Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> November 17, 1997
RAMON PAJARES is Managing Director of The Savoy Group of Hotels and
Restaurants. Pajares was born in Spain and started his career in the
hotel industry when he was sixteen at the Ritz in Barcelona. He worked
in England for the first time in 1960 and then moved successively to
Germany, Switzerland and France. At four and five star hotels in these
countries, he built up further work experience acquiring fluency in
languages at the same time. He then went to the Hotel School at the
Institute of Hotel and Tourism Studies in Madrid where he completed a
three year course in half that time. After working in various management
positions in different parts of the world, he joined the Four Seasons
Hotel, London, as Executive Assistant Manager and Food and Beverage
Manager in 1970 -- the year the hotel opened. He then went to the
Canaries to open up a new hotel as General Manager, going on to manage
simultaneously a second hotel within the same group. Returning to the
Four Seasons Group in 1975 he subsequently became General Manager of the
Four Seasons Hotel, London and Regional Vice-President of Four Seasons-
Regent Hotels and Resorts. In November 1994 he became Managing Director
of The Savoy Group of Hotels and Restaurants. In 1984 he received the
Cruz de Oficial de la Orden del Merito Civil from King Juan Carlos of
Spain and in 1989 the Oficial de la Orden de Isabel la Catolica. He is
the Great Britain delegate of the European Hotel Managers Association, a
member of the Executive Committee of The Leading Hotels of the World
representing all the U.K., and Ireland and Scandinavia members, and sits
on numerous committees related to British commerce, hotels, tourism and
catering. He won Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine's Hotelier of the Year
Award in 1984 and more recently their Special Award in 1997. He was also
nominated Personnalite de l'Annee in 1984 for his contribution to the
hotel industry in Britain. At the heart of his philosophy is a
dedication to hospitality, in its truest sense, and to the contentment
of the staff so that they may, in turn, give of their very best to their
clients. He combines a deep respect for traditional standards with a
commitment to the latest management style and systems which allow
greater efficiency. Profile
company, and tell us what the company is about today?
Mr. Pajares: You will possibly remember we are an independent, but
