Thomas Kilroy | Track Record
A senior operations professional with 32 years experience of exemplary service across multiple sectors in Hospitality before transitioning into the Civil Service in 2021.
A former Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, my commercial innovation and skillset - from marketing communications to mobilising strategic business projects from concept to completion - has consistently driven growth for the companies and organisations I am proud to have owned, or represent.
Please click on photos and links for more details and feel free to contact me on the links below if you require any further information or professional support.
HM Civil Service | Department of Work and Pensions
Leadership Consultant | Aug 2021 - present | Caxton House, London
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is the British Government department responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy.
As the UK's biggest public service department, it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants - almost every person in the UK is a customer at some point in their lives.
It is the second largest governmental department with 89,500+ employees, and the largest in terms of expenditure (£187bn).
The Leadership Capability Team’s key objective is to pilot, evaluate and deliver new Leadership programmes to support the DWP strategic priorities. Particularly promoting team learning and leadership development where leaders coach, inspire and empower our people to deliver.
Kitchen Sync Group
Managing Director | Mar 2019 - Jul 2021 | London + Oxfordshire
Kitchen Sync is a digital marketing and operations consultancy that supports Hospitality focused businesses in delivering customer-first experiences to enrich our world.
As an entrepreneurial founder, responsible for all client interactions from brief gathering, project management, new business development to overseeing the delivery of client projects.
Secured seed investment for a branded QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) concept. Research and production of an investment presentation to dene branding concept, competitor and risk analysis, growth plan, and P&L.
Developed and managed a new a digital platform that serves as an online career resource and community to help people made redundant master their financial, emotional and career growth. Defining core personas from user research, delivered this project from concept to launch within 10 weeks.
Created a multi-layered marketing strategy and collatoral for a cutting-edge food waste measurement company which communicated their sustainability, cost saving and ease of use benefits to three distinct audience groups across the EMEA market.
Genting UK
Head of Hospitality, The Colony Club | Sep 2017 - Feb 2019 | London
Genting UK operates 43 casino licences, online gaming, and Resorts World Birmingham. Heading up a team of 67 people at The Colony Club in Mayfair, my remit was to transform the Food and Beverage oer into a commercially eective operation to support the gaming strategy.
Overhauled the culture, attitude and training regime in food hygiene and workplace safety, instilling ‘best in class’ practices to achieve record scores by external auditors, and cited as a model organization for food handling and workplace safety.
Coached my direct reports to be more eective managers and team leaders. The kitchen team grew food gross prot by 20% YOY; Colony Bar team drove like-for-like cash sales by 22% on previous year. Colony Restaurant team were commended in the coveted Annual Casino Awards.
Enacted a program of payroll eciencies that reduced Food and Beverage labour cost by 6.4% against full year budget, and cut FTE count by 14% through natural attrition & rota planning.
Overall performance resulted in Colony Club winning Genting UKs 2018 ‘Casino Club of the Year’.
The London Clinic situated in the heart of Harley Street's medical community is one of the UK’s largest private hospitals, dedicated to providing the best, personalised healthcare.
The London Clinic
General Manager - Operations | Jun 2015 - May 2017 | Harley Street, London
The London Clinic is one of the UK’s largest private hospitals, dedicated to the best, personalised
healthcare. Tasked with transforming the Hotel Services comprising of 230 sta with a £9M P+L.
Executed a communications and service recovery strategy that moved patient satisfaction scores from below average as a hospital department to the highest patient scores ever recorded by the Hotel Services team. Relentless focus on quality saw revenues from Staff Dining rise by 28% YOY.
Protected vulnerable patients by immediately implementing a new Food Safety Management Policy to ensure food safety knowledge and compliance. This reversed the hospital’s local authority food hygiene rating from 2 stars back to 5 stars within twelve weeks.
Reimagined the patient menu experience to create a key differentiator with sector competitors. From dish costings to design, overhauled the specialist post-operative menus and launched a contemporary International Menu with a newly-recruited specialist Chef dedicated to Middle Eastern patients. This approach focused on the cultural needs of Arabic patients helped reverse a downturn in lost turnover by 400% from Middle Eastern embassies.
BaxterStorey Ltd
Social Business Manager | Mar 2010 - Jun 2015 | Reading & UK Nationwide
Serving 400,000 customers per day, BaxterStorey is the UK's largest privately owned Foodservice Caterer generating £455M annual turnover. Promoted from a strategically important contract, by demonstrating the power of content and marketing to grow sales and customer engagement. Initially scaled up to regional level, the role reported directly to the co-CEO and Director of Sales:
Implemented an advocate program, engaging new management recruits to produce relevant, high quality food focused content and share it daily. This crowdsourced content had the immediate effect of improving team engagement, and reduced spend on stock images and video.
Developed a communications strategy that emphasized the employee experience and championed sustainability across all channels. These narratives resulted in sales growth through use in key bids, and secured client retention in contract reviews.
Defined a monthly board-level analysis report to demonstrate ROI of content initiatives, including customer feedback and insights, performance metrics and reputational risk mitigation.
As Catering General Manager, implemented detailed financial and payroll accounts, health & safety compliance, and customer service training. This ensured client retention in this ‘contract-at-risk’ business unit with a multi-year extension.
The Five Bells
Director | Apr 2006 - Jan 2010 | Cople, Bedfordshire
Returning to the UK from Nepal, invested in this community pub situated near Bedford into a destination dining food pub during our three years of ownership.
A carefully selected wine list and gaining Cask Marque accreditation for real ale were both key to growing wet sales. Meanwhile we worked hard at developing and marketing our food offer to attract guests from the wider Bedfordshire area with average spend on a weekend night reaching £50pp, growing sales from £1500 to £15,000 per week.
Shortlisted for Dessert Pub of the Year in 2008. (Click for Article)
Kilroy Restaurants Group
Director | Nov 1998 - Dec 2016 | Kathmandu, Nepal
An investment opportunity in Nepal led to opening Kilroy's of Kathmandu, a 300-cover restaurant. Applying customer research insights, accelerated our startup growth to include restaurants, nightclub, party services. This culminated in hosting a 10-part television series on Channel Nepal called The Cookery Show.
Kilroy's of Kathmandu | Nov 1998 - Dec 2016 | Restaurant | 300+ guests - My first role in multi-site operational management was through an investment opportunity which took me to Nepal to open my first restaurant, Kilroy's of Kathmandu. Mobilising this 300-cover eatery from design concept, to project managing the site construction, to operational opening took just 13 weeks. (The brand traded for 18 years until it was unavoidably closed due to earthquake damage.)
K-too! Beer & Steakhouse | Apr 2000 - Dec 2016 | Restaurant | 180+ guests - Market research assisted in creating a brand concept and business plan that would complement the flagship operation. Project managing an empty shell from design through build stage to mobilisation within 12 weeks. Seating 180 guests, this fast casual dining experience focused on value for money with a Tex-Mex menu of gourmet burgers and sizzling steaks and continues to trade successfully today.
K-tring! Party Services | Nov 2000 - Apr 2005 | Outside Catering | 900+ guest - With a pipeline of Clients through the restaurants, this new service attracted key embassies for events including 900 guests at Sir Edmund Hillary's 50th Anniversary of summiting Everest and HRH The Princess Royal on her official visit to DFiD Nepal.
1905 | Nov 2000 - Apr 2005 | Restaurant | 1500 guests - Forming a joint venture partnership in this a restaurant with potential to attract the local Nepali sector. Overhauled the menu to create a more refined 'destination dining' offer. Landscape the garden in this residence (built in 1905, hence the name), attracted the lucrative wedding sector delivering events for up to 1500 guests.
Subterrania | Nov 2004 - Dec 2005 | Nightclub | 400+ guests - Presented with a suitable site, conceptualised the brand and project-managed the opening within just three weeks to successfully mobilise the city’s first members-only nightclub.