Tom Lewis appointed operations director at Wildsmith Hotels
Tom Lewis, former general manager at Swinton Park hotel in North Yorkshire, has joined the Wildsmith Hotels group in Cumbria as operations director. He will work closely with founder Andrew Wildsmith, overseeing all three Lake District properties in the company.
The group includes the 10-bedroom Hipping Hall, Kirkby Lonsdale; the Ryebeck, Bowness-on-Windermere; and the forthcoming 21-bedroom Forest Side restaurant and hotel in Grasmere, which is due to launch in September.
Wildsmith said: "Tom's experience and qualifications speak for themselves. Wildsmith Hotels is celebrating 10 successful years and with a third hotel launch underway, it was time I brought in a right hand man to help me across all the properties."
"I am absolutely delighted to be working with Andrew Wildsmith, to be joining him at such an exciting time with his third hotel coming on line in the Autumn," added Lewis, who has previously worked at Gilpin Lodge and Belmond Le Manoir Quat'Saisons. "The hotels are precisely the style that I feel at home with - individual and intimate - with character, charm, superlative food and service."
Wildsmith achieved a Phd in Chemistry from Cambridge University, before opting to embark on a career in hospitality. He bought Hipping Hall 10 years ago and has invested more than £10m in Wildsmith Hotels to date.
Andrew Wildsmith updates third hotel with ex-Rogan chef in kitchen >>