Hastings Hotels reshuffles leadership team

James McGinn (left), Howard Hastings (centre) and Edward Carson (right) (imagery: © William Cherry / Press Eye)

The Northern Irish luxury hotel group, whose portfolio includes The Culloden Estate and Spa and Europa Hotel in Belfast, has appointed a new chairman and managing director.

Hastings Hotels is looking ahead to life beyond the pandemic with the help of a new-look management team.

Changes afoot at Hastings Hotels

Luxury hotel groups around the world have continued to reinvent themselves amid the Covid crisis and Belfast-headquartered Hastings Hotels is no different. The company has revealed that James McGinn, who has worked there for 25 years as operations director and general manager of Belfast’s Europa Hotel, has been handed the key role of managing director, with incumbent Howard Hastings switching to the role of chairman.

Edward Carson, Hastings Hotels’ longest serving director, has retired from the chairman role. However, he’ll continue to sit on the board as a non-executive director.

New roles for Andy McNeill and Niall Burns

Elsewhere, the group has given Andy McNeill, currently general manager of The Culloden Estate and Spa in Belfast, the same role at Europa Hotel. And Niall Burns, who previously worked with Hastings Hotels as deputy general manager of Slieve Donard in Newcastle, County Down and was most recently general manager of Lyrath Estate in County Kilkenny, will replace McNeill at the helm of The Culloden.

Howard Hastings said: “As we emerge from the pandemic, Hastings Hotels is confident that it does so with a very strong team. I would like to thank Edward Carson in particular for his lifetime of dedication and commitment to the company and am delighted that he will remain on the board.

“I am also thrilled that we are able to acknowledge and harness the talents of individuals who have come through the ranks to attain a senior status in the company, and while it is ‘welcome back’ to Niall Burns at The Culloden Estate, my fellow directors and I wish him, Andy McNeill at the Europa and James McGinn as managing director our very best wishes as they take on their new roles.”

Besides The Culloden and Europa Hotel, Hastings Hotels is also behind Stormont Hotel in Belfast, Grand Central Hotel in Belfast, Everglades Hotel in Derry-Londonderry and Ballygally Castle in County Antrim.

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