Barry Dawson is Interstate Europe Hotels & Resorts’ Vice President of Hotel Finance. In this edition of Getting to Know You, Barry – who joined Interstate in 2014 – gives us an insight into his role with the company.

Tell us about your role and what it involves?

As VP of Hotel Finance, I’m responsible for ensuring there is a robust control environment in place to protect our owners’ assets and maximise profitability.

At Interstate, we’re an exclusively third-party management organisation, meaning we don’t own any assets. Simply put, the owners we work on behalf of are our number one priority – the success of their business is the success of ours.

Along with my team of five regional directors of finance, we work to maximise owners’ return on investment, making sure hotels are performing to their optimum and that the assets are firmly protected.

What does a typical day in your role involve?

There really is no such thing in my role! However, most of my time is spent working with the Regional Team to ensure we are maximising performance out of the hotels and meeting with owners to review the performance of their individual assets. Change is a constant within our fast paced environment but I enjoy every second of it.

What’s your favourite part of your role?

The most enjoyable part of my role is the variety. I get to work with so many different owners, different brands and in different locations – no two days are ever the same.

Each owner has their own priorities and each location has its own opportunities and challenges to work with, and I love working with my team to identify these and deliver great results for everyone.

What, in your opinion, makes Interstate stand out from the crowd?

The professionalism and experience of the entire team really makes Interstate. Plus, uniquely, we don’t own any of the properties we work with and so each and every person who works here is driven by the success of our owners’ businesses.

This means our owners know we’re 100 per cent focused on making their property a success, using our knowledge and expertise to maximise return and deliver excellence all round.