InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) today announces the appointment of Adrian Hardwick-Jones as Regional Director, Design and Engineering (D&E), for South West Asia. As part of the senior leadership team, Adrian will lead the regional design and engineering function, working closely with the company’s development team to drive design excellence and brand consistency in hotels across South West Asia. He will be based in Gurgaon in Delhi, India.
Adrian brings with him over 20 years of experience in architectural design and has worked extensively across Asia in a number of sectors including hospitality. Prior to joining IHG, Adrian was based in Delhi for six years with a number of real estate developers, including Middle Eastern developer Emaar MGF, where he was Chief of Design, responsible for design and technical operations of the Indian arm of the Dubai-based company.
Previous to that Adrian also held leading positions with Indian developers Shipra Estates and DLF Retail Developers Ltd and established Strategic Blueprint, a consultancy he founded to provide advice on real estate development in India to overseas real estate investment companies and consultancy firms. His achievements as Executive Director included the implementation of a new city community master plan in Bangalore. Adrian was previously based 15 years in Hong Kong where he began his career in P&T Architects and Engineers and then joined architectural firm Aedas Limited.
On the appointment, Pascal Gauvin, Chief Operating Office, India, Middle East and Africa, IHG, said, “India is a focus market for us and holds our third largest development pipeline globally behind the US and China. With 46 hotels due to open in the next three to five years, we are seeing good growth, particularly with our Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brands. Adrian’s appointment is a sign of our commitment to the market and very timely as we continue to deliver our growth strategy in the region.”
IHG currently operates 19 hotels across four brands in India, including InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express. The company has 46 hotels in its development pipeline due to open in the next three to five years.