Leading 4 and 5 star hotel and conference venues group Principal Hayley today announced that they have appointed MANDY JENNINGS as Group Sales Director with responsibility for devising and implementing the Group sales strategy; leading the internal sales team and implementing a National account structure managing the corporate, conference agency market, Principal Hayley preferred partners and travel management companies; as well as overseeing Principal Connections – the central conference booking desk.

A skilled sales professional with over 20 years experience in the hospitality arena, Mandy was most recently Sales Director for the De Vere Collection and Village Hotels, where she had responsibility for the sales direction of over 60 hotels and venues in the UK market and led a team of over 100 sales professionals. Prior to De Vere she was Head of Conference, Incentive and Travel Management for Marriott Hotels UK, where she developed strategies to deliver revenues to the UK portfolio of hotels across three major market sectors.

From 1999 to 2003, Mandy was at the Forte Hotel Group and Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts, first as Area Sales Director, London and Heathrow (Forte Hotels) before being appointed Regional Director of Sales, U.K. and Ireland for Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts in 2001. Mandy began her sales career at Thistle Hotels where she was Director of Sales for both the Thistle Marble Arch and Tower Thistle Hotels.

In 2007 Mandy was elected Chairman for the HBAA Partners, (Hotel Booking Agents Association) and worked with the Executive Committee to drive the awareness of best practice in the hotel industry.

Commenting on Mandy’s appointment, John Ryan, Group Sales and Marketing Director for Principal Hayley Hotels and Conference Venues said, “Mandy’s wealth of industry knowledge, commercial expertise and leadership skills will be a great asset to the company and our senior team as we continue our drive to become the best upper 4 and 5 star hotel and conference venue group across the UK and Europe.”

Principal Hayley Hotels and Conference Venues is a collection of upper 4 and 5 star conference-focused city centre hotels and dedicated conference and training venues in key locations around the UK and Western Europe. The Principal Hayley Group is committed to offering unrivalled services for the events market and has invested heavily in the portfolio to create luxurious, stylish and individual properties designed to meet the business and leisure requirements of all our guests.

The Principal Hayley portfolio currently includes 20 properties offering a combined capacity of over 3400 bedrooms, 450 meeting rooms and the ability to host over 20,000 delegates per day. Principal Hayley is a portfolio company of the Permira Funds.