Head Of Acquisitions & Development

The Company:

Our Client is a Hospitality business operating a combination of Drive Thru, Drive To, High Street and City Centre stores throughout the UK.

They have very exciting and significant expansion plans and are part of a well established and respected family business which was founded in 1973 and exist to bring teams together to create meaningful and memorable hospitality experiences for its customers. Their portfolio includes hotels, coffee houses, restaurants, residential property and a private members club.

In simple terms, their business is all about people and they are fortunate enough to have a team of great people who create magical moments for their customers all over the UK, Austria, Slovakia and East Africa.

Their growth territory is spread across 13 Counties including Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire (outside M25), Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Bedfordshire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

The business has very exciting and significant expansion aspirations and requires a Head of Acquisitions & Development to join their Leadership Team

The Position:

Reporting to the Managing Director you will primarily be responsible for creating and delivering a growth strategy to scale our client’s business.

Other key duties and responsibilities will include:

Acquisitions, including:

• Create a growth strategy to deliver new stores and deliver against growth targets.
• A strong understanding of the growth territories including key retail parks, roads, out of town schemes and roadside opportunities.
• Leverage and further develop an extensive and effective network with Agents, Landlords and Developers to secure prime sites.
• Proactively seek “off market” opportunities through own enquiries
• Effectively manage our client’s pipeline with the Brand custodian, following processes to ensure timely registrations of potential sites.
• Preparing and presenting Board Packs for Board approval.
• Working closely with external professional services such as Solicitors, Architects, and Project Managers to ensure a successful and seamless end to end process from site identification to opening.
• Ensure that sites secure all necessary consents including Planning and Licensing etc

Refurbishment and New Store fit-out including:

• Working in partnership with Head of Finance to prepare, implement and manage budgets, development costs and capital expenditure related to new store fit outs and existing store refurbishments.
• Work closely with all suppliers (eg. Architects, Contractors, Developers, Project Managers) to drive on time and on budget project completion

Estate Management, including:

• Responsible for ensuring the estate is proactively managed and to limit exposure to increased property costs such as rent reviews, service charges, dilapidations, landlord insurance etc.

General:

• Line management responsibility of the New Store Opening Manager

The Candidate Profile

The Head of Acquisitions & Development is likely to be a Graduate PROFILE: Chartered Surveyor with relevant experience of acquiring drive-thru, out of town and High Street sites within a leisure and hospitality environment and a very strong network of out of town Agents and Developers.

It is desirable for the candidate to live within the growth territories and able to travel extensively as required.

The other key attributes sought are:

• Experience of managing the entire acquisitions process from site identification, negotiation, purchase, legal and planning processes etc
• Commercial focus with the gravitas, tenacity and ability to manage key relationships both internally and externally
• Have excellent negotiating skills, with an eye for detail, drive to find new sites and the ability to close deals
• Uncompromising commitment to the highest ethical and legal standards
• Ability to work effectively with others in a dynamic team environment
• Ability to interact and influence a diverse group of people at all levels
• Must have excellent presentation skills both written and verbal
• Must be capable of managing, organising and prioritising their own workload, be self-motivated and work well under pressure and consistently meet deadlines
• Should be experienced in strategic planning
• Have the ability to use own initiative and be flexible to changing priorities
• Should be IT literate
• Should be able to hit the ground running with existing network
• Ability to work in a fast paced environment
• Familiarity with Statutory Legislation and Regulations etc

The Location:

Field based with occasional nights spent from home as required. The Head of Acquisitions & Development will also spend 2-3 days a month at our clients Support Office in London.

The Salary & Supporting Benefits:

Attractive base salary based on experience, bonus of up to £4k per new store opening, paid in two stages, company car or car allowance, pension scheme, 33 days holiday inclusive of Bank Holidays, discounted employee rates at Group hotels & restaurants, access to Killer Company Events, Service Anniversary Awards, Access to a Rewards platform, discounts on food, enhanced maternity, adoption and shared bereavement pay, enhanced paternity pay and enhanced parental bereavement leave pay etc.

The above are principal elements in an attractive and comprehensive package reflecting our client’s determination to appoint a first class candidate.

It is our policy to practice equal opportunities in recruitment and selection for all candidates.

We have a responsibility to avoid unlawful discrimination.