Leadership interview series: Romée de Goriainoff

Tell us a little about yourself and your business.

I am the Co-founder and CEO of Experimental*, a hospitality company that operates bars, restaurants and hotels in Europe and in the US (Paris, London, Venice, Verbier, Val d'Isère, New York, etc...) 

What do you see as the biggest challenges currently facing the UK and how should/will a business like yours respond?

If you ask me…it’s still Brexit. It really broke this incredible dynamism a city like London possessed and definitely impacted the flexibility and easiness to find motivated staff which is crucial in our industry. It used to be that the UK had waves of 25-something coming to the country each year with high ambition, strong will to work and also “live the London life” (spending, etc).

I sincerely hope that a solution will be found to revert back to a more integrated European scheme whereby young European people can freely work in the UK  …perhaps wishful thinking!

Thinking about the (current) macro-economic and social environment (cost pressures, labour market, changing customer expectations, sustainability), what shifts do you believe will redefine “success” for our sector in the coming year or years?

I am tempted to simply say… “surviving”…haha! it will almost be seen as a success in itself. More seriously, a business that can waiver all those issues and keep going and keep growing will definitely be among the best. 

There is this paradox in the hospitality industry: It is radically more difficult to run a profitable and sustainable business than say, 10 years ago, but also, if successful there are way many more tools and support to grow it to unprecedented scale. In a sense, our industry got “VCed” at least, in mentality: if you have a proof of concept, you can scale, develop, grow and very fast!

What do you believe will distinguish the leading service providers in the UK over the next decade (e.g. niche market, luxury, sustainability, experience-driven, hybrid models…)?

With a doubt, the “lifestyle-luxury” category is the most prone to grow. It’s not the ultra-luxury or simply the high-end that counts, but what experience you’re adding on to this. I see customers hooked on that. 

What’s the story you’re offering? What’s the idea behind it? What emotions you’re trying to convey. I believe customers will increasingly pick the winners that can combine all that, they want meaning into what they’re consuming. That will shape the difference. 

What is or are your biggest career achievement(s)?

It’s probably a bit technical but I’d say that successfully shifting Experimental from a heavy-asset player to an asset-light operator (same business model as Mariott, Accor, Hilton, etc) has been one of the biggest achievements. It’s hard to get there and we succeeded, not a small feat.

I must also say that the shift from a small company to a bigger organisation while keeping the soul and “meaning and ethos” of the company. We now supervise more than 1500 people and I think we have kept a very strong corporate culture not dissimilar than 15 years ago: entrepreneurial, fun, international, performance oriented.

Building a “brand” that resonates with customers is also something that was a big achievement. It takes time, patience and hard work but it pays off!

Have you achieved everything you wanted in your career so far?

Not yet. My goal has always been to be truly global. Taking Experimental Hotels in the US (we only have wine and cocktails bars there) and Asia would probably mark a strong achievement that was on my list!

How has your leadership philosophy evolved, especially over the past few years of rapid change?

It is a trope, yet it remains true: do, delegate and control. I think the bigger you become the more important it is to be surrounded by incredible staff and that’s my main philosophy today. 

I control to make it’s going to the direction it’s been decided or that stuff is done, but the teams have lots of independence to achieve the goals that’s been set.

Also, I am a big believer in efficiency: you can work less if you work better. Putting on the hours doesn’t necessarily mean more success.

How do you balance the demands of commercial performance with staff wellbeing, retention and culture building?

They’re very linked. If you don’t perform and don’t make money it is hard to focus on the well-being of the staff. The culture of performance is not antithetic to wellbeing. We’re a very “operational” industry, facing clients day to day, hence an unhappy staff brings about bad perf. Simple. 

As for retention, we need to give more than a job: a sense of purpose, a possibility to grow within the business and a career path. 

What strategies have proven most effective for attracting and growing future talent?

Not really a strategy, but the fact of becoming very international necessary gives more options to talent. You can start at reception in London and end up being GM of one of our hotels in Spain.

That happens all the time and participate into the corporate culture and legend of our group

What does the industry need more of — or less of — to continue thriving?

We need less tax and more understanding…I guess it’s the case pretty much everywhere though haha! 

Ou industry is …old! But it is also an important part of the social fabric and it’s often a bit overlooked by politicians. 

We’re not as sexy as the tech industry but there are lots of interesting stuff happening (new concepts etc), and again we’re important to people and their day to day life. Do you want a work with less restaurant, bar, nightclubs or hotels?

What advice would you give emerging leaders who want to shape the future of hospitality?

Look, I think “patience” is a word that doesn’t resonate with ambitious people nowadays yet building a strong and serious business takes time. There is this belief that you can make money instantly and while there are some cases which proves it’s a possibility, in fact, it’s exceedingly rare and quasi inexistant in our industry.

I would therefore say that if an emerging leaders want to work in hospitality, he’ll need time to really shape its future, but the journey is amazing!