New management team for boutique hotel concept Urban Villa

By Noli Dinkovski

- Last updated on GMT

New recruits: Kate Ciblik (left), Martin Newbould and Joanna Stevens
New recruits: Kate Ciblik (left), Martin Newbould and Joanna Stevens

Related tags Urban villa Hotel

Union Hanover’s operations arm NoHo has named a management team for its new west London boutique hotel concept Urban Villa.

Martin Newbould has been appointed general manager of Urban Villa, which opened its first site Brentford in February. The new director of sales at Urban Villa is Joanna Stevens, while Kate Ciblik has been appointed revenue manager.

Newbould was previously the hotel manager of the ACE hotel in Shoreditch, and operations manager at the Hoxton. 

Union Hanover director Andrew Fowler said: “The experience at Ace and Hoxton provide Martin with the skills we require to nurture the growth of Urban Villa to its full potential.”

Sales appointment

Joanna Stevens was formerly director of sales and marketing at both the Chiswick Moran and the Crown Moran hotel, both in London, for the past three years.

Prior to joining Moran Hotels, she held management roles at IHG, Penta Hotels and Malmaison.

Union Hanover managing director Eric Jafari said: “We are fortunate to have someone with such broad industry sales experience and, yet, local knowledge and contacts,”

New revenue manager Kate Ciblik was previously UK senior cluster revenue manager for Ascott Group and the Cavendish Hotel, where she managed 11 different European Ascott properties before joining Urban Villa.

Ciblik brings an “invaluable blend of boutique hospitality and serviced apartment experience” to the revenue department, said Union Hanover group operations director Merzak Kaddour.

He added: “Kate was an obvious pick – she provides us with the reassurances that she has the extended stay experience and the capacity to aid us in our growth.” 

Hotel occupancy

According to Union Hanover, occupancy at Urban Villa Brentford has already exceeded expectations, despite a Novotel and Premier Inn opening nearby. It also has scored highly on customer review sites.

Andrew Fowler said: “We are delighted with the calibre of candidates that have applied to join Urban Villa. This is a very flattering endorsement of our product, its positioning and price in the current market.                                                                                                   

He added: “It’s particularly important for us to create a strong platform on our first project in order to develop our standard operating procedures, systems and strategies.

“The next 20 months will allow us to fine-tune and create a well-oiled operational machine ready for large growth in 2017 and 2018.”

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