The East Wing revives a corporate-demand thesis from 2012

News Analysis

The commercial logic behind the East Wing reaches back to 2012, the last documented whole-hotel reset and sale process. Angelo Gordon, Amerimar and Gracemark had fully renovated St Ermin’s before they put the freehold hotel to market, offering vacant possession and freedom to rebrand. Jones Lang LaSalle made expected corporate demand from nearby office and retail development part of the investment case. The building work therefore served an ownership strategy as well as the guest operation.

That corporate proposition now sits with a new sales chief. In September 2025, long-serving sales and marketing director Stuart Leckie retired and St Ermin’s appointed Tom Walsh as his successor after the pair had worked together. Because Walsh had worked alongside Leckie, the succession preserved commercial continuity as the hotel prepared another dedicated pitch to corporate buyers.

That continuity makes the refurbishment an extension of an old commercial thesis rather than a fresh repositioning. The hotel has narrowed the proposition from selling an entire renovated asset to selling a dedicated events product, while keeping responsibility with someone schooled by Leckie. Walsh also inherited a hotel carrying an unusually strong consumer ranking. Tripadvisor ranked St Ermin’s first in the UK in 2025. It placed second in Europe and sixth worldwide.