Alan Whiteley, General Manager, Thistle Hotel, Middlesbrough

Jun 29 2010 by Jez Davison, Evening Gazette

Despite arguments with top TV personalities and embarrassing tete a tetes with customers, Alan Whiteley has landed a top job in one of Teesside's biggest hotels. Jez Davidson reports.

ALAN Whiteley was clearly destined for an unusual upbringing when he was brought into the world in the busy departures lounge of Luton Airport.

The general manager of Middlesbrough’s Thistle hotel grew up on a run-down council estate yet benefited from the privileges of private schooling.

His colourful career in the hospitality trade has been no less surprising.

His rise to award-winning head chef-cum-hotel manager has seen him hobnobbing with Big Brother host Davina McCall, trading barbs with racing nut John McCririck, and getting up close and personal with guests.

He recalls, with self-deprecating humour and a little embarrassment, the time when he delivered room service to a lady who had just stepped out of the shower.

“She had wrapped a duvet around her but I stepped on it as she went to collect the meal from me.

“We both ended up wearing a plate of curry!

“I love coming to work every day because I don’t know what I’m going to walk into,” he says.

But he knows where he’s going.

His remit at the four-star hotel Thistle Hotel in Middlesbrough town centre is to grow the £4m a year turnover operation by 10% year-on-year and ramp up the 40% average weekend occupancy rate by hosting more weddings, conferences and functions.

He knows it will be a stiff challenge having seen budget and mid-market operators Travelodge and Premier slugging it out in a price war that started in the recession and continued this summer.

The VAT rise announced in Chancellor George Osborne’s inaugural Budget last week is likely to make the pillow fight worse. Almost a fifth of consumers have nothing to spare after topping up savings and paying off debts, according to the British Retail Consortium.

Alan remains convinced he can generate extra business through judicious pricing - albeit up to four times that of Premier - and tempting add-ons such as ‘pamper packages’, which combine an overnight stay with a meal, massage and beauty treatment.

And he’s hoping to feast on opportunities such as the Tall Ships bonanza, which is expected to draw a million visitors to Hartlepool this August.

“Middlesbrough is 10,000 miles behind Newcastle (but) remember we are an emerging destination,” he says.

“We’ve already got mima and Captain Cook, and Music Live attracts thousands of people each year. Now let’s put some packages together.

“I’m passionate about making Middlesbrough a tourist destination to be proud of.

His background suggests he’s up for the fight. He grew up on the tough Bedford council estate of Tyne Crescent and excelled at rugby in the slightly more salubrious environment of Rushmoor private school in the town. He then went on to carve out a career in the hospitality industry with single minded determination.

The youngest of three siblings, he worked in an Italian restaurant, first as a waiter, then in the kitchens.

He got his first big break at the 45-bed Laws Country Manor Hotel in Bedfordshire, eventually being promoted to head chef after a stint at Le Cordon Bleu culinary training school in London.

He went on to work as a sous chef at the Bedford Moat House before tiring of the kitchens and branching into general management at hotels in Northampton and London.

In December 2006 he became general manager of the 120-bed Park Inn Bedford before a stint as sales director at management firm Hotel Solutions London paved the way for a move to Teesside.

He says he will avoid managing the Thistle’s 80 staff in the style of loud-mouth chef Gordon Ramsey, but he’s prepared to stand his corner against those who take liberties.

“I once had a row with (horse racing pundit) John McCririck, who said he wanted to smoke in his hotel room because it was his private space.

“I said: ‘Not in my hotel you don’t’.”

Ironically for someone with 132 beds to choose from, Alan hasn’t yet found one to call his own.

He’s still house-hunting while he returns to his Bedford residence at weekends. But he has seen enough of Teesside to convince him he has made the right move.

“The people here are incredibly friendly and accommodating. Middlesbrough has a lot more to give.”