Romsey, England, United Kingdom
My name is Michael Lashmar, and as the co-founder of Rockingham Partners (https://www.rockinghampartners.uk/), I have dedicated myself to helping independent hotel owners uncover the untapped potential within their hospitality assets. With a track record of navigating both record growth and challenging turnaround situations, I possess a wealth of corporate finance experience and an unwavering resilience that enables me to deliver exceptional value, foster thriving management teams, and cultivate truly outstanding brands. Throughout my career, I have been honoured with prestigious accolades, including the title of Central South Mid Market FD of the Year in 2021. Furthermore, in 2014, I undertook a self-organized and self-funded charity cycle ride from Land's End to John O'Groats, showcasing my determination and commitment to making a positive impact. By revitalising hotels and maximizing their potential, I have consistently demonstrated my ability to transform challenges into opportunities for success. With a passion for excellence and an unwavering dedication to my craft, I am eager to continue driving powerful results within the hospitality industry.
• An interim position, taking full responsibility for the business over the busy summer trading period and beyond, directly managing all key functions and leading through a period of uncertainty. • Developed a plan to run the business, promoting identified talent from within the business, and communicated to business owners to obtain their support and backing. • Particular focus on marketing and revenue management, focusing the functions on driving commercial business; adopting new strategies and techniques. Implementing Ideas and Datavision to support decision-making. • Launched a project to rediscover culture and brand purpose and to exploit the benefits of being a group involving senior management within the business. Investigated and have began to implement strategies to ‘Think Different’ and achieve ‘Better for Less such as ‘Central Kitchens’ in response to sector challenges such as inflation and labour market issues.
• Board-facing role, working closely with business owners as they invested significantly into the group as part of strategic development. • Key business leadership role, working hand in hand with MD to drive significant commercial uplift and introduce operational controls. Indirectly managing 450 people. • Conceived and led Project 27, a five-year strategic plan for the group covering developments and acquisitions leading to an EBITDA growth of £15m at maturity. • Led a £14m re-finance of the group and maintained bank confidence throughout despite a fundamental rework of the financial model and business plan. • Introduced new commercially focused collaborative processes, such as weekly revenue forecast calls, that resulted in more proactive marketing activity and rate management strategies. • Restructured the finance function to introduce lower cost, more business-focused support, including the implementation of a new time & attendance system and upgraded finance and reporting system. • Took IT in-house to achieve significant improvements in day-to-day IT issues and develop commercial benefits from new systems and give better insight
World-class international cricket stadium, 171 bed Hilton hotel and golf resort, health and wellbeing centre. Key Achievements • Turnover grown by 75% • EBITDA grown by 257% • Reorganised the group structure, implemented a new cloud-based system (NetSuite), optimised group reporting to save significant process costs and produced more meaningful management information & KPIs to support slick decision making. • Negotiated with funders, resolving punitive debt structure and working capital shortages and led a crucial and complex £60m group refinancing programme - saved £2.5m in capital and £750k per annum in debt servicing costs. • Delivered new, innovative solutions after recruiting the Group’s first in-house IT professional. • Recognised as the top-performing FD/CFO in the Central South by BDO LLP and CMA in 2020 and shortlisted for Finance Team of the Year by Accountancy Age in 2019 Key Accountabilities • Board facing role, working closely with the CEO & Chairman as the leadership team of an iconic estate, driving financial and commercial performance, managing key stakeholder relationships from funders, regulators, non-executive directors, and investors. • Delivering robust financial leadership from formulating budgets to expedient MI & KPI reporting, developing detailed cash flow forecasts, and supporting financial and KPI awareness across the Group. Instilling a culture where finance works closely with the heads of departments to proactively manage financial performance. • Diverse operational and commercial responsibility from overseeing and mentoring hotel and catering operations, medical practice, and Elite International Academy to the management of Group IT, HR and Legal functions. • Key interface with major external stakeholders such as funders and investors, non-executive directors, ECB and HMRC. • Development of strategic business plan and management of relationships with key investors and debt funders.
Multi-award winning 4-5* leisure hotel group principally operating on the South Coast Key Achievements • Turnover grew by 88% • EBITDA grew by 421% • Played a key role in the rapid growth of the award-winning luxury hotel chain; working in partnership with the Managing Director to design and execute effective commercial strategies, maintain tight control of costs and delivering exceptional shareholder value. • Led on several acquisitions with the Chairman and Managing Director, providing financial leadership and expertise across target appraisals, arranging acquisitions funding and hotel investment that drove the growth of the group from five to thirteen properties in a short space of time. • Overhauled planning and forecasting built a complex financial model that covered growth and acquisitions and supported £90m in new funding. • Led procurement and cost reduction programmes that delivered significant cost savings Key Accountabilities • Full responsibility for internal and external reporting from Board and internal management to bank and prospective investors • Worked with operations management to improve operations and control costs using innovative cost tracking techniques that were simple to use by on-property management. • Built a motivated, high performing and dedicated finance team of thirteen across eleven business units, strengthening morale and mentoring staff to develop proactive, business-focused skillsets.