#038 - Hospitality Meets Mark Kirby - The High Profile Multi-Property General Manager

Hospitality Meets... with Phil Street

What does it take to become one of a regions most prominent General Managers? We chatted to Mark Kirby, Regional General Manager of The Address Downtown, Dubai (www.addresshotels.com/en/hotels/address-downtown/) to find that out.

We got through so much including Dubai (Of course), Chesterfield, School, AICR, London, Harvey Nicholls, reciting your career backwards at interview, Meeting Mr Armani, The Armani Hotel, Translating your CV into Italian, creating the right noises, Sustainability, PR, Exercise and a whole lot more.

Mark talks with such energy and passion about what he does that it's hard not to get captivated by it. Mark also has some hilarious stories which he's shared with us.

Thanks so much Mark.

Enjoy.

Show Transcription

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

hotel, people, Dubai, hospitality, business, stories, London, Chesterfield, GM, The Lanesborough, The Goring, running, terms, part, Grosvenor House, Armani, manager, year, career,

SPEAKERS

Mark Kirby, Phil Street

Phil Street 00:01

Welcome to hospitality meets with me Phil street where we take a light hearted look into the stories and individuals that make up the wonderful world of hospitality. Today's guest is Mark Kirby, any general manager for the address downtown in Dubai. Coming up on today's show... Mark identifies a problem with a hotel's location.

Mark Kirby 00:22

Very dangerous being next to Harvey Nichols Not for good for the credit card I have to say.

Phil Street 00:26

Phil explains what it's like being the opposite of a morning person. I had days where I woke up and just thought..... uuuurggghh And Mark tells us a story about averting disaster.

Mark Kirby 00:37

I turned, around to literally leg it back to the front of the hotel to pick the right guest up

Phil Street 00:43

All that and so much more as Mark talks us through His story and journey to date, as well as some exceptional content on PR and creating the right noises. In addition, Mark really does talk with incredible energy about his craft a massive thank you to him for that. Don't forget, we launch a brand new episode each week telling the amazing and always amusing stories from hospitality. So make sure you hit that subscribe button and give us a like and share across your networks. Let's share these stories as far as we can. Enjoy. Hello, and welcome to the next edition of hospitality meets with me, Phil St. Today, we once again cross the seas. This time we're off to the Middle East. And I'm delighted to welcome to the show one of Dubai's most prominent general managers who may or may not thank me for saying that, but having worked in a few of the region's most prestigious hotels, including Le Royal Meridian Beach Resort and Spa, the Armani Hotel in Dubai and now Area GM of the address hotels downtown part of the Emaar Hospitality Group. I'm delighted to welcome to the show, Mark Kirby.

Mark Kirby 01:46

Thank you very much really, really, really nice to hear from you.

Phil Street 01:50

Brilliant. How are you doing?

Mark Kirby 01:51

Yeah, we're not not too bad. Actually, as you know, we everyone's been having an interesting time through this COVID. And getting used to the new norms, we're starting to see a lot more positivity in the market, which is really great. The buyer opened up, opened its international borders on the seventh. So we're just getting used to welcoming international travellers back into the city. And, you know, last weekend, we had 60% occupancy in one of our hotels. And that was quite exciting. Because, you know, we haven't seen 60% occupancy since with pre a pre COVID, you know, normally 60% occupancy, I think you would be be twiddling your thumbs thinking, well, we're not we should do a bit more. But we're sort of celebrating that that sort of occupancy.

Phil Street 02:33

Yeah. Well, I mean, that's why that's the new normal, right.

Mark Kirby 02:39

We get excited about small victories, we should do you know, when you've got 1000 dirhams, and you're happy that it's going across the cost the cash register. So we'll we'll see how that moves as we move forward.

Phil Street 02:52

Yeah, and I suppose as well for you, it's a double whammy at this time of year because it's right in the heart of deepest, hottest summer, which I guess is not normally your your, your best trading period, in any case, but then I didn't, the COVID situation on tops, and it's you're just getting battered from all angles.

Mark Kirby 03:13

Yeah, we were COVID actually started to hit us and really start to affect Dubai really, at the end of March. And that's a key season. So we were we were trading very, very positively in January. In fact, in January, we did our best month ever for the address downtown hotel, which I'm sitting in today. And that was really great. And everybody was celebrating those achievements 91% which was pretty, pretty full on. And then by March we were sitting with you know, we were we were dropping right off below 30%. And that was obviously quite worrying at that time. So you lose your you lose that key period of the the beginning of the year. And then you hit sort of June, July, August, September when it's traditionally our slightly lower season. Although having having such great things like the Dubai Mall, and all the facilities over that, whether it be kidzania whether it be things like the and the Dubai underwater zoo, and all the stuff that goes on in the in the world's biggest mall, you know, it's actually we actually do pretty well in the summertime because people don't tend to be on the beach so much. And they come to the hotels that are more centrally located with the facilities attached.

Phil Street 04:21

Right

Mark Kirby 04:21

Uh, yeah, it's, it's an interesting time of the year to for it all to come together.

Phil Street 04:27

Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Well, before we get on to, I suppose a bit more about you and who you are and what you do right now take us all the way back to the beginning of your career and kind of just give us a run through of of you and how did you get into this industry and just take us far from now?

Mark Kirby 04:46

No, gosh, they take me back a few years. Yeah. Yeah. Originally from the UK, born in Sheffield. I grew up in a market town of political Chesterfield, for those who know it in the Middle East.

Phil Street 04:59

Really I didn't know that about you. But my wife's also from Chesterfield. No way. Well, there we go.

Mark Kirby 05:06

I should have I should have a talk to your wife at some stage, then we can probably tell the secrets

Phil Street 05:10

Absolutely, you know the one thing I remember about the first time she took me to Chesterfield to meet her parents was, this was quite some time ago, no, neither of us could drive at the time. So we were 100% reliant on public transport. And we arrived and on the train, and we were going to get a taxi to her mom's place. And she said, just bear in mind that the taxi driver will probably call me "me duck". And I was like, whatever. And of course, as soon as we got in the taxi driver, he said, Where are you off to me Duck? And I was like, Okay, so that's true, then

Mark Kirby 05:45

You were quite tuned into it. You've been given the inside info.

Phil Street 05:49

Yeah, absolutely. And of course, Chesterfield is famous for one thing only.

Mark Kirby 05:55

Well, one thing is the crooked Spire

Phil Street 05:56

Exactly

Mark Kirby 05:58

Its famous for a lot of other things. But we won't get into that

Phil Street 06:02

yeah, but Anyway, I digress. But you'll get to see that that happens sometimes. But anyway.

Mark Kirby 06:09

So I grew up in I grew up in Chesterfield, my father was, my late father was a very successful businessman, security, electrical business. And I used to spend a lot of time actually going around with him when he used to go and meet hoteliers in London in the capital and all over obviously the UK, that sort of had a detriment to my school results. Because I actually left school I went to a grammar school in Chesterfield went in to do my GCSEs. And I left with some pretty poor results. So I remember, I remember one summer I was working with ads. My dad's firm, he was paying me a very low wage. He was very tight like that.

Phil Street 06:47

Right

Mark Kirby 06:47

He was paying me less than the less than the normal wage, I would have said, to do some work in his warehouses. And I always remember as I was very scared of my mom, actually. So my mum came into me. She said, Have you seen your results? And you know, me, me being a bit nervous of mother looked at her in horror. So she said, Well, I don't know what you're going to do your man because certainly you're not going to you're not going to be hanging around us. You need to sort yourself out. So she came to me actually. And she came with a there was a clipping in a newspaper. And this clipping in the newspaper I think, was the Derbyshire times and she said, Look, there's a there's a hospitality school up in Buxton. She said, I think that's something that you would like to potentially go and have a look at it, you know, you can go and do what was called in those days a B tech first. And a B tech first was sort of a conversion into a B tech national. So it meant that, you know, if you if you flunked your GCSE results I was in there was one more chance. So, because I've always always been interested in hotels, and the reason why is interested in hotels, and that's probably where you probably think wire wire was, was because as I as I used to go around with my father to, to the London hotels, I remember one time he was he was actually he went to see David Morgan here to The Goring. And he was fitting a security system there. And I remember my father used to say to me, you know, you sit in the lobby, don't touch anything, keep quiet. They are you are. So I used to sit in the lobby of some of the five star hotels in London and literally watch life Go on, it was a lot more interesting. It was a lot more interesting in London and the five star hotel lobbies and it wasn't just a bill, believe me much to the upset of my father because I think he wanted his son to join his business. So off I went to college, and I think he was still I think he was still under the impression that you know, I'd spent a couple of years at college and then I would probably join the family business. And I found that you know, through that beat tech first I really started to enjoy it and my you know, my grades were coming in pretty strong. And then I went into the national and I came out with one of the top students in the in the in the diversity in the college. So right after that, after that college, I then went off to Birmingham decided to go a little bit more South far enough away from home but close enough that I could you know, drive back if I needed some washing doing so off I went down to university in Birmingham and yeah, I did three first year to first year should have say. And it was a it was quite It was quite an intense course because it was a it was a it was a it was a partnership between the University of Birmingham and the Birmingham College of food, which was a very well known and very sought after hospitality school. So we used to do the hospitality part of it in the Birmingham College of food. And then the sort of the business, the strategic strategy and business studies with the University of Birmingham. So quite a tough course. And I had to go out in the third year and this was where my luck sort of started to gain and gain a little bit more. A bit seemed to pick up more. Because I went to there was two hotels I went to one was the Lanesborough and one was the The Goring. And both of them were interviewing me for sort of a management placement third year sandwich placement from university. But I always remember the lanes where the time said to me Well, we can put you in housekeeping for six months and we'll put you in If you're good enough in housekeeping, we'll put you in the restaurant for six months in housekeeping, not sure about that so often went to the goring and, and this is where this is where I just fell in love with the hotel straightaway, they were really great. And they said, Look, what we're going to do with you is we're going to put you through a management training programme, you will spend time, everywhere, including the kitchens will will teach you some skills throughout. And then we'll send you back to university. And they were the most friendly or most connecting hotels, you know, you're going you don't forget when you're young, and you go down to the big city city hotels in London, they're a bit scary. And I remember I met David at the time. Yeah, he's an amazing chap larger than life as you know.

Phil Street 10:39

Yeah

Mark Kirby 10:39

And, yeah, before I knew it, I was management trainee at the goring. And just before I went there, this was, this is where you should net you should always you know, as a young man, you should always keep your mouth closed and say nothing. So I looked at the schedule that they'd sent to me and it said, you know, you're going to do two months here, you do a month here, you got a two months in the kitchen, I was thinking, Well, I'm not really interested in the kitchen. So I asked him whether I can do a month in the kitchen and then a bit more somewhere else. So I did. So instead of incentives instead of complying or, or following my wish, they actually put me ended up putting me in the kitchen for three months. That's a lesson I think. So. I got another month on top of it. But I had an amazing time. And the hotel taught me a lot put a lot of trust into me, we used to go out to some of the top London restaurants where David used to have a management club dinner where he used to take a member, a member of each department out and sort of Teach them all about the restaurants in the Capital. So he was very, he was very much into food and beverage of those days. So we really got to really get to know the Capital and then I had to go back to boring all Birmingham for my final year which was, which was, which was a really tough tough year because not only had I left the goring left those fantastic restaurants but I had to go up to the you know, up to burning them back to you know, to put my head down, but my head down I did and came out to me with a two one and second in the class. So I always remember when it came to graduation there was there was my mother You know, I'm then in the robes and the hats and everything and that she's she sat there crying. I think she's crying more for a leaf rather than boyhood failed is GCSEs managed to get through to the sort of being the top two in the university. Yeah, I think it all goes to show that when you're really enjoying something, you you've got your heart into it, it really, really makes you understand about, you know, I always say to people, and I say that to people in my team in the hotels now, you know, if you really enjoy it, you'll you'll Excel. If it's not for you then don't stay, you know, yeah, because it you'll never do the same capacity.

Phil Street 12:40

I think that's a great mantra for anyone. Really, if you're doing it just for a job, but not from the heart, then it's probably got a very limited lifespan.

Mark Kirby 12:51

Yeah, well, you know, as much as I do, and you've been, you know, this industry for years now, you know, the people who really get in and enjoy it. And it's a, it's a tough industry, you've got to enjoy to really and to really excel otherwise you won't you won't put up with the hours. And you won't understand that, you know, when you're working at Christmas time everyone else is off. Yeah, it can be quite tough. But actually, that's the that's the fun time of the year. That's the time of the year that you have the most time Now is your time. So I left Birmingham, London is obviously the place to be for hotels, and I really want to go back to the Capital. So I joined as a receptionist at the Grosvenor house in London and it was just on the cusp of the trust house Forte era with Granada, literally just taking over the property in those days. You know, you're

Phil Street 13:35

Your showing your age now

Mark Kirby 13:37

I am. That's it. I shouldn't tell you so many secrets Phil, So 586 bedrooms, a big, big hotel, it was great. And I really loved that fact, because the goring was great for me in terms of getting overall experience. I think that that gave me sort of the boutique hotel experience. And yeah, they're really very luxurious, boutique hotel experience. And I really wanted a big hotel to sort of learn my trade. So I went into as a receptionist, and I always remember, you know, 400 arrivals, 400 departures, and a tough hotel it was, but it was so much great fun, and I absolutely loved it. It was biggest, you know, got the Grosvenor house, it was a big banqueting hotel. So yeah, November, December, this was a time of the year where they had all those awards ceremonies, and you would have, you know, say 400 guests check in for one or one event one day, and then they'd be checking out the next so it was, you know, the minute you got onto reception that you weren't getting off that desk for at least 12 hours level, let alone a cup of coffee, but it was a great it was a hotel that taught me a lot. It was a hotel that taught me all about how to manage guests and manage volume and manage complaints pretty well because it was quite a tired product in those days before Marriott took over.

Phil Street 14:47

Right? Yeah, I mean, 400 people coming and going is wow, that's relentless numbers, isn't it? I mean,

Mark Kirby 14:54

yeah. And they were they were the peaks of the year. So they were the times where you know you had the hairdresser awards. For example. I always remember that one because you'd have everyone checking in and wanting a load of hair dryers and hairspray. And they'd be wanting, you know, the big ballroom and they'd have the that those big huge events that they had downstairs in the great room, which are really great. And it was just, it was just a hotel that really is a great hotel to start at. And, you know, there's so many people have been through that hotel over the years, and have sort of it's like, you know, most of the hotels I've actually worked out have been training schools. I've been very fortunate throughout my career. So...