Starting in retail
Selfridges
A passion for food
Moving to Harrods
Soho House
Starting up a consultancy
Mocktails
Lo and No
Pub Evolution
Psychology
Self awareness
Early Jobs

And so much more. Pooja turns on the charm from the outset and this was a laugh a minute to record. Beyond that though there's a very serious career in here and I am eternally grateful to Pooja for giving me some time.

Enjoy!

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Next Episode

#139 - Hospitality Meets Raymond Blanc - The Hospitality Celebrity & Icon

In the second of our three chats this week (The main course), I was lucky enough to get some time with the absolutely awe inspiring and industry icon that is Raymond Blanc, Chef Patron at Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons, founder of Brasserie Blanc, author of several books and of course, TV personality extraordinaire.

The chat is laden with gold including:-

Inclusive luxury
The many strings to Raymond's Bow
Family & Values
Humble beginnings
An early understanding of food
Le Manoir and future evolution
The Hospitality Opportunity
Reinvention
The changing face of luxury
Growing up with food
Trying out as a nurse
Falling for restaurants
Starting at entry level
Laying some serious foundations
Being exiled to UK
The food scene in the 70’s
The big opportunity
The lack of an early mentor
Learning the science
Professor Kurti
Molecular Gastronomy
Regenerative farming
Finding Le Manoir
Team

Time spent in Raymond's company is time well spent indeed, his energy is incredible and his passion for hospitality is unrelenting and incredibly infectious. I was lucky enough to get some time with him off microphone too and if there is a greater role model for our industry, then I've yet to find them. Moreover, Raymond's story does not disappoint with so many lessons throughout and more than just a pinch of fun.

Enjoy!

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy