WINDWARD - Key Persons
Amanda Meade is a graduate of the National College of Ireland and has over 20 years of Human Resource Management experience within the hospitality industry. Amanda holds a certificate in Personnel Practice and a Degree in Human Resources Management. She began her career as a Management Trainee with Fitzpatrick Hotels before deciding that her passion lay in Human Resources.
Throughout her career Amanda has held numerous HRM roles with Hotel Groups such as Clarion Hotels, Marriott International, Fitzpatrick Lifestyle Hotels & Hilton and has also been involved in stand alone hotels such as the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire and Morrison Hotel. Most recently Amanda worked with Hilton in the capacity of Director of Human Resources Ireland. Amanda is a passionate Human Resources professional who has a proven track record in Hotel Openings and an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of Human Resources.
In 2008, Brendan in the role of Managing Director established Vanquish Hotels Management and Consultancy. Prior to establishing VHMC, Brendan was Chief Executive Officer of Choice Hotels Ireland the largest hotel operating company in Ireland at the time. Before taking up this position, Brendan was Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for 23 properties, with a combined turnover of 160m, over 4,000 rooms and 3,000 staff. During his time in this position he experienced the successful sale of the operating arm of eleven of their Quality and Comfort hotels in Ireland for over 45 million to Trinity Venture Capital in 2007 (now Dalata Hotels Plc.). In 2000 Brendan in the roles of Investor, Director and Managing Partner project managed, and successfully opened the Clarion Hotel IFSC winning the title of business hotel of the year in its first year of opening. From 2000 to 2008, Brendan guided the Clarion Hotel Group from one hotel in Dublin's IFSC to ten hotels including their first resort - Carton House Resort in Maynooth and their first boutique hotel the Morisson.
He started his career with the International Hotel at Dublin Airport followed by General Management appointments at Acton's Hotel - Kinsale, Forte Crest Hotel - Dublin Airport and subsequently a Regional Management position with the Forte Hotel Group covering London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Croydon hotels. He was recognised by Forte as the best performing General Manager in Europe in 1995. In total Brendan spent 18 years working with Forte hotels before leaving them to join Clarion Hotels Ireland. Brendan holds a Higher Diploma in Hotel and Catering Mgt., a Business Studies Degree from Trinity College and a Diploma in Investing from IIFT.
Job Titles:
- Company Secretary
- Company Secretary for Windward Management and Is Also Part
Caroline Sloane is Company Secretary for Windward Management and is also part of the finance team. She joined the company in July 2017. Caroline is a graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology with an Honours Bachelor Degree in Business Management and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ireland in 2011. Caroline has over 15 years of experience in the accounting profession. Prior to joining the finance team in Windward Management, Caroline held a management position within the corporate audit department in Grant Thornton, where she completed her training and gained 8 years post qualification experience. Her portfolio included many clients in the leisure and hospitality sector.
Charlie is a graduate of the Shannon College of Hotel Management with over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Charlie has won many awards and accolades working Internationally in such prestigious hotels as The Waldorf Astoria & Towers New York and The Millennium Broadway Hotel New York. Since his return to Ireland in 2004, Charlie has overseen and project managed three landmark hotel openings including the Clarion Hotel in Cork, the Gibson Hotel and the Marker Hotel, a member of the Leading Hotels of the World and Condé Nast Traveller Reader's Choice Awards 2021. During his time at the Marker Hotel, Charlie along with the joint venture ownership managed the successful and record-breaking sale of the hotel in October 2019. Charlie is currently studying for an MSc in Business at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.
Job Titles:
- Director of Sales & Marketing
- Group Sales Manager
A graduate of IMI and with over 25 years industry experience having initially worked in London for an esteemed chain of hotels, Clodagh returned to her native Dublin to spear head the management of all University College Dublin's campus and corporate facilities.
With her innate ability to maximise profit margins through rooms revenue and occupancy, Clodagh then moved to Holiday Inn Dublin Airport as Rooms Division Manager. It was during this role which encompassed developing and reviewing business plans and strategies together with key performance indicators and manpower planning that she realised her passion for sales and marketing.
Headhunted by the prestigious Slieve Russell Hotel, in Co. Cavan for the role of Sales & Marketing Manager, she set about managing and overseeing the sales operation with responsibility for planning, implementing, and evaluating sales strategies, whilst quietly building long-lasting professional, corporate and customer relationships.
2008 saw Clodagh join the Flagship Farnham Estate Spa & Golf Resort, with her impressive track record she was quickly promoted to Director of Sales & Marketing and with her unquestionable commitment to the industry and passion for Farnham Estate, has played a pivotal role in building Farnham's award-winning reputation.
Inevitably given such an established and renowned chronicle Clodagh was promoted to Cluster Director of Sales & Marketing encompassing Farnham Estate Spa & Golf Resort together with The Cavan Crystal Hotel, where she oversaw company branding, brand identification and the execution of branding strategies, whilst incontrovertibly achieving satisfactory profit/loss ratio and market share in relation to economic trends.
Job Titles:
- General Manager of Farnham Estate Spa & Golf Resort
Having started out his hospitality career in 2009 with Hotel Meyrick in Galway City as a Purchasing Assistant Colm has since worked in procurement in both hospitality and food distribution service and has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management. Colm has worked as a Purchasing Manager in busy hotel environments where he gained extensive experience in cost saving strategies while also forming strong supplier relationships in the hospitality sector. Colm also has experience from the food service industry where he was Purchasing Manager leading a team of buyers driving cost savings, managing a vast supplier base and maintaining key supplier relationships.
David holds a Diploma in International Hotel Management from Shannon College of Hotel Management, where he graduated first in his class and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from NUI Galway. He also studied at Cornell University, New York. Operationally, David has worked in a host of properties in many countries namely in Ireland, UK, France, Switzerland and USA. Early in his career, he decided to focus on the finance area and held several Financial Controller positions with Jurys Doyle including the Berkeley Court and Jurys Hotel and Towers, Ballsbridge.
David joined the Clarion Hotel Group in 2002 and was a key contributor to the brand's rapid growth from one to ten hotels over five years, before taking up the role of Finance Director across all Choice Hotel brands encompassing 23 hotels. Following the sale of the Quality Hotels and Comfort Inn brands, he took up the role of Chief Financial Officer for Choice Hotels Ireland.
In 2008, David co-founded Vanquish Hotels Management and Consultancy, providing a complete suite of hospitality products ranging from full management services to advisory at any level. Over eight years, VHMC was engaged on a vast array of projects by many clients including the main Irish financial institutions, leading insolvency firms and multiple hotel owners.
David joined Windward Management after more than three years in the role of Director of Finance at Powerscourt Hotel Resort & Spa where he was instrumental in preparing the hotel for Sale in 2019.
Job Titles:
- Commercial & Finance Director
Originally from Dublin, Ian began his career in hospitality back in 1992 and has managed hotels, bars and restaurants both at home and abroad. Ian spent a number of years involved in the leisure property sector in Europe and America before returning home in 2007 to study accountancy, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 2010 complementing his degree in economics from UCD. In addition to consolidating his experiences at Windward Management, Ian continues to remain active in academics, assisting in the preparation of professional syllabus and examinations.
Karl graduated from UCD with a Bachelor of Commerce honours degree in 2002 and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2006 in a medium sized accounting firm. Karl also obtained a diploma in Internal Audit, Risk Management and Compliance in 2020 as well as a Certificate in Technology Risk & Data Incident Management in 2022 both from Chartered Accountants Ireland. Karl has previously been a senior and lead internal auditor in companies across a number of industries including retail, manufacturing and gaming. Previous experience to date includes a well-known DIY retailer that is part of an Irish owned PLC, Fortune 500 US multinationals with sites in Europe, Canada and Australia and a heavily regulated Irish gaming company based in Dublin City.
Lynn Sharkey joined Windward Management in October 2022, and is an experienced revenue professional with over 20 years of success in revenue management within the hospitality industry.
Lynn began her career with The Jurys Doyle Hotel Groups Training Management programme. Having decided early on in her career that her passion was for revenue management, Lynn went on to hold numerous Revenue Manager positions within The Jurys Doyle Group portfolio of hotels.
Lynn most recently worked with Hilton where she held Commercial Director roles at Doubletree by Hilton Dublin, Burlington Road & Conrad Dublin.
Lynn is highly skilled at increasing hotel revenues through the creation of demand-based pricing models, with a proven track record at maximising hotel revenue and RevPAR Index.
Job Titles:
- Group Talent Acquisition & Engagement Manager
Matthew brings with him nine years of recruitment experience with a blend of recruitment agency and inhouse recruitment as well as the project management of new recruitment initiatives. In addition, he has experience recruiting internationally within the United States, Nordic, DACH And Benelux regions as well as recruiting across a broad spectrum of functions including Hospitality, Logistics & Supply Chain, Finance, eCommerce and Sales & Marketing.
Having worked in the hospitality sector for over 25 years, with almost 20 years in a Procurement role, Niall has a great deal of hospitality and procurement experience. Qualified in Hotel Management, with a great depth of Food & Beverage experience and a proven negotiator, Niall joins Windward as Director of Procurement. Niall has a solid reputation and a proven track record of effectively leading and managing all aspects of procurement. He has spent almost 12 years with Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group setting up and managing the procurement function in Ireland, assisting in negotiations as a key member of the UK & Ireland team, and negotiated key categories at a wider European level.
Niall also played a key role in the implementation of the current and the previous procurement platforms within the UK & Ireland. Previously, Niall spent 7 years with the former Lynch Hotel Group, and has worked internationally with Hilton in the USA and also spent time working in Australia. An outgoing, dynamic and focused professional who has a relentless drive to deliver more than just results.
Niall has great energy in generating positive and effective relationships with both internal & external partners, and has raised significant funds for charities in Ireland over the past number of years. A keen Ireland and Munster Rugby fan, originally from Kilkenny, but now takes up residence in his adopted home city of Limerick
With over two decades of experience in the hospitality industry, Pat is a well-established and highly respected professional within the industry. Pat started his hotel career as an Executive Management Trainee with Doyle Hotels in the Burlington Hotel. He then spent his formative years in the United States working with Sheraton and Hyatt. On his return to Ireland Pat managed several Great Southern Hotels including their flagship Parknasilla property, prior to his appointment as Group General Manager in 2004, a position he held until their sale in 2006.
Pat then spent several years working as a consultant to the Hotel and Leisure sector firstly as Director of Hotel Tourism and Leisure with Horwath Bastow Charleton, followed by two years as a Director of Vision Hospitality Management which also managed the Fleet Hotel. In 2011 Pat joined Radisson and has held many roles since joining Radisson, including General Manager of Radisson Dublin Airport, District Director for Ireland and most recently Regional Director for Ireland and the UK. In this role he had the responsibility for overseeing 22 hotels with a mixture of leased and managed properties.
Patrick Coyle formed Windward Management Limited (Windward) in 2007, a hotel management and consultancy company, providing comprehensive services from the ground up. Windward has been involved with the feasibility, development, refurbishment, and operational management of a wide range of hotel operations in Ireland, the UK and Continental Europe. We work with a number of valued capital partners in delivering first class performance for our customers and hotel owners alike. Since the formation of Windward he has assembled a team of professionals with un-paralleled expertise, experience and commitment which continues to drive exceptional performance and is well poised for further expansion.
Patrick has over 30 years' experience within the industry having been the Chief Executive of the Gresham Hotel Group Plc., a publically listed company operating hotels in Ireland, the U.K. and Mainland Europe together with a Travel Agency in Ireland and North America with in excess of 1500 employees. He was the Director of Marketing and Finance for the Group prior to his appointment as Chief Executive being the youngest CEO on the Irish Stock Exchange at the time.
He has led a number of successful and profitable hotel acquisitions and disposals on behalf of the Plc, Private Equity and on a Personal basis both in Ireland and abroad. These transactions have ranged in value from below 10m to over 100m and have involved both asset and company transactions. He has extensive experience in the selection, negotiation and implementation of international hotel management contracts together with asset management projects.
Job Titles:
- Group Operations Regional Support Manager
- Regional Support Manager for Windward Management
Paul is Group Operations Regional Support Manager for Windward Management. A graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management, with over 15 years international experience in the hospitality industry.
Paul has worked in a number of Luxury and 4* properties, holding positions in Food and Beverage and Senior Management positions in Rooms, namely, Le Meridien Grand Hotel Nuremberg, Radisson Blu Athlone, Hotel Du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens Glasgow, The Westbury Hotel -a member of Leading Hotels of The World and The Du Pont Circle Hotel Washington, where he lead a task force which guided the properties post covid reopening.
In addition to his strengths managing properties operations, Paul has gained extensive experience in managing building health and safety audits and also led The Westbury's Green Team, which was awarded Green Tourisms prestigious Gold Award 2022.
Seamus joined Windward in 2018 with 20 years' experience in diverse range of managerial and financial roles in hospitality. Over the course of his career Seamus has prepared multiple evaluations and due diligence of hotels for sale on behalf of investors.
As well as being a board member of Dundrum House Hotel and leading a financial restructure and transition to new ownership, Seamus has also worked on behalf of KPMG with experience in examinerships and receiverships.
Previously, Seamus worked in manufacturing, construction, and wholesale sectors. He is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant.
Job Titles:
- Director Sales, Marketing & I.T.
Recently selected as one of the "Top 20 Minds in Sales, Marketing and Technology across Europe" by HSMAI, Stephen Williams has held various high level marketing positions for prominent hotels and chains throughout Ireland. A graduate of the University of Limerick, Stephen holds a BBS in Marketing and French and a Masters Certificate in Hospitality Management and Revenue Management from Cornell University.
Prior to moving to Windward Management, Stephen held a number of marketing positions with Shannon Development, An Oige, Choice Hotels Ireland and the Louis Fitzgerald Group. Most recently, Stephen held the position as Commercial Director of Avvio.com, a leading provider of on-line marketing and reservations software to the hospitality industry, Stephen headed up their USA operations in New York and Las Vegas.
Stephen is a former President of the HSMAI Ireland, former Director of Training for HSMAI New York and a former Board Member of the Irish Hospitality Institute. Recently, Stephen has spoken at the Independent Hotel Show, London, The Annual Hotel Conference, Manchester, The ACTE Conference, Dublin, The Global Hospitality Services Annual Conference, London, The Irish Hotels Federation Annual Conference, Killarney and the Failte Ireland Evolve Conference 2016. Stephen has also lectured on the subject of Digital Marketing and On-line Distribution at DIT, Cathal Brugha Street and Essec, Paris.
Job Titles:
- Group Online and Social Media Manager
Tara Scully has over 15 years experience within the hospitality industry - specialising in digital marketing and ecommerce management. With a Degree in International Hospitality Management from DIT, Cathal Brugha Street, Tara began her hospitality career at front of house at the prestigious Ballymalloe House Hotel, where she learned excellence in delivery and the practicalities of hotel operations. From there, Tara held positions in Net Affinity, an award winning Booking Engine Technology, Design and Marketing Company. Beginning her time with Net Affinity as a Digital Marketing Executive, working her way up to Ecommerce Manager before her departure. While at Net Affinity, Tara managed a portfolio of key accounts and developed a reputation for project delivery - including website redesigns and long term marketing strategy development leading to year on year revenue growth for her portfolio.
Tara also holds a Diploma in Marketing, Advertising, Sales & PR from Dublin Business School and also brings her experiences working outside of the hospitality industry with Distilled SCH Ireland's leading online media company as an Account manager.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Chief Operating Officer
Una has over 25 years' experience within the hospitality industry.
Prior to taking up her current role, Una was General Manager of Farnham Estate Spa & Golf Resort, Co Cavan where she undertook a 5million expansion and refurbishment plan of the Resort over an 18-month period.