Our Path to Greater Heights

Fiscal budget season is in the rearview mirror, and I’m thrilled to announce that we exceeded our EBIT target by 30%! This remarkable accomplishment sets the stage for the exciting challenges of the new operating year.

The focus for fiscal year 2024/25 is clear: how do we do even better?!

I see the answer as a two-pronged approach:

Firstly, we will play to our strengths. We kicked off the year with a robust combination of improving numbers, a comprehensive business plan, smart operations of our hotels, and a growing core of loyal guests. We need to double down on each element to extract the maximum occupancy, revenue, and profitability, while building loyalty, from each of our hotel properties.

Secondly, growth. Specifically by expanding our existing portfolio, developing our new business pipeline and exploring all opportunities for ancillary revenue growth, the challenge lies in identifying how and where we can achieve this growth. After our recent Growth conference, I know our team is up for that challenge. It is the theme that we will continue to champion throughout the year.

I’m determined to make our business plan an integral part of every team member’s everyday life. Business plans are written at a moment in time but in this dynamic world, and we need to remain agile to hit those numbers. It is no use writing one, putting it in the desk draw, and checking how we did 12 months later.

Our new management and execution process ensures we maintain agility, allowing us to constantly evolve while maintaining a clear line of sight. At our quarterly business plan reviews we will ask ourselves: Are we on target? If not, why? What needs to change?

These reviews will be comprehensive but, we must not be distracted by daily issues. Instead, we must solve them promptly and keep moving forward with the bigger picture in mind. Never losing sight of our Cross’ True North.

Since COVID some of our experienced staff have moved away and we wish them well. It has given us the opportunity to welcome new team members with different backgrounds and learnings. There is now a whole new dynamic in the company as fresh faces are bravely asking difficult questions and offering alternative solutions. It is an exciting evolution. We have new members with different perspectives of old problems which are being bolted onto the invaluable and hard-won lessons from our experienced staff. People are in the right roles driving us all in the right direction.

Over the past five years, I too have evolved as a CEO. I’ve changed my leadership style, and in my way of running the business. The benefits of learning from the challenges we faced, especially working through the pandemic, provided a steep learning curve. The team, the business and I have emerged stronger and more resilient. I think and react to the business differently to where I was before, always involved, but more focused on the bigger picture, culture, and our stakeholders.

By leveraging our strengths, remaining agile, and fostering a growth mindset, we are poised to exceed our targets once again. Roll on 2024/25. We’ve got some goals to smash!

HT