No risk, no reward

"I guess I'm an obstinate bugger - but every time conventional wisdom says ‘don't touch it', I just want to get stuck in," says Nicholas Rettie, the 1998 Hotelier of the Year.

From conventional beginnings as a trainee at the Savoy, Rettie's taste for a challenge has ensured that he has spent most of his career avoiding the safe "company man" route.

It is obvious that he is quietly proud to be the type of hotelier that sticks his head above the parapet when it comes to new projects. "It's simple: no risk, no reward," he says.

Rettie comes across as a very measured man who carefully calculates "risks". But what sets him apart from his peers is his ability to see potential where others can only see problems. The Halkin is a case in point. When the hotel opened in 1991, London hadn't seen anything like it. "No scatter cushions, no curtain swags, no chintz - the product was visually revolutionary," says Rettie.

Rising to the challenge

Many dismissed it as an ego trip for its owners, the Ongs, but Rettie was excited. "It was a brand new product in hotel terms - a blank sheet of paper - and I wanted to be involved." If Rettie wanted a challenge, here it was. He got the general manager's job, which made him the fourth person to hold that position in as many months.

"I suppose it was seen at the time as a difficult project," Rettie observes. "But the owners wanted someone who knew the London scene, and they wanted someone they could trust and rely on."

He admits that the move came as a real culture shock. "Moving from the Athenaeum, an established Rank group hotel, to a privately owned, design-led establishment was a big step. And although I didn't recognise it at the time, I now know change is good."

"I suppose that one of the biggest challenges at the Halkin was to come to terms with the fact that there was no ‘comfort factor': no head office functions, no finance managers. I had to learn to be totally self-reliant."

Dealing with two very private owners was also new. "Yes, the Ongs have different priorities, but no one can deny that the end results at the Halkin and the Metropolitan have caught people's eye."

The Met, as it has become known, provided another learning curve for Rettie. The hotel was essentially three different products: the hotel, the Met Bar and Nobu, a very successful restaurant transplant into a London hotel. Nobu has more than done its bit to keep the Metropolitan in the press, and on the awards board, since its 1996 opening.

"The process of getting any hotel started is a significant task. A big concern was the Londonderry tag [the previous hotel sited there] and the fact that potential staff saw just another Park Lane hotel," says Rettie. "I know that many of my pre-opening management team thought I was bonkers, but I needed to drive through the concept that we wanted enthusiasts involved in this new project, not just people after another job."

The search for stylish staff

Rettie was looking for unconventional style. " I have always tried to pick people with high energy levels, high creativity, who are able to use the left-hand side of their brain as well as their right."

So, he is relaxed with the long hair and earrings among his male staff, but he is also quick to point out the importance of being business-minded. "My training was a great grounding, but terribly craft-oriented. In those days, there was no particular encouragement to step outside the box.

"Later, as duty manager, I was given a set of keys and a pager. I remember charging around hotels with great energy, putting out one fire after another. I became skilled at short-term solutions, and accountant jargon."

With two successful hotels under his belt, Rettie is not about to underestimate the importance of the range of skills that underpin a successful business.

"But I don't believe that you get out of bed in the morning to improve shareholder value," says Rettie. "What you do want is that your staff get value out of what they are doing, and maintain a consistency.

"I could not have survived, let alone succeeded, in this business without being driven, and I am confident that any leading general manager would say that."