The eco-friendly budget hotel brand strengthens its financial team as part of its ambitious expansion plan.
To support its growth strategy, easyHotel has recruited Edward Jones as CFO. In just two months, he has already made three key hires to strengthen the team.
Previously, he held the position of Group CFO at YuMove, a pet food supplement company, from March 2022 to January 2023. During his tenure, he led and trained finance teams in the UK and US, supported M&A activities and played a key role in the company's management team.
Edward Jones began his career as an auditor at Baker Tilly in 2008 before joining the National Basketball Association as CFO from 2012 to 2015.
At easyHotel, Edward Jones will work closely with CFO Charles Persello to implement high-level business plans and prepare the group for expansion, as the company aims to double the size of its portfolio over the next four years.
Three new members of the finance team joined the company this month. Kay Pithwa will take up the position of Financial Controller for the UK and Ireland, Sophie Ruelland will become Financial Controller for France and Spain, and Fil Goralczyk will become Senior Accountant.
"I'm delighted to be joining easyHotel at an exciting time as the group implements its ambitious growth strategy. As a high-value, low-carbon player, we are seeing fantastic results with a 32% increase in revPAR over last year. Our added value and excellent brand recognition should fuel growth for the rest of the year." - Edward Jones, Chief Financial Officer
"Edward is an excellent addition to the team and joins us at a propitious time as we welcome record numbers of guests to our hotels. In addition to our organic growth, we have ambitious plans to expand further with new hotel openings, new franchise partners and acquisitions, for which Edward and his experience will play a key role." - Karim Malak, CEO easyHotel
About easyHotel:
Founded in 2004 by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, easyHotel is a chain of low-carbon economy hotels. Currently owned by ICAMAP Investments and Ivanhoe Cambridge, it aims to offer affordable travel options to all. The brand operates hotels in 44 locations across 11 countries, with over 4,400 rooms. It includes 18 franchised hotels (around 1,400 rooms) and 26 owned and leased hotels (around 3,000 rooms). With ambitious growth targets, easyHotel has numerous projects underway in major urban centers and an active program of hotel openings.
ICAMAP Investments, managed by ICAMAP, and Ivanhoe Cambridge, a subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a global investment group, are key partners in the easyHotel project.
easyHotel is present :
- in the UK, including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Ipswich, Milton Keynes, Cardiff, Oxford, Luton, Reading, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast
- in the Benelux countries, in Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Maastricht and Brussels
- in Europe, in Berlin, Paris, Nice, Barcelona, Malaga, Madrid, Zurich, Basel, Lisbon, Sofia, Budapest and Dublin.
