Name: Haydn Fentum
Age: 42
Company: Bespoke Hotels
Turnover: £5.5m
First job: European Sales Manager for Starkmann, an academic book publisher in central London covering English speaking markets which were strangely Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and the UK. As a young man, it sounded like the dream job of travelling around Europe but soon discovered that three weeks out of four on the road was quite wearing.
Dream job: Chief Executive of Mandarin Oriental Group
Car: Yes, but prefer motorbike (BMW GS).
Economy, business or first class: Economy because at 5ft 8″ I seem to have plenty of room.
Most extravagant purchase: “Far More Serious” (race horse). Luckily now paid for himself.
Most played song on iPod: Kings of Leon.
Best business book: Freakonomics by Stephen Levitt.
Worst business moment: Buying out minority shareholders.
Proudest business moment: Sale of Furlong Hotels and creation of Bespoke.
Business mentor: Robert Peel.
Your next big thing: Fully serviced retirement accommodation.
