Mace People
Emma O'Driscoll
Operations Director, Hotels & Hospitality Lead
Consultancy, UK & Ireland
Emma O'Driscoll has always had a passion for the hospitality industry, inspired by her family’s contributions to some of the most iconic hotel projects in the UK and Ireland. Now, as the hotels and hospitalities lead at Mace, she brings a wealth of experience across the sector to benefit our clients. Drawn to Mace through a shared commitment to sustainable delivery, Emma's work focuses on growth and creating better outcomes for our clients and the business.
- How did you get into what you do?
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Some of my earliest memories are of hotels; my family has always worked in the sector. I remember when the Clarence Hotel, in Dublin, was redeveloped for U2 in the 1990’s and when the Greenwich Hotel in London became a boutique hotel developed in a historic RIBA award-winning building.
The exposure has given me a genuine passion and knack for the industry! It inspired me to pursue a career in hospitality myself, and now I have experience in everything from operations and development to asset management. Ultimately, it all led me to my current role - leading the hotel sector at Mace.
- What do you enjoy most about your current role at Mace?
- I love that my role comes with the opportunity to grow a relatively new team within a business that is already well-established. We started with just a couple of sector specialists and have already expanded to fifteen, all working on various hotel projects across Europe and North America. I’m looking forward to driving the sector forward – I see plenty of opportunities for Mace.
- How do you redefine the boundaries of ambition?
- To me, ambition is synonymous with a desire for success. It’s sometimes a polarising word, especially for women in the workforce. But I embrace it and consider it mainly in terms of leadership. Redefining ambition as a leader means thinking about how to go further. For both individuals and teams, I see it as setting a standard and surpassing it.
- In your view, what are the biggest issues the hospitality sector faces over the next year?
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The past few years post-COVID have been particularly interesting for the hospitality sector.
Average Daily Rate (ADR), the metric we use to measure the strength of revenues generated, has seen exceptional growth rates, as high as 20% in some leisure destinations. Perhaps unsurprisingly after periods of restricted travel, people are spending more on experiences, hotels included. But this level of growth is not sustainable in the longer term, as travel trends stabilise we will need to define the new 'normal' moving forward. At the same time, operational costs have been under increasing upward pressure, driven by wider trends in the labour and energy markets.
Another challenge has been the muted investment activity compared to pre pandemic levels. While there are higher volumes of people traveling and spending more, there has been limited investment into new developments, refurbishments, and projects with major CapEx costs because of upward pressures on cost of capital. While there have been pockets of activity in the luxury and extended stay segments, the general sense is that the market is waiting for base rates to begin normalising, which may reinvigorate investment activity.
Fortunately, we’ve historically had great success in the sector, and I see the potential for us to do so much more, especially if wider development and investment activity picks up. I’m focused on driving that forward next year.
- Why Mace?
- Two main reasons come to mind. I felt a connection to Mace when I first encountered the business because it seemed to share my values around collaboration and curiosity. Another is the commitment to sustainability; Mace had not only become carbon neutral (counting offsets) by 2020 but, today, looks to take this further by driving industry change and supporting clients to deliver more sustainable buildings and a greener built environment. I also noticed Mace’s impressive track record in the hotel sector for delivering outstanding projects. I saw an opportunity to champion and build on that reputation.
- What motivates you everyday?
- It's motivating to be part of a passionate team. Whether project manager, cost consultant, architect or engineer, the people involved in delivering hotels always love to see a space evolve from concept to completion and enjoy the reward of being able to set foot in and experience that final space themselves. When you’re a part of that team and environment, it’s exciting to anticipate that end result and see it delivered.
- What skills do you need to be good at your job?
- Communication and time management are crucial. The hospitality sector attracts a diverse range of personalities and cultures, with language and cultural barriers all to navigate. It’s a people-to-people business. When dealing with clients, project teams and developments across different territories and time zones, it’s important to stay on top of everything, particularly during the crucial delivery phase.
- What advice would you give to someone looking to get into what you do?
- Networking! It has been the same advice I've given to everyone over the past ten years. In my twenties, I spent at least three evenings a week actively networking, and as I've advanced in my career, it is still integral to my work.
- What are you passionate about outside of work?
- Travel, of course! I've visited sixty countries and counting with my most recent trip being to Bordeaux in France, which was a beautiful place to visit. I also have a passion for the Arts: watching plays, ballet, and musicals. Recently, I have started collecting artworks as investments – it took me three years to acquire a piece by Ducan Jago, which was harder to get than a Glastonbury ticket!
“The hospitality sector involves a diverse range of personalities and cultures, with language and cultural barriers to navigate – it’s a people-to-people business.”
