Hilary Archibald
Group Rooms Division Manager
Wellington House
So How Have You Got To Your Current Job?
My route to the job I have now started way back in 1988!
I spent a short time at Catering College and as part of my college course I was offered a 6
week placement in a 4 star hotel in Manchester City Centre, this was my first experience of
the hospitality industry and on Reception. After this placement I was lucky enough to be
offered a full time job as a Junior Receptionist and so my career in hotels began. I worked at
the Copthorne Hotel on Salford Quays in Manchester and over the course of 12.5 years I
worked my way up to Front Office Manager, along the way I was Shift Leader, Head
Receptionist, Acting Front Office Manager and Front Office Manager. During this time I also
moved department to the Events office, but soon discovered this was not for me and I
returned to Reception.
The hotel was situated around the corner from Old Trafford football ground so never a dull
moment!
After 12.5 years I felt the need to move and experience something new so I moved to De
Vere hotels to be part of the opening team at the Reebok stadium in Bolton. The opening
was a great experience and I learnt a lot about brand new hotels and football stadiums,
however after 9 months at this hotel I found the hotel was too quiet for me and I felt I
needed to be back in a busy environment.
I then took a big step to do another new opening but this time in a five star hotel, The
Rocco Forte Lowry Hotel. Moving to five star was very different and initially this was a big
shock as the service levels were much higher than in four star, but after a while I got used to
it.
This was a high point in my career as I was Front of House Manager and was lucky enough
to meet many VIP’s and celebrities as part of my role.
I stayed at The Lowry for 6.5 years before I felt that it was time to move on again, but to
where? I was lucky enough to be approached for the role I now have in QHotels, I met with
Vivien Sirotkin for an interview and was offered the role of Group Front Office Manager. My
first job when I joined Q was to help with the implementation of Protel to all the Marston
hotels we had just purchased, this took about 9 months to complete, after that I worked
through all procedures on Reception to ensure we had the correct policies in place.
My job within Q has grown considerably since I joined and I was asked to take on the
Housekeeping department for the group in 2010 which is when I became Group Rooms
Division Manager, which is where I am today.
Why Did You Choose This Job?
As mentioned I received a call from a recruitment agency, which for me came at the right
time, I was asked if I wanted a Group role which sounded exciting and enabled me to still
stay in an industry I loved but not be on the shop floor anymore. I was ready for a move but
I was in the process of deciding what I wanted to do when this call came through,
What Have You Learnt in Your Current Job?
Working in a Central role is very different from working in one hotel. I have learnt that you
cannot get involved in the day to day detail of the hotel but learn to look at the bigger
picture for the Company.
I have learnt to manage my time very well and learnt to work very quickly on new projects.
Taking on Housekeeping as well was very big responsibility for me as I had never worked in
this department before, however having experience in other hotels and having worked in
them a long time this enabled me to learn very quickly.
I have learnt to write training manuals for all areas and have been involved in many projects
for QHotels.
What’s your best advice for anyone who is keen to work as Group Rooms
Division Manager
Learn all the time, I feel that I have worked my way throughout the industry by being very
nosey and always asking questions so I am always one step ahead. Showing enthusiasm in
your role and showing that you want to progress as people will be happy to help you learn.
Have you got any longer term plans?
I am still happy in my role as I feel I am still learning and am very lucky that I can often get
involved in other areas of the business with my colleagues within other departments.