Like many young, men Tim Whyte worked in a bar while studying for a BComm at UCD.
“I thought it would be a stopgap but I found the more I did it, the more I enjoyed it,” says Whyte on the phone from Disneyland Paris before heading off to meet the local mayor.
“Everybody who works in hotels will tell you their greatest fear is accounts,” says Whyte, who initially became financial controller for Carnation Hotels in London. “When I joined them they had four or five hotels in London… a really great ethos at that company… great service.”
Whyte subsequently returned to Ireland and began working for the Radisson Blu hotel group, which he describes as a "great company which has grown phenomenally since I started with them".
“We were floated on the Swedish stock exchange in 2006. Right now, we are in 65 countries – part of a global company with hotels in Asia, America, Africa and Europe.”
Starting as finance director, Whyte took over as regional director handling the operational, marketing and sales side of the business in a role akin to MD for Ireland.
He admits the period from 2009 to 2011 was a difficult one for the industry in Ireland but says that “hotels in Ireland are now doing well with high occupancy”.
“Ireland has come back quicker than the rest of Europe apart from the major cities such as Paris or London.”
Living in Dublin for 11 years with a close network of family and friends, Whyte and his wife were not compelled to leave Ireland but sought a new challenge.
“I wanted to push myself a little bit. I had worked in London before so we selected some cities that might work. It was a short process that began last September and by February we were walking through the streets of Paris,” he says.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing however as the move necessitated becoming fairly proficient in French in a short space of time.
“I had a very short time to prepare for interview in Paris and all I can say is never underestimate Leaving Cert French!” he laughs.
His tutor in Ireland is from Marseille and Whyte says that the accent and vocabulary around Paris is very different but that his colleagues have been most accommodating to him as the only non-French speaker on the staff.
“They make an extra effort to speak to me in English but I would need to be pretty fluent by the end of the year.
“Initially it was difficult, now it is less so,” he says. “If I need to be very clear about a particular point and very specific, I will talk to one of my heads of departments here, but in general it is good for me to go through it. It’s great to work for a company that knows that my French is not like the Parisians but is giving me time to get there.”
Struggling with the time furniture delivery men were due to arrive and being charged for the privilege was one learning curve. “Necessity is a great motivator, I find!” he laughs.
There are 250 rooms at the Radisson Blu Paris Disneyland which, during the summer season, are filled with tourists who are gone for most of the day while delegates attend conferences at the hotel.
Running hotels at Disneyland, in Paris and in Nantes on a day-to-basis, Whyte also then looks beyond 30 days, “looking 60 or 90 days down the road to see what revenues are coming and at what decisions can be made to influence that. And I still spend about 10 per cent of my day translating stuff.”
Key to his role and an aspect he enjoys is revenue generation: “The ability to spot an opportunity in the market – bringing in extra sources of revenue – that’s what I really enjoy.”
The couple lives in eastern Paris near Place de la Bastille. In terms of networking, while he has joined a network of hotel managers in Paris akin to the Irish Hotel Federation, he is waiting for his French to improve before attending his first meeting.
Network
He also hopes to become involved with Network Irelande which connects the Franco-Irish business community in Paris.
For the immediate future Whyte will spend time “getting into French society and understanding the nuances of the culture. I don’t want to be an expat who didn’t make the effort to fit in,” he says.
“There was no pressure on me to leave Ireland but there was a great draw to see if I could settle in and make a difference and that’s happening, so it’s great,” says Whyte.
“For me one of the great things is that I get to learn another language and work in a different culture – it’s a really great experience to have.”
