Tributes paid to hotelier Richard McKevitt
Tributes have been paid to hotelier Richard McKevitt, who has died at the age of 69.
McKevitt spent his entire working life in the hospitality industry, starting as a barman at the DeMontford hotel in Birmingham as a teenager.
He went on to work in Geneva in Switzerland before undertaking a degree in hotel management and travelling to the Seychelles where he ran the Fisherman's Cove hotel.
Two years on, the hotelier returned to the UK to join Holiday Inn, taking up general manager positions in Newcastle and Aberdeen before moving to Slough to undertake the role of operations director.
McKevitt went on to join Whitbread as operations director and golf operations director, working closely with the Professional Golfers' Association to bring events to the group's Country Club hotels.
In 2000 he co-founded Morethan Hotels, becoming managing director of the group, which introduced the Express by Holiday Inn, Days Inn and Howard Johnson hotel brands to the UK. McKevitt retired in 2009 at the age of 60.
Paying tribute, Whitbread operations director Andrew Francis said the news of his death was very sad and added: "I am an exponent of ‘you make your own luck' in this life, but everyone needs a helping hand now and again. Richard gave me that helping hand very early in my career - Thank you!"
His wife, Wendy, told The Caterer: "I had a fabulous life with Richard, I have lived a five star lifestyle and have been and done things other people only dream about - he was a fantastic husband. His whole ethos throughout his life was to treat people as you would like to be treated yourself, so his staff were always a priority. He could be very hard, but he was extremely fair and people who know him always said that he was a good leader. He gave people responsibility and without a shadow of a doubt he has seen many people go on to great things because he took an interest in them and would promote them. He had three generations of people who have followed him and his advice through the hotel industry, which he was extremely proud of."
The couple have one child, James who is 23.
A celebration of McKevitt's life will take place on Thursday 25 October at 1pm at All Saints' Chapel, Darley Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex. All are welcome.