In The Spotlight with...Krzysztof

Our ‘In The Spotlight with…’ series continues with our first feature from the Back of House department! InterContinental London – The O2’s Back of House and Purchasing Manager Krzysztof Szczypka joined the team shortly after the hotel’s opening in January of 2016.

Krzysztof moved to the U.K. from Poland in 2005 with the hunger, drive and ambition to experience as many new and exciting opportunities as possible. On deciding to move to the U.K, he explains that he's always loved speaking English at school and felt that the city of London was the perfect place for him to grow in his career.

After settling into a new life here, Krzysztof gained invaluable experience with several companies in the city before being offered his role with the hotel in 2016 where his official title became 'Back of House Manager'.

Krzysztof has been at the helm of this department ever since, where he has been leading a smooth operation with the support of his team. He currently manages a team of 15 passionate ambassadors from stewarding and goods receiving, whose common goal is to support the hotel with everything it needs.

A typical day for Krzysztof involves overseeing the management of waste and recycling, ensuring the IHG green engage initiative is being activated in all hotel areas, checking all the incoming and outgoing deliveries, and assisting our Purchasing department with the sourcing of new items. What motivates him in his role is the essential requirement of work that involves a lot of co-operation and teamwork with other departments such as Health Security, Kitchen, Housekeeping as the overall sense of camaraderie makes work feel more like a hobby to him than a job.

Speaking to Krzysztof about how his role has changed over time, he pinpoints that the tasks have changed slightly since he joined, however his love of working with people remains unchanged. His passion for his work derives from connecting with his team, other ambassadors in the hotel and the clients he has worked with over the years. He explains that it makes him feel empowered and inspired and encourages him to forge meaningful connections with both his colleagues and stakeholders where he can learn a little more about them and sometimes even gain lifelong friendships too.

Outside of work, he loves that the ambassadors get together to play football every Friday and participate in leagues and tournaments with other London hotels as the perfect way to destress and come together on and off the pitch – a simple and fun routine each week that he feels makes a significant difference to his team’s physical and mental health.

As someone who is contagiously passionate about career development and self-improvement, Krzysztof enlisted himself on The Arora Group’s 'Future Leaders' Course which he would strongly recommend to other colleagues. Over the course of 12 months, the candidates developed essentials skills on how to prepare to become a General Manager or Department Leader and provided insight on how each department within a hotel is required to support each other for optimal function.

Now in 2022, Krzysztof confesses that he’s feeling the most empowered, confident and comfortable that he’s ever felt as Head of Department and has developed a curiosity towards further developing his skills in Purchasing to further support the business. His continued efforts haven’t gone unnoticed either, with Krzysztof receiving a promotion this month to 'Back of House and Purchasing Manager'.

Outside of work Krzysztof is utterly devoted to football and exploring new cultures. In particular, he notes that South Africa has been his favourite place to visit and loves nothing more than tasting and discovering new cultures and cuisines, with many more places to discover in the future!

We are so proud of of Krzysztof’s 6 years of dedication and are so excited to see where his career at InterContinental London – The O2 continues to take him!