Stephen lives in Worcester with his seven-year-old son Jake, who is mad about rugby. Stephen was introduced to Malmaison last year and liked what he saw. Let’s face it, as anyone who has been to the hotel in Oxford would agree, it’s got style, it’s sexy, it’s classy and you can’t help thinking that if you had to manage a hotel, Malmaison Oxford would be pretty close to the top of the wish list. With all that is good about Malmaison Oxford, not least the fact that it is regarded as the group’s flagship hotel, finding the right man to run the show was unquestionably a top priority. So what made Stephen, as described in the invitations to his welcome party, the right “governor” for the job?
“The opportunity arose for me to return to a job at Malmaison Oxford that allowed me to focus once again on my passion of good old-fashioned hospitality. I relish being given the chance to manage a hotel whose restaurant only uses fresh and where possible locally grown produce. The hotel offers unique bedrooms with furnishings that are pure quality.”
The team is vitally important to Stephen, and in Head Chef Russell Heeley and Brasserie and Bar Manager Steven Hodgkinson, he has two trusted allies. “Russell was part of the opening team at Oxford and worked previously at Birmingham Mal as sous-chef. He spent four years in Australia and two years at the establishment under Matt Fleming, 18 months at Banc with Liam Tomlin and also two years at the Canteen (Chelsea Harbour) where Ray Brown was Head Chef and Gordon Ramsay was Consultant Chef.
“Russell is passionate about team development and food to the point of ‘how it’s grown and where it is grown’ and is an expert at getting the best fresh flavours possible using only foods which will complement each other. He also loves sourcing and eating cheese and was Malmaison’s top chef at our annual 2006 ‘corkers’ awards.
“Steven is also a Mal diehard, with a keen focus on the team and its development, and with a pride in the presentation of fantastic food, service and the wine with a cellar stretching to 300 different bins. He really works hard at the ‘guest journey’ and ensures that the overall guest experience is unforgettable. Steven also has a degree in art which he uses to the full in food presentation and service delivery. He was another ‘corkers’ award winner in 2006 when he claimed the coveted Malmaison Manager of the Year.”
The importance of the team is a theme which prevails in each of the hotels, from each team member right through to the main board, but equally important is the guest experience and making the stay at Mal as pleasurable as possible. As Malmaison's Group Chief Executive Robert Cook stressed in B4 Issue 3, a hotel stay is often begrudged by corporate guests having to stay away from home, and Stephen underlines that Malmaison goes out of its way to soften the blow.
“It is all about the bedroom experience, the dining experience - the whole stay has to be an experience. When I have guests over at home, I like to play the host, make them feel relaxed and at home. Mobile phones and laptops are a fact of life now - we are never far from our ‘office’ - but it is important to have some dividing lines; otherwise we will never 100% detach ourselves from our work. So, when I entertain, I encourage guests to leave the gadgets at the door, and that’s our approach at Mal. We are aware that guests have to work, but we want to help them switch off and relax.
“We have tried to create an inviting and comfortable environment, a place where you can switch off and have fun, laugh, enjoy your partner’s company or just unwind by yourself after a hard day’s work. We want our guests to leave with a smile on their face and be thinking about their next stay with us. We want our corporate guests to leave with a spring in their step – what better advert for the hotel than a high-flying employee who has got a good night’s sleep under their belt and delivering the goods the next day?
“The whole experience of being with Mal has had a similar impact on the ‘working me’. It has reinvigorated and refocused me as a person. When I came to see the ‘product’ for my interview, I was wowed like everyone else. I first saw the hotel in a brochure when I was staying in Dubai and was knocked out by it. The Operations Director, Nick Gamble, gave me a great insight into the Malmaison philosophy, as did the rest of the team – they were all very like-minded.
“I had been looking for a new challenge for a year, and it was very important that wherever I went, the people believed in what I believed in – the development of the team and giving the customer as much as we could through the tools and resources at our disposal. Getting to deal with local, fresh ingredients is an example of this – not being straight-jacketed into using fixed suppliers.” (See the selection of local suppliers highlighted in the right column).
“Being very much a part of the local community and tourism industry and getting involved in as much as we can locally, like the Oxford Children’s Hospital and Luminox, are important examples of how we can firmly establish ourselves locally. We also have to establish ourselves internationally. Let’s be clear: any tourist visiting the UK will have Oxford on their list in their top three places to visit, and we have to be ready to deliver.”
The Malmaison experience is certainly something to savour. The attention to detail with regards to the local fresh ingredients, bringing the tastes of the region alive for any guest is a key factor and one which will be developed. The only way to fully appreciate what one thousand words cannot describe is by booking a table or a room – or why not go the whole hog and hire the terrace for a summer party, just as we did for the launch of B4. There is nothing better than a hazy summer’s night in Oxford on the roof terrace of one of Oxford’s most prestigious addresses. Rounded off with dinner in one of the private rooms and a stay in a luxurious bedroom. I’d challenge you to dream up a better night in Oxford.
Stephen sums up his remit and what Mal is all about: “Mal is about people development, youth, freshness, helping the environment, and the fact that we are all very passionate about what we do and that we are very delighted to be in Oxford. We do support the local community and want Oxford people to feel welcome. The restaurant, with its excellent food and superb service, enjoys a great reputation already. We are now ready to push ahead with the next phase of the hotel’s development, and I couldn’t be more excited to be at the helm.” |
