Acorn Awards 2026: Ciaran Thomas-Smith, Sea Containers London

Position Front office manager, Sea Containers London

Age 26

Nominator PJ Kenny, regional general manager, Lore Group

Ciaran Thomas-Smith is redefining front of house leadership at Sea Containers London, blending operational precision with a strong focus on people and performance.

Thomas-Smith joined Sea Containers, a 359-bedroom Lore Group hotel located on London’s South Bank, in 2023 and was promoted to front office manager just over a year later. He quickly became a key figure in the hotel’s evolution, overseeing the team’s transition to Opera Cloud and the roll-out of Lore Group’s guest check-in and booking platform ExpLore, which has helped generate more than six figures in incremental revenue since June 2025.

Under his leadership, front of house audit scores have risen to 91.65%, representing a 10% uplift year-on-year, while guest recommendation scores remain strong. He also led front of house during the Bafta TV Awards and the BFI London Film Festival, managing more than 600 room nights as well as selling the hotel’s newly designed suites. 

Recognising that the front desk and the guest engagement teams work better together, he has combined them into one, with the happy side effect of reducing employee turnover by nearly 20%. He has created a culture of trust, support and greater recognition of individual effort, such as his Star of the Month scheme, which celebrates those who consistently go above and beyond. This supportive working environment has also helped to cut sickness levels by almost half. 

Graduates who join Lore Group through the Design Your Career programme are mentored by Thomas-Smith, who shows them what operational leadership means in practice. Under his guidance, a member of the team progressed from bell and door staff to front desk agent and then to front desk supervisor, and others have followed similar pathways.

When he’s not manning the front desk, he champions hospitality in schools and supports community partnerships through ESG initiatives, such as working with art and health charity Breathe.

Commercially aware and people-focused, Thomas-Smith is helping shape a high-performing front of house operation.