A NEW general manager has checked in at a four-star Victorian country manor hotel in Kidderminster – five-and-a-half years after joining as a receptionist.
Dan Brennan has been promoted to the lead role at the 24-bedroom Brockencote Hall Hotel in Chaddesley Corbett, after initially joining the hotel in December 2019 in a front house role, before being appointed deputy general manager in 2023.
He takes over from Jack Hartshorne, who has moved to one of Brockencote Hall’s sister hotels, Mallory Court Hotel and Spa in Leamington Spa, to become a hotel manager.
Brockencote Hall Hotel is part of the Eden Hotel Collection, which alongside Mallory Court, also includes The Arden in Stratford-upon-Avon, The Greenway Hotel and Spa in Cheltenham, and Bovey Castle in Devon.
Dan has been acting general manager since the start of the year, having completed Eden’s internal leadership programme and the external Master Innholders Aspiring Leaders Programme.
“I am honoured to be given the opportunity to lead Brockencote Hall Hotel,” he said.
“I love working in hospitality and leaving a lasting impression, and ever since my first day the Eden Hotel Collection have recognised this and shown their commitment in helping me to harness this passion – to a level where I can impart my knowledge to other members of the team.
“The property is a real asset to the community within which it sits – whether that is a place for local residents to regularly meet for a drink or afternoon tea, family and friends marking special occasions, or hosting wedding celebrations – and I am looking forward to leading the property into its next phase of growth.”
Dan is the third general manager in a row at Brockencote Hall Hotel to have been internally promoted to the role – underlining the hotel’s commitment to investing in talent.
It also comes at a time when the Eden Hotel Collection’s 90-day staff retention rate sits at 97 per cent; and the group also being recognised as Small Hotel Group of the Year by the AA.
Mark Chambers, managing director at the Eden Hotel Collection, added: “Looking after our people is at the heart of our workplace culture – which includes investing in their professional development like we have seen with Dan.”
