OYO Hotels & Homes has appointed Laurence Woodhouse as VP, Finance and Stock for the UK.
Woodhouse joins OYO UK after ten years at travel technology group Sabre Corporation, where he held several leadership positions across finance, strategy and business development, working in both London and the USA. Prior to that, he led financial planning and analysis for the online travel agency lastminute.com. Laurence has a masters from London School of Economics and is a qualified accountant with PwC.
Rishabh Gupta, head of OYO UK, said, “Laurence has a wealth of experience across various business functions and a proven track record with high profile travel brands that use technology to drive growth.
“He joins OYO at a time when we’ve set out very clear global objectives of delivering sustainable growth, partner success and operational excellence and I’m certain his expertise and leadership will guide our course to achieving these goals. I’m delighted to welcome Laurence to the team.”
Woodhouse added, “Joining OYO UK was an enticing opportunity for me as there simply aren’t other companies out there which have seen their revenues and geographical presence grow at such a pace.
“OYO has a model that can scale successfully here in the UK and I’m confident that the efficiencies and concentrated focus we’re now implementing will lead to expanding margins both for us as a business and for our hotel partners.”
Woodhouse is one of three vice presidents reporting into Rishabh Gupta at OYO UK, alongside VP of Supply, Atul Dikshit, and VP of Human Resources, Dan Godfrey.
As VP of Finance and Stock, Woodhouse will be responsible for OYO UK’s finance and legal teams as well as the teams managing the operations, customer service and experience at the hotels within OYO UK’s portfolio.
Founded in 2013, hotel chain OYO entered the UK in the autumn of 2018. OYO now has more than 200 independently-owned hotels under its brand and franchise, ranging from country manor houses and traditional inns to B&Bs and apart-hotels, covering all four territories of the United Kingdom. In the last three months alone, OYO has welcomed over 200,000 guests to its UK hotels.
Globally, OYO has more than 43,000 hotels with over one million rooms. Through its vacation homes business, the company also offers travellers and city dwellers access to over 130,000 homes around the world.