Flip the Script…promoting a new narrative

During the course of this year, EP has nurtured both a new young team of some talented twentysomethings to bring and present a new narrative and perspective to industry leaders. We have received some very good feedback on the views being presented, which is encouraging but is no surprise as so many industry leaders today held director roles in their late twenties; it has long been the way that leadership ideas can come from all.

However, there is a wider and bigger agenda in development. This new team is tasked not to just present views but to build relationships with leading hotel schools across Europe, to work with emerging talent and entrepreneurs to present new ideas and perspectives. This is about ensuring that there is a narrative being developed which can run along the views of the established leaders to constantly help us reflect, consider and ask questions.

The industry narrative over the last decade has been dominated by well-established leaders with experience and expertise. They have guided their ships through from the financial crash through to Covid and through. This has been an impressive generation by any measure. However, its one failing has been that young talent has been less empowered, less developed and less supported in that time. The whole point of giving young talent a voice is that it helps build self-confidence and challenges the established views. A confident industry will want to be challenged and see young talent push their peers.

If one looks objectively at the market, its does seem strange that the baby boom generation prospered as it was empowered but arguably has not given the same level of empowerment to those who follow. The argument is that business today carries more pressure, risk and is more competitive. Maybe but still there is a need to still new talent emerge with strong voices.

• The average age of as CEO has increased by 18 years in the last 18 years
• The average age of someone becoming a board director today is 20 years later than it was in the 1990s.
• This also naturally means that young talent are carrying more debt than ever before and having to work twenty years longer to reach board levels; and we wonder why talent becomes disengaged?

There are some exciting new generations emerging, so our aim is simply to ensure that we too are empowering a young team to have a voice and to challenge all of us in the right way and with considered, measured views.

In the early part of 2024, we aim to host a conference which will bring together some young leading talents from hotel schools and industry to present to industry leaders.

It is all designed to support emerging talent and ensure that there is a new voice being aired.