Having co-founded the hugely successful sandwich chain Pret A Manger, which was sold to private equity in 2008 for £345m, Sinclair Beecham has taken his undoubted leadership and customer service skills into the hotel sector.
His new venture is The Hoxton, a 205-bed hotel he has spent £18 million building in Shoreditch, East London.
He says that "somewhere at every hotel there is a revenue management department. It's full of very smart people, but they are anti-customer.” A visit to a “mediocre” hotel in Chicago provided a particular inspiration. He was charged $169 a night — and $8 for a bottle of water.
So, fresh milk (he despises UHT), coffee and tea bags, wi-fi access, a light breakfast and other sundries are free at The Hoxton, built on an old car park on Great Eastern Street, EC2, and other items such as phone calls are kept competitive. “When you walk around your room, there aren't 37 retail opportunities,” he says. “I can't understand charging for internet access.”
Read the interview with Sinclair Beecham at Times Online.