Maze officially announces the launch of a global hospitality advisory firm to partner with the hospitality industry to build more profitable and purposeful business models and to advise on the future growth of the sector.
Maze brings together a dedicated team of highly skilled hospitality specialists with global expertise and years of industry experience to deliver precisely considered and expertly crafted solutions for the hospitality industry. The company is on a mission to build a more resilient industry, deliver greater productivity and create more purposeful investor, owner and operator relationships.
Over the years, the Partners of Maze have worked closely with renowned and trusted brands, hotel owners and investors, including private equity, across the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia, and have developed valuable insights to enable and deliver sustainable results, profit and value, whilst remaining cognisant of the dynamics of owner/operator relationships.
The company’s ‘Hospitality Inside’ approach, of looking from the inside out to make a purposeful impact from within will help to improve the resilience of its clients and the industry, expand portfolios and provide insight to drive profitability and value. Maze Partners are passionate and dedicated hoteliers and industry insiders who work intuitively with hotels, hospitality management companies, owners and investors alike.
Robert Swade operates as Managing Director and has a unique combination of skills across all disciplines, having spent over a decade at the Jumeirah Group including in the roles of Chief Operating Officer, Chief Development Officer and General Counsel. Prior to launching Maze, he served as CEO at Grace Hotels for three years.
Swade is joined by Alison Broadhead, who previously held the role of Chief Commercial Officer at Jumeriah Group, and a former colleague from Grace Hotels, Alison Styles – who was Group Commercial Director, previously having held executive positions at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Langham Hospitality Group. The partner group is rounded off by Mike O’Mahoney, previously Group Finance Director at Grace Hotels who has over 25 years’ experience of hospitality finance, including as the Chief Financial Officer at De Vere Venues.
The launch of Maze comes at a critical time. The hospitality sector has been one of the most resilient over the past 10 years, with a pre Covid-19 growth of 3.5%, but the impact of the crisis has been significant. WTTC predicts that, even in a best-case scenario, Covid-19 will lead to a 31% reduction in the size of the global travel and tourism workforce and a 30% decrease in the sector’s contribution to global GDP.
Maze has been founded to uncover opportunities and create solutions when they are needed most to unleash the potential of businesses, enhance performance and generate greater returns.
Investors and owners are looking for expertise to reset and recover their return on investment. Maze believes that businesses are looking for bespoke advice on how to generate value, develop new opportunities in a dramatically changed landscape and revise business models to re-establish and sustain profitability.
Current market pressures demand definitive action now. Maze will work to accelerate the conversation around how businesses in the hospitality sector can adapt to and transform during these unpredictable times.
Robert Swade, Managing Director at Maze, commented: “We are immensely excited to start this journey at a time critical time for the industry. We see a great opportunity to help hospitality businesses across the sector to enhance their offering and build more purposeful organisations and relationships. At Maze, hospitality is not just our background, it is our way of life. Our team’s big-picture perspective and long-term approach will provide our clients with the insight to enable them to anticipate next steps and to provide a robust strategy to ensure their businesses are well-positioned and protected for the future.”
