This week we had the pleasure of Andy Batty, London’s General Manager of onefinestay speak at our latest travel and hospitality dinner. Dining in the private room at Jamie’s Italian on Denman Street, Andy’s fellow diners chatted about the process of taking a business from start-up to grown up.

Coming from an entrepreneurial family, it came as no surprise that Andy would delve into the world of startups. After a short stint in the army, where he learned valuable people leadership skills, Andy embarked on a career in running operations with Mars. Following a big organisation design change he orchestrated in order to make the business more efficient, Andy started an online business for Mars that created and delivered personalised chocolates to its consumers. After running the pilot for a year, he moved on to AnyJunk, then Tough Mudder before arriving at onefinestay, starting as the Operations Director before becoming the General Manager.

At onefinestay, they’ve pioneered a hospitality brand that gives guests the chance to stay in a distinctive home while the owner is out of town. Each home is prepared to 5 star standards, every guest is shown around, has the access to a 24 hour concierge and is provided with an iPhone that comes pre-loaded with all the info about the house. If you’re thinking it sounds like a complex logistical challenge – you’re not far wrong.

We have a complicated business model that covers 100 sq miles of London. Everything is bespoke. Each home is unique; Each house is vetted and provided as a product. We have over 6,000 sets of keys, 1,000 home owners, 10K+ of guests, and 250+ London staff alone.

After recently announcing their strategic deal with AccorHotels, Andy spoke extensively about how to overcome certain limitations of a startups – read all about it here.

Special thanks to Andy Batty for speaking, he was joined by: Dark Blue, Localoids, MyFriendsRoom, velocity, Unocodrinks, Sauce Communications, Inn Style, and Accomplish Financial among others.

Looking to network with your peers and hear from experts in their field? Why not join us for dinner?