Category Archives: Blog

Daly Recruitment Launches in Belfast

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A vibrant new recruitment company specialising in management roles in the hospitality sector across the UK and Ireland has been launched in Belfast.

With the UK hospitality industry expected to create over 500,000 new jobs in the next five years according to industry body UK Hospitality, local businesswoman Nichola Daly is aiming to take advantage of what she says is an increasingly busy market for roles in hospitality management.

Working throughout the UK and Ireland, Daly Recruitment will source hospitality management roles for leading hospitality and tourism establishments.

Nichola said: “Over the last decade I have assisted a wide range of hospitality establishments with the recruitment of management staff, as a result we will be specialising in headhunting and management appointments. 

“Experts at UK Hospitality last year revealed the hospitality industry’s contribution to the UK economy has grown faster than any other sector since the economic downturn in 2008 and certainly that has been my experience.

“With more and more recruitment opportunities arising I saw a gap in the market for a recruitment company that could tailor its service specifically for this particular sector.”

Nichola has over 20 years’ experience in the hospitality industry having started her career at just 16 working with a variety of tourist attractions before moving through the sector into her current role.  She has completed the Marriott International Hotel Management Development Programme in Arizona as well as having worked for leading brands such as Marriott, Posthouse and Holiday Inn.

As well as working for the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation and as a manager in the trade publication Hospitality Review, Nichola’s most recent experience saw her working for a Dublin based company recruiting for general managers, and senior management roles throughout Ireland, UK and Dubai.

“I believe there is a gap in the market for a focused, knowledgeable, niche hospitality management recruiter working with leading clients and candidates with nearly one in five of all jobs in the UK now being related to the hospitality and tourism sector. 

Already working with a series of high-end hotel properties to place a high calibre of candidates for entry into mid and senior management roles, Nichola’s aim is to “deliver a first-class service” where she will “get to know the in-depth client needs to ensure a successful match, adding value to the client business”.

Dr. Howard Hastings, Managing Director Hastings Hotels said, “The hospitality and leisure sector across Northern Ireland is at an all-time high with a wealth of new hotels opening their doors.  It is an opportune time for Nichola to launch Daly Recruitment as operators seek to fill the positions available.  Nichola has a wealth of experience and knowledge in the sector and there is no other go to person with the contact book Nichola has.  I wish her every success with her new venture.”

 

 

 

 

Grand Central Hotel opens its doors.

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Hastings Grand Central Hotel, the largest and most expensively constructed hotel project ever seen in Northern Ireland has opened its doors.

Residents of Belfast have watched over the past two years as Windsor House has transformed from an unloved office block to the key feature on Belfast’s skyline, with its unmistakeable Seahorse logos and shimmering charcoal panels visible across the city.

The Northern Ireland hotel scene is enjoying a period of rapid expansion, and the 300 opulently appointed bedrooms in Grand Central mark the greatest leap forward to date.

The hotel is much more than this, though. With its dramatic “double height” space on the ground and first floor levels, it is international in outlook, and cosmopolitan in feel. No expense has been spared on its marble flooring, its plush fabrics and its dramatic interior lighting.

The £53 million committed to this project by Hastings Hotels has created an unmistakeably upscale venue for locals and visitors alike.

Stephen Meldrum, General Manager of the Grand Central Hotel said: “We are delighted to open the doors of the Grand Central Hotel and see the vision of our late Chairman, Sir William Hastings, be fully recognised. The Grand Central Hotel is a really unique proposition for Belfast. No detail has been overlooked and we are excited to bring a new era to the city. The teams have been working hard over recent weeks to get the hotel open on time and we are looking forward to welcoming our first guests from the prestigious Hosts Global Forum who are staying with us this week.”

It is a hotel which exudes personality, with its bedroom suites paying homage to the Linen Barons who first occupied the Linen Quarter in which the Grand Central sits, to Sir William Hastings, the founder of the Hastings Hotels Group who have delivered this new project.

Its dining options range from the city chic Grand Café on the ground floor, to the design led Seahorse Bar & Restaurant overlooking Bedford Street, to the small plates cocktail lounge on the 23rd floor, which has been named The Observatory.