Member Article

Historic Warwickshire hotel announces appointment of new sales office manager

A new sales office manager has been appointed at one of the largest and busiest luxury hotels in the region for conferencing, weddings and events.

Originally from Leicester, Gemma Morgan will run a busy sales team of 13 at four-star Coombe Abbey Hotel in Brinklow, near Coventry, to include weddings, conferences, reservations and banquet bookings.

She succeeds Director of Revenue Nicola Felton who joined the award-winning historic Warwickshire hotel as Sales Office Manager 12 years and has recently moved to Rutland Hall Hotel and Spa in Rutland.

Gemma, aged 39, brings more than 12 years of hospitality experience to the role. She previously worked at the four-star Lea Marston Hotel near Sutton Coldfield and its sister hotel The Abbey in Redditch. There, Gemma climbed the ladder from Sales Co-ordinator to Cluster Sales Office Manager. She completed her Leisure and Tourism training qualifications at North Warwickshire and Hinckley College, now North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College.

The stunning 120-bedroom former Cistercian Abbey, once owned by King Henry VIII, has 11 elegant meeting rooms and a magnificent marquee, popular for both guests and businesses. It stages more than 1,500 events ranging from private dining, afternoon teas and theatrical banquets, to corporate parties, award ceremonies and conferences a year, as well as 200 weddings.

Gemma said: “My new role will encompass everything from managing the team, to driving revenue and ensuring all of our customers get the best experience they can with us. “I am very excited to be working with a brand-new team - some of whom have been brought in following the pandemic. Every morning when I come up the drive to Coombe Abbey, I am just in awe at this beautiful building.

“The team at Coombe Abbey was expecting it to take four to five years for business to recover to pre-pandemic levels but it has come back all guns blazing. Because of the pandemic businesses had to put award-ceremonies and annual conferences on hold and families haven’t been able to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and weddings, so there is a lot of catching up to do!”

Ron Terry, Operations Director of No Ordinary Hospitality Management, the company which operates Coombe Abbey Hotel, said: “We are excited to welcome Gemma to manage our busy, close-knit sales team at Coombe Abbey Hotel.

“Her experience within the luxury and West Midlands hotel industry perfectly complements our vision and Gemma will be instrumental in ensuring this historic property continues to raise the bar in the vibrant regional hotel market. “We would also like to pass on our enormous thanks to Nicola Felton for her incredible contribution during 12 years of service here and wish her well in her new role.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .