The NEWH UK chapter held their Round Table and Annual Fundraiser to celebrate this year’s Scholarship Winners at the Sea Containers Hotel London on 24th October.
The day kicked off with a Round Table Event which was sponsored by Dornbracht. This year saw no less than eight industry experts sharing their insights, they included: Chris Turner, Founder of Chris Turner Procurement; Massimo Barbera, Head of Design at Lupoi Design; Arun Rana, Design Director at Accor Hotels; Carolynne Shenton, Director at Studio Mica; Stefano Squecco, General Manager at St. James’s Hotel & Club; Medhat Nehad Seada, Founder of Visionary Designer Archiform London Ltd; Sam Hall, Design Director IHG Europe; and Holly Hallam, Managing Director at Design LSM. The event encouraged innovative conversations on industry issues, giving participants an opportunity to quiz their industry peers.
Kathryn Quinn, President of NEWH UK and Senior Designer at Goddard Littlefair summed up the afternoon perfectly: “With scholarship, education and business networking at the forefront of everything we do, the NEWH Annual Roundtable event provides an opportunity for every facet of the hospitality industry to come together. Industry leaders in hotel brand, operations, design, hospitality management, manufacture and education meet for a series of discussions on the latest advancements and challenges in the hospitality industry. They leave inspired, having made meaningful connections.”
The Round Table session was followed by the long-awaited Annual Fundraiser. After keeping this year’s recipients under wraps, NEWH UK were thrilled to fund four student scholarships. This year’s interior design scholarships were presented to Sofia Calestru (Middlesex University), Song Kee Lee (Northumbria University) and Pamela Sanchez Rodriguez (Kingston School of Art). And for the first time, the NEWH UK chapter were delighted to introduce a new Hospitality Management scholarship which was awarded to Joanna Savage (University of Gloucestershire).
Kate Mitchell, NEWH UK Scholarship Chair and Commercial Lead at Timorous Beasties, hosted the awards evening and said: “The calibre, creativity, and commitment shown by all of our winning students is second to none. I am delighted to celebrate their success with everyone here tonight and thank our judges and sponsors for making this event possible. It’s great to see that the future of our sector is in safe hands.”
The interior design judging panel was headed up by Barbara Bischoff, NEWH UK Scholarship Director, who was joined by Arun Rana from Accor Hotels, Mohammed Mostakin from Studio Lost, Emma Kennedy from Space magazine, Kristian Piolet from Gessi, Maria Esquivel from Six Senses, and Chrissie Granger from Indigo Art and NEWH UK.
The three interior design scholarship winners each accepted their awards and answered a few questions on what NEWH and the award has meant to them. Sofia Calestru said: “This event was an incredible experience that allowed me to connect with a lot of professionals and explore a range of perspectives on the design industry. I’m truly grateful to have been a part of it!”
Song Kee Lee, added: “This marked a milestone—a big step toward the industry. The encouragement and insights shared by professionals opened my eyes to future possibilities, filling me with excitement for what lies ahead.”
And Pamela Sanchez said: “It was incredibly enriching to meet so many people coming from different backgrounds and expertise. I learned so much from everyone who shared their experience on the field. It gave me a real insight on the hospitality industry. I will forever treasure this event,and I am so grateful for everyone who joined.”
2024 is the first year NEWH UK has awarded a scholarship for hotel management. Judges were Andrew Henning, Area Managing Director for Highgate London and General Manager at Grosvenor House Suites in Mayfair, Anne Golden, Vice President of Operations for UK & North America and General Manager at Pan Pacific London, and Garreth Walsh, General Manager of Kimpton Fitzroy London.
Winner of the hotel management award, Joanna Savage said: “It was a pleasure to be a part of the NEWH fundraiser and round table event, hearing from people in the industry was an amazing opportunity. As this was the first time the Hotel Management scholarship was awarded, I can’t wait to see how this will develop in the future.”
To date the NEWH Inc has awarded over $9.5 million in scholarships, with over £70,000 in the UK alone. None of this would be possible without our generous sponsors. Our thanks go to Dornbracht, Cruise Ship Interiors, Lutron and Hypnos Beds for enabling a fantastic platform to network and invest in the next generation.
