I’ve worked for Whitbread for 24 years, progressing from frontline hotel roles into senior leadership. Today, I’m a Regional Operations Manager, supporting Hotel Managers, shaping leadership capability, and influencing how our hotels operate at scale.
It’s fair to say I didn’t arrive with a fixed plan. I built my career by learning the business properly, putting myself forward before I felt fully ready and taking opportunities to grow – all within the same organisation.
When Premier Inn took over from the hotel chain I was working at, I chose to stay. I believed in the direction of the new business and wanted to understand it from the inside.
I started in frontline operational roles – from evening telephonist to receptionist – working across the reception, Costa Coffee, bar, restaurant, meeting rooms and group bookings. What mattered to me was not just progressing, but understanding how the operation really worked.
I’ve always believed you can’t effectively lead a department you’ve never worked in. Those early years gave me first-hand experience of the pressures teams face day to day. It’s experience I still rely on as a senior leader.
Every senior role I’ve moved into was built on experience I’d already gained inside the business – not a leap of faith, but a logical next step.
As my career developed, so did my life outside work. When my children were at school, I changed my working patterns and moved into group bookings. I gained new skills without stepping away from progression.
Flexibility has been a major reason I’ve stayed with Whitbread. I’ve been able to move between:
Large, complex hotels with full food and beverage operations
Smaller, room-only sites ideal for learning leadership fundamentals
New hotel openings, from planning and recruitment to training and community engagement
Site closures and restructures during periods of change
Each move built capability. None of them stalled my ambition.
Early in my career, I knew I wanted to lead.
During development shadowing, many colleagues chose to spend time with team leaders or housekeeping. I chose to shadow the Hotel Manager.
From that point on, I was deliberate. I volunteered to cover roles, attend meetings, support projects and step in whenever opportunities came up. I wanted to understand how decisions were made – and how I could influence them.
Whitbread supported that drive with structured development: leadership programmes, live PDPs, secondments, and project work alongside senior leaders. I didn’t have to guess whether senior leadership was right for me – I was able to experience it before committing.
Moving into regional leadership wasn’t about stepping away from operations at all, it was about influencing them at scale.
As a Regional Operations Manager, my day-to-day role includes:
Coaching and developing Hotel Managers across the region
Translating what’s happening on the ground into divisional decision-making
Shaping leadership programmes using real operational experience
Balancing performance, people capability and wellbeing
I regularly sit with senior leaders to share what’s actually happening in our hotels – not theory, but lived experience. Because I’ve done the roles myself, I can challenge constructively, spot risk early, and help managers grow with confidence.
As a Regional Operations Manager, my job is to influence how the business runs – but always through the reality of what’s happening in our hotels.
This role suits senior managers who still care deeply about the operation, but want to make a wider and longer-term impact.
I didn’t progress into senior leadership by leaving the business, I grew into it here. Secondments, project work, temporary holds and development programmes allowed me to test senior roles before moving into them permanently.
Whitbread values performance, but it also values potential. You’re expected to be strong in your core role, but once you’ve earned that credibility, you’re encouraged to be curious, brave and visible.
There’s a genuine belief here that leaders are developed, not imported. People are allowed to make mistakes, learn and grow. Wellbeing is treated as a leadership responsibility, not an afterthought.
If you’re a senior hotel or operations manager looking to step into a Regional Operations Manager role, this is a business where you can build towards that level – not start again somewhere else.
Whitbread’s Regional Operations Managers are developed through experience, operational depth and internal progression… and that’s exactly how my career was built.