Coombe Abbey Hotel appoints award-wining sales director

Published by

Nicky Godding

The company behind the four-star Coombe Abbey Hotel in Warwickshire has appointed an award-winning new sales director.

Stephanie Taylor, originally from Hinckley, has more than 10 years hospitality experience, working as Cluster Senior Sales Manager at Malmaison Birmingham and Hotel du Vin Birmingham, and more recently Hotel du Vin in Stratford-upon-Avon.

She will be joining the No Ordinary Hospitality Management (NOHM) team, which was launched last April and whose hospitality services portfolio includes the award-winning 121-bedroom Coombe Abbey Hotel, as well as two cafes, an ice cream parlour, a florist and Go Ape adventure site within Coombe Abbey Park.

It has since taken over the management of the newly-renovated Grade II listed St Mary’s Guildhall in Coventry city centre as a venue for weddings, events and conferences.

NOHM has also been appointed by Historic Coventry Trust to manage six historic cottages launched as boutique holiday and visitor accommodation this month (October). They include the city’s two medieval gates and the three Lychgate Cottages in Priory Row.

Stephanie, who lives in Warwickshire, said: “It is an absolute privilege to be joining such an experienced team at a really exciting time in the middle of the City of Culture – Coventry is very much on the map. I have been coming to Coombe Abbey all my life; it is a really beautiful hotel.

“I will be making sure that everyone is aware of what we are doing at the hotel and No Ordinary Hospitality Management - making the most of everything on offer from Go Ape to corporate events and conferences, weddings and parties.

“We have all learnt so much over the last 12 months. It has given us a chance to reset, look at things from a different perspective and come up with ideas out of the box. It is a fantastic opportunity and I’m looking forward to putting my own spin on it.”

Ron Terry, Operations Director at Coombe Abbey Park Limited and NOHM, said: “Stephanie’s experience will be a great asset and a huge boost to our team, especially as we look forward into the future with all the exciting management contracts we have recently secured.

“Since reopening, business has been booming, and I am confident Stephanie and the rest of the sales team will have a big part to play in attracting even more visitors to our terrific facilities.”

In her most recent role Stephanie was nominated for Hospitality Professional of the Year at the City of Birmingham Business Awards post-pandemic in May 2021. Prior to this, after rising quickly through the ranks at Malmaison Birmingham and Hotel du Vin Birmingham she won the prestigious title of Business Professional of the Year at the Birmingham Awards in November 2019.

Stephanie graduated with a 2:1 in Event Management & Tourism Management from University of Gloucestershire in 2011 and started her career working for De Vere in their central events office before taking up a position as Sales Executive at the St John's Hotel in Solihull.

She then worked for QHotels starting out as Sales Manager at Chesford Grange Hotel, Kenilworth, and was soon promoted to Director of Sales for Stratford Manor and The Stratford, now Hilton Doubletree, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.