Conor O’Leary joins as hotel manager with chief responsibility for food and beverage, having previously worked as director of food and beverage at the Grand Hyatt in Dubai and with over 20 years’ experience in the industry. O’Leary takes over from the outgoing director of food and beverage, Alan Hill, who has worked at the property for an incredible 27 years.
Warren Brown is now executive chef, following roles as executive chef at the Hilton in Kuala Lumpur; the Shangri-La in Manila, and the St Regis, Shanghai. He will now take responsibility for Gleneagles’ four head chefs and kitchen teams.
Colin Farndon joins as spa director, coming from the same role at Armathwaite Hall Country House Hotel & Spa in Cumbria.
The trio is set to drive forward investment and development across the hotel, including expanding its culinary offering, boosting its use of locally-sourced and seasonal produce, and implementing a new leisure strategy across the 850-acre estate, including expanding on the site’s reputation for golf.
This will include making use of the estate’s facilities in shooting, archery, falconry, fishing, tennis, off-road driving, and gundog training.
O’ Leary said: “I am delighted to be joining the team at Gleneagles – which is recognised as being the finest seat of luxury Scottish hospitality. An ambitious vision has been set by Gleneagles, in terms of strengthening the hotel’s position on the global stage and enhancing the guest experience, and I very much look forward to contributing to its future success.”
Farndon said: “For almost a hundred years, Gleneagles has been known the world over for its outstanding golf facilities – a reputation that is as richly deserved as it is firmly established – but now we want to truly celebrate how much broader our leisure offering really is.”
Paul Heery, Gleneagles’ general manager, added: “This is a tremendously exciting time for Gleneagles, with our investment programme already well underway, and these three roles will be critical to the business.”
First opened as a hotel in 1924, Gleaneagles is owned by Ennismore after it bought it for a rumoured £200m in July 2015, and earlier this year announced a multi-million pound investment and upgrade programme. It is also the site of the two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Andrew Fairlie.