Stuart Procter returns to the Stafford London
The Stafford London, one of London's most established luxury hotels, located in the heart of St James's, is enjoying a new lease of life since the return of Stuart Procter as general manager. Janet Harmer reports on how he is successfully combining a modern approach to hospitality with traditional hotelkeeping.
The Stafford London may have been established as a hotel in 1912, but today it's enjoying something of a renaissance. The hotel's restaurant, the Game Bird, was one of London's most successful launches in 2017 and this, along with the creation of a number of stylish new suites, has brought a new vibrancy and glamour to the Stafford.
o the news in October 2015 that Procter was returning to the Stafford was initially greeted with surprise. His stint of nearly five years away from the hotel, when he headed the management team that created the Hotel and Café Football concepts, had taken him into a totally new territory of hospitality. It had been expected that he would remain with Manchester United football legends Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville as Hotel Football parent company, GG Hospitality, of which he was managing director, looked to expand. However, with his wife Claire and two teenage children, Archie and Florence, living in Surrey, Procter no longer wanted to be based in Manchester, where Giggs and Neville were working on the development of two new city centre hotels. He also missed working within the luxury hotel sector. So when he was offered the challenge of turning things around at the Stafford, he jumped at the chance.
Back for good
Procter's return to the hotel, in retrospect, makes absolute sense, but there are no regrets about his five years away - in fact, he believes it was the best thing for his development as a general manager and that it has benefitted the Stafford. "I learned how to set up a hotel from scratch, which covered everything from
creating the branding to being involved in the physical building of the property and setting up the operational side of the business. I did things I had never done before and I can now approach what we are doing at the Stafford from a different point of view."
During his first stint at the Stafford, which ran from 2006 to 2011, Procter was unable to change what had become an institution under the tenure of Terry Holmes. But gradually, things started to evolve as he gained the trust of the team and Holmes' seal of approval, and the owners started to realise that increased competition in the capital's luxury hotel market meant change was necessary. The renowned American bar trebled in size and its age-old dress code was dropped. "We had to wake up and realise that you can no longer insist on a jacket and tie in the bar," explains Procter. The hotel expanded with the addition of 26 bedrooms, created in the adjacent mews building.
Stuart Procter's early career Stuart Procter has come a long way from the 15-year-old, part-time waiter at Northcote - or Northcote Manor as it was then known. The fact that he started his career at Northcote in Langho, Lancashire, was a significant factor in propelling him to the top of the industry. Working for co-owners Craig Bancroft and Nigel Haworth gave him a work ethic, an insight into a genuine style of hospitality and the ambition to reach the top.