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Imago Venues welcome new CEO, Spencer Graydon, and bid a fond farewell to Kay England

Imago Venues welcome new CEO, Spencer Graydon, and bid a fond farewell to Kay England

After 30 years with Imago, and 20 years as CEO, Kay England has stood down to set aside time for her family and focus on new areas of personal development.

 

Kay has been with the company since it started in 1991 as Loughborough University's Short Course Centre, trading as Burleigh Court. In 2002, Kay became Chief Executive and oversaw the expansion from a 100-bedroom conference centre to the multi-million-pound venue portfolio they are today. She departs with the company's thanks for her unstinting service and best wishes for the future.

But Imago is now entering into a new era - not least because of the circumstances surrounding the pandemic - and warmly welcomes Spencer Graydon to captain the ship. Spencer has a wealth of experience in the hospitality sector, operating at numerous levels and a variety of commercial entities - most recently at Whitbread and previously the Peach Pub Company and ASK Restaurants - where he has been instrumental in rolling out national brands, as well as repositioning established brands. His approach is very much aligned to Imago's core values, recognising that in order to better enable individuals to excel, a culture of recognition and supporting individual progression is invaluable in establishing high-performing teams that deliver excellence.

"I'm delighted to be joining Imago Venues as CEO. A key factor that drew me to Imago is its strong people culture, evidenced by the numerous industry awards it has gained, along with the widely recognised Investors In People Platinum Award. It’s a fabulous business with brilliant people who really care at its heart. I can’t wait to welcome one and all over the coming months! Following Kay's extremely successful tenure, over such a long and stable period, building on that legacy and taking the business forward will be a huge challenge. But I see it as an extremely exciting challenge and I relish the opportunity to build on Imago's high standards and customer service excellence."

Spencer Graydon, Chief Executive

This is undeniably one of the most difficult times for the hospitality industry as venues look to recover from a global pandemic that has inflicted so much collateral damage to the sector. But, according to Marketing Manager, Rob Chamberlain, it is also a fantastic opportunity to re-establish Imago Venues as one of the UK's leading meetings and events brands with a renewed passion and vigour:

"We're in the Meetings business. We fundamentally believe in the value of face-to-face meetings and our company is all about bringing people together and providing the perfect environment for learning and communication to flourish. That's been our mantra for the last 30 years... Here's to another 30 years, Spencer!"

Rob Chamberlain, Marketing Manager


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