De Vere Hotels has announced that Tony Troy will be stepping down from his role as CEO at the end of the month to pursue other private investment opportunities.
Troy, who will continue to support De Vere by taking on a non-executive director position, has over 30 years in the industry as a hotelier. He had his first management buy-out in 1994 and more recently managed a multibillion pound capital investment and repositioning programme on behalf of global private investment firm Starwood Capital.
Troy supported and contributed to Starwood Capital’s strategic plan in creating the Principal Hotel Company.
Cody Bradshaw, managing director and global head of Hotel Asset Management, Starwood Capital, said: “Eight years ago, we embarked on an investment strategy aimed at consolidating more than 50 hotels across four different U.K. hotel companies to form a leading platform.
“Through Tony’s expert knowledge of the industry and his great entrepreneurial skills he made a significant contribution to the overall success of the strategy.”
After realigning the various portfolios and overseeing the investment of more than £250m of capital, this led to the creation of two new brands comprising Principal Hotel Company, several city hotels and De Vere – a collection of historic mansion house estates and contemporary hotels and event destinations.
In 2018 the Principal portfolio was sold to Covivio and it was first agreed that Troy would remain for a period of time to assist the transition of the remaining De Vere Group to become a standalone group. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Troy chose to stay on to provide strategic support and direction during this period.
James Burrell, who joined Principal Hotel Company as chief financial officer in 2014 and assisted Troy and Starwood Capital in the strategic development of the Group, will take on the role of CEO at De Vere.
Bradshaw added: “James is a proven executive with a successful track record of creating growth and value during his time with Principal, and we are incredibly pleased that he has agreed to continue his leadership role with De Vere as CEO.
“His leadership has been invaluable, particularly over the last two years, and we look forward to the Group continuing to thrive under his stewardship.”
