MEININGER HOTELS - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Strategy Director of Holidaybreak

Ajit Menon has over 30 years' experience in finance and hospitality including 14 years with American Express and 9 years at Holidaybreak working with British brands like PGL, NST and Eurocamp. Ajit also founded a boutique corporate finance house primarily involved in mergers & acquisitions and raising equity for small and mid-cap companies which he sold in 2006 to a listed Indian brokerage firm. Ajit was appointed as Strategy Director of Holidaybreak in 2011 with promotion to Deputy CEO in May 2013. He was appointed CEO in September 2019 where he provided strategic guidance to the business and its subsidiaries. In June 2020 he was appointed CEO of MEININGER Hotels.

Job Titles:

• Member of the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
• Vice President Commerce

Malin holds many years of international work experience in commercial management within Sales, Marketing, Revenue and Central Reservations. She leads and develops the Commercial division, driving strategic alignment, ensuring accelerated growth and establishing MEININGER Hotels as a key hybrid hotel brand in European hospitality. Prior to MEININGER Malin has held senior leadership positions in multi-brand franchise hotel chains and significant hotel brands such as Accor, Dorint, Pullman, Nikko & Westin Hotels. Malin has lived and worked in the USA, India, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and Germany. Malin holds a bachelor's degree in hospitality management from the Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.

Job Titles:

• Member of the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
• Vice President Development & Asset Management

Nicolas joined MEININGER Hotels in September 2015 and has been instrumental in growing the MEININGER footprint from 16 to 30 hotels in 2021, and also expanding the geographic spread. During the pandemic, Nicolas and his team expanded their remit to include Asset Management, helping the company engage more effectively with landlords. Before working at MEININGER Hotels, Nicolas worked for Motel One where he developed their hotels in the France and Benelux market. Prior to that, he worked for PKF hotelexperts, a consulting company focused on hotel development, feasibility studies and operator searches. He has also worked several years in operations with Hilton Hotels. Nicolas has a bachelor's degree in business economics from the Vrije Universiteit Brussels and an MBA in Hospitality Administration from Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne.

Job Titles:

• Member of the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
• Vice President Change Management & Technology

Rick Medford joined MEININGER Hotels in 2019. In his role, he leads the IT team and oversees transformation projects aimed at increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of all the business processes of the MEININGER Hotels group. Prior to joining MEININGER Hotels, Rick Medford helped develop change management processes at Marks & Spencer, Vertex Data Science, Sainsbury's, and Domino's Pizza. Rick has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Newcastle University.

Job Titles:

• Chief Operating Officer
• Member of the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

As COO Thomas is responsible for the optimization and execution of an effective operational business strategy within the MEININGER Hotel group. His focus is to improve operational excellence and profitability, but also supporting MEININGER's growth strategy through implementation of efficient processes when launching new business units. Thomas is an accomplished global hospitality executive with extensive corporate and operational experience, who worked at Marriott and Starwood properties, before joining Radisson Hotel Group. After climbing the operational ranks, he worked as general manager and district director and has 15 years hands on experience with hotel opening projects in over 20 countries globally. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMI) with specialization in hotel pre-openings.

Job Titles:

• Member of the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
• Vice President Finance

Vivian Schneider joined MEININGER Hotels in January 2021. She has over 25 years of international work experience in Finance holding Senior Leadership roles in Europe, Asia and the USA. Prior to joining MEININGER Hotels, Vivian has worked at Marcus Evans Group, a corporate marketing, information and events management company. Vivian holds a German diploma in Business Economics and a master's degree in Business Administration from the Anglia Polytechnic University in the UK.