Inox Bradford is the general manager of Glonik Hotels, located on Adeniyi Jones in Lagos. The GM, who rose from cleaner, to bar man and to chef in the hospitality business, in this interview with ZEBULON AGOMUO, Deputy Editor, spoke on the inexhaustible potential in the industry and the uniqueness of his company. He also lamented the electricity challenge, multiple taxation and many others which he noted have continued to impact negatively on the bottomline. Excerpts:
By way of introduction, may we know briefly about Glonik Hotel?
I came to Glonik about four years ago. When the team of investors came, they were looking at running the business as a huge venture. I was actually saddled with the task of repositioning the hotel. I have been able to pull the business from the brinks, repositioning it to the multi-million venture it is today. The investors are not disappointed so far. There are four outlets in Lagos currently. We have about four outlets in Lagos. We are targeting about 15 hotels on or before 2018. We are working on South Africa outlet and eventually, to the West Coast. Glonik is a conglomerate. It is a wholly indigenous venture and we are already celebrating the success story of Glonik.
How is the hotel different from others, or simply put, what is unique about Glonik?
Well, we have actually made some giant strides in recording high occupancy rate. This is probably the only hotel in this area that you wake up on a Monday morning and it is fully booked. Now, you can understand what the drive is all about. It depends on how other people see their own business; for me, I think that mediocrity has crept into the business, that’s why people are talking about low occupancy rate. The market is big, very big. So, hearing someone talking about low patronage when you have very happy Nigerians and Lagosians who really want to go to places to enjoy and entertain themselves is disappointing.
What’s then is the secret behind the success story you are telling?
The success story is all about our commitment to the business; how you relate with your customers and what you bring on the board. Knowing what to do and how to do it to the satisfaction of your customers is very important. For instance, I did not catapult myself to the point I am now; I have been trained as a cleaner, bar man, chef and now rose through the ranks and now coming to this position of managing men and material. So, there’s nothing anybody can tell me about the business that I don’t know. With such robust experience and the team I work with, we see to it always that we give our customers the kind of treatment they’ll always remember for good. So, why would we not be able to draw the crowd? Like I said, to succeed in this business, you have to take a look at how to do it to achieve the best result. It is all about operating at a standard that will draw people and once that is done, you keep improving and maintaining it. So, the success story of Glonik has to do with the team; the touch, the competence we bring to bear on the business. You know every business has its own language. At Glonik, we understand the language of hospitality business.
You said in the next few years, your presence would be felt outside the shores of Nigeria, as you are planning to establish many outlets offshore, where do you hope to raise funding, or do you hope to approach financial institutions for loan?
The funding definitely will not be an issue; one is that here at Adeniyi Jones, the head office, we are talking about 120 rooms and these rooms at a high brow area of the location and now you have decided to make the hotel affordable; tell me why you cannot maximise the profit? Now, if you have a business that is bringing returns, why would you not plough it back for greater yield? In my discussion, my advice to the investors is, don’t eat the profit, re-invest the profit. We are looking at other possible areas of generating income to carry out the new projects. Right now, we have four fully operational outlets; we are working on three others. We are not looking towards the banks; they are chasing us; but we are not going there because of their high interest rates. We want to look inwards and we are going to get there.
How do you place Glonik vis-à-vis other hotels of same cadre?
The business is the same, only that you have to define their status. By definition I mean, what are your interests? For instance, my customers are not mainly expatriates, so, why running a continental menu? If I have Nigerians who patronise local food, why would I not give them what they want? But in terms of operations, they have to be adequately outlined in such a way that all your customers must be satisfied- whether they are coming from Europe or any other part of world for that matter, the details must have to be worked out for easy or effective services and operations. But I must tell you, internationally or locally, in the business of hospitality, service must always be the watchword.
Some people say that Nigerian hotels are over-rated. We see a situation where every hotel owner allocate or appropriate ‘stars” to his/her hotel. Some say they are “4-star”, others claim they are “5-star”. What star is Glonik?
No, we don’t claim anything, allow the customer to determine who you are. So, when people go about hyping their products fine, it is normal; sometimes they do it for advert; or they want to be noticed but the point is, how well are they positioned? Are they satisfying their customers or the desire of the market? When you are claiming to be a 5-star hotel and your rooms are running empty, then you have to check the validity of that claim. I would even want to rate my hotel a wholly Nigerian brand where people come in and get what they want.
How secured is Glonik. You know these days, people are choosy where to go for lodging on account of security issues; how do you handle this important aspect of the business?
That’s the first thing I tackled when I took over the mantle of leadership in the hotel. I have positioned security end of the business, because you wouldn’t want to bring people to a place that is not safe. Right now, I have an arrangement with the Lagos State Police Command that mounts surveillance 24hours; there are also private security details who hover around the company. And I even have local security outfit- the Odu’a People’s Congress (OPC)- who are operating right from the premises of the hotel. I have given the explanation for you to know how serious I am with security in relation to our business. So, we are adequately prepared for any emergency. We have so addressed security issue so much that our clients are not in any way disturbed.
Absence or epileptic supply of electricity has seriously affected many businesses in the country. Many companies are generating their own power. Is that your experience also?
Yes, it is one disturbing story. Actually, it has been a disadvantage. We have struggled to ensure that we keep power 24hours. We don’t actually rely on public utility. We make sure we acquire brand new generators. We spend so much on energy, even at that, we are not relenting because what is uppermost in our heart is the customer’s satisfaction. Once you look at your energy cost, you may be scared to the point of closing shop, but we are not closing shop.
Could you please estimate how much Glonik spends in a month to generate power?
No, it is so astronomical that I don’t want to put that on paper. But the important thing is that we are still in business despite the challenge.
One other area businesses appear to be facing challenge is multiple taxation. What is Glonik experience like?
It is one bane that is actually looking like a monster and it is really posing a huge challenge to businesses. If you look at Lagos State for instance, multiple taxation, duplication of duties by government agencies are part of the troubles that businesses are having today. Yes, payment of taxes, bills are the plans to make while going into a serious business, but the taxes and levies in some cases are threatening many businesses. But Glonik has always tried to be law-abiding when it comes to payment of taxes, etc. We believe that Ambode government will address the issue.
Ambode says he is interested in developing the tourism in the state; what advice do you have for him as an operator in the hospitality industry?
You see, the last government of Babatunde Fashola paid lip service to the development of tourism in the state. If you look at the shoreline of Lagos State, it presents a huge economic opportunity for the state. Dubai, created from the United Arab Emirate, can be replicated here. We understand that the Eko Atlantic is coming with large volume and business. There are so many other things that could be developed given the tourism potential of the state. Many years ago, we used to go to Bar Beach. Why wouldn’t the state government revive the beach to international standard where it can be economically viable? An average Lagosian is a fun-seeker.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
