SUSAN YOUNG talks to David Barkley, General Manager of One Devonshire in Glasgow.
On the morning of Ken McCulloch’s memorial service, it was fitting that I managed to catch up with David Barkley. Not only did David consider Ken a mentor, but he also called him a friend, crediting Ken with much of his ethos regarding hospitality. He now oversees the hotel that Ken created—no pressure there!
David, like many others I have interviewed, was studying at university when he took a part-time job in hospitality at The Bonham in Edinburgh, owned by Peter Taylor’s Townhouse Collection. This decision shifted his career path from finance to hospitality, and he has never looked back.
David explains, “I’m from Northern Ireland and came over to study in Edinburgh. I was studying Economics and got a part-time job at The Bonham Hotel as a bellboy for a couple of days a week. I definitely caught the bug and kept working there throughout my time at university, doing a bit of everything.”
“Peter Taylor and the Bonham GM, Hans Rissman, tried to convince me that this was an industry where I would thrive. They set up a graduate training scheme for me, but I wasn’t sure. I had my heart set on finance and had various options. However, I thought, 18 months is a long time to learn new skills that would benefit me in any industry. If it didn’t work out, I would still have gained something.”
Before joining the graduate programme, David spent six months abroad, and spent three weeks living with a tribe in the Venezuelan jungle. He recalls, “It was one of the defining moments in my life. They shared their hospitality with us—fishing for piranhas and sleeping in uncomfortable hammocks. That was luxury for them, and they were happy to share it.”
After his travels, David returned to The Bonham. “The first 18 months were spent literally working in every department, front of house and back of house. I had a real fear of going into the kitchen from a chef’s perspective. I dreaded it because I could hardly cook beans.
“But after six weeks in the kitchen, I asked to extend my time there. I loved it. It was a three-rosette restaurant, and the head chef, Michel Bouyer, was a real mentor to me. Instead of going on split shifts, he stayed and coached me on everything from filleting sea trout to cooking steak properly. He was passionate about food, and it was quite an insight for me.”
After 18 months, David became Assistant Manager at The Bonham, and the Townhouse Collection was preparing to open The Blythswood in Glasgow. He says, “I was part of the opening team and took on the role of Events Manager. It was a challenging role, managing both the office side and operations, but it allowed for a smooth transition for guests, as there was only one team dealing with them.”
“Every department in the hotel contributed to the success of events—from housekeepers cleaning rooms to porters setting up spaces and concierges meeting and greeting. It was a central role in the hotel.”
He continues, “We did some really exciting things. For instance, we had a big car launch for Alfa Romeo and drove an Alfa Romeo through the front door into the lobby. For the Monte Carlo Rally, we drove a Mini in as well. It became quite the spectacle.
“We also organised numerous corporate lunches and events, which helped me build a network within Glasgow’s corporate sector, dealing with banks, law firms, advertising companies, and so on.” From there, David progressed to a business development role within the company, which he loved.
“I did a lot of travelling to London, meeting institutions and essentially selling the hotel. The Blythswood was an easy sell—it was the new kid on the block and Glasgow’s only five-star hotel at the time.”
He then headed back across the M8 to take his first General Manager’s role at The Bonham in 2011 at the age of 29. He smiles, “Hans had to convince me I was ready for it. I felt a bit like a rabbit caught in the headlights! But it was exciting, particularly because The Bonham held a special place in my heart as it was where I started in hospitality. However, many faces had changed since my time there, and although The Bonham was in a good place, like everything, it needed a bit of a rebuild and new energy.
“That was my first experience of building a new management team. It was a really special time—I wanted it to be the best we could be, and I think we succeeded.” Eighteen months later, it was a shock when Peter Taylor announced that The Townhouse Collection had been bought by Principal Hayley.
David recalls, “There were a lot of tears because we all enjoyed working for Peter, and there was some uncertainty. However, the transition went relatively smoothly. It was a massive culture shock for me, and in hindsight, I wasn’t ready for that kind of environment.
“Looking back, having worked in large companies, I realise that to run a hotel, you must know the commercial side inside out. Although we were numbers-driven in The Townhouse Collection, I wasn’t fully equipped for the change.”
Fortunately for David, a friend had just taken on the role of General Manager of the soon-to-open Dakota in Glasgow, and a position became available at the Edinburgh Dakota. After going through the recruitment process, he met Ken McCulloch, the then Chairman of Dakota.
David says, “My initial interview was with Andrew Ovenstone, and then I met one of my greatest mentors, Ken McCulloch. We clicked straight away.
“The Dakota opportunity was intriguing because, while I became GM of Dakota Edinburgh, they knew I had a network of corporates in Glasgow, so I was allowed to handle the business development side for the new Glasgow hotel too. During the opening period in Glasgow, it was a dual-role position.”
“Dakota, as a brand, was cool and very different from Townhouse. I enjoyed working closely with Ken. He was a visionary, and you don’t meet many people like him. It was a very enjoyable time. “He was huge—not just in stature—but warm and welcoming. He talked a lot of sense about service delivery. His attention to detail, whether it was the music or the ambience, was crucial. Everything had to be on point all the time. For instance if we were filling an ice well, we had to put a tea towel in first so the ice didn’t clatter.’ These small things stick with you.”
As GM of Dakota, David spent a lot of time with Ken. “My job was to absorb and translate his vision into reality. He often planted ideas in your head very often over a nice lunch with a bottle of wine, and those memories are very fond to me.”
He adds, “When I talk about people who have influenced my career, it’s Ken, Peter Taylor, and Hans Rissman. I still speak to Hans once or twice every week. I would place Ken in the same bracket as Peter—a visionary. Peter didn’t get actively involved, but Hans would hear his ideas and translate them. Ken gave you the vision and asked you to deliver on it. For him, it was all about service delivery, the feel of the hotel, and the importance of it looking its best. He was also about people, but most importantly, the right people.
Ken used to say, “There are lots of nice people in this world, but they can’t all play in our orchestra.” Perhaps as a younger manager, you meet someone and think they are lovely with a great personality, but our industry requires more than that. You need the skill set, ambition, and the right personality to support it, as we are service-led and peopledriven. Without the right personality, you probably won’t succeed.”
“By this point in my career, having had Peter, Hans, and Ken as close confidantes, I felt quite strong. I loved my time at Dakota and met some amazing people. Many became friends, which was very much what Ken’s vision for Dakota was about—it was about making friends with your guests, creating a home from home.”
Then the role at One Devonshire became available. David smiles, “Ken spoke about Devonshire nearly every time you saw him. It was ingrained in his heart. I felt awkward telling him about the job, but he told me to go for it. It turned out Ken was leaving the company at the same time as me, so it felt like the right time.
“When I was at The Blythswood, Devonshire was the one hotel we wanted to knock off its perch. Now my job was the reverse—I wanted to bring Devonshire back to where it should be. They had a fantastic GM before me, but the hotel had been underinvested over the years and was tired. As luck would have it, I arrived just as a full bedroom and front-of-house refurbishment was nearing completion, so my job was to push the hotel onwards.
“My next and current mentor, Pauric McGurren, Operations Director for Hotel du Vin, under which Devonshire sits, is very much from the Ken background of presentation and teamwork, but he is also very commercial. The P&L and the numbers have to work. The numbers make perfect sense to me, but it’s still challenging to make them work, especially with costs rising sharply.
“Ken was very much top-line down— deliver for your guests, and the money follows. Nowadays, you also have to think about controlling expenses. At the end of the day we have to deliver for our stakeholders; they invest a lot in us, and we must provide the returns they expect.
“When I joined, my role was partly to raise the profile of Devonshire, regain the restaurant’s three-rosette status, and rebuild the team—then Covid hit. But in a way, that allowed us time to consider how we wanted to move forward. A lot of changes occurred in the management team, but they were not forced.
“I aimed to replicate the feel of the management team I had at The Blythswood, where we all supported each other and worked as a cohesive team. For the past two years, we’ve maintained that. We all get on, have a good laugh, but take our jobs seriously, looking out for one another.
“This is a culture piece that Hans managed so well—people need to have each other’s backs, care for one another, and understand the crossover between roles. I can genuinely say that the management team I have now is as good as any I’ve ever worked with, and in fact, the team as a whole at the hotel is brilliant.”
David says One Devonshire is his proudest achievement, and one of his favourite guests is Sir Alex Ferguson.
He smiles, “When I first met him, it was jaw-dropping. He is one of the nicest people. You often find that the people you should be in awe of are some of the kindest; it’s those who think they’re more prestigious who can be difficult. There are only two people I have ever been star-struck by—Sir Alex Ferguson and Kelly Jones from Stereophonics. I was a massive Stereophonics fan as a kid.
“When they stayed at The Blythswood during their gig, they invited me to join them for coffee the next morning. It was bizarre but magical. These scenarios give you a spark sometimes.
“Recently, I took my daughter to her first concert—Snow Patrol. They were staying at One Devonshire, and Gary Lightbody, the lead singer, came over to her the next morning and said, ‘Your dad said it was your first gig last night. Did you enjoy it?’ As a ten-year-old, she was absolutely star-struck. It made her day and mine as well.”
Regarding work-life balance, he tells me it is much easier now, thanks to his supportive boss and Deputy GM, Molly and of course his wife. He says, “My wife works in hospitality in finance, so she understands the pressures of the job and she is very supportive, but since Molly joined just over two years ago, it’s definitely become easier.
“I used to work seven days a week because I was committed to getting things right, and if they weren’t perfect, I didn’t like not being there. That was part of the rebuild, and between Pauric and Molly, that’s now been rectified which means I get to spend more valuable time with my wife and kids.”
Changing the culture at One Devonshire has been a journey for David. “The culture piece didn’t come overnight; it was a tough one to get right, but you can feel and see it in guest comments. We are monitored against the other 36 hotels in the group and generally come out on top, especially at the end of the year. I take pride in that.”
He recalls, “I remember one of my first days in the hotel—there was a lady in her mid-60s having afternoon tea. She said, ‘I hear you’re the new boss. It’s not your company that owns this hotel; it’s the people of Glasgow.’ Most still refer to it as One Devonshire Gardens, and I like that.”
He also remembers how Ken McCulloch once gave him a telling-off for leaving the hotel door unlocked. David smiles, “After Ken stepped away from Dakota, he became a regular at Devonshire. Many younger staff members wouldn’t have known who he was, but for those who had been in the industry for a while, there was an ‘in awe’ moment, and they tried to ensure the hotel was perfect, even without his direct involvement. In his day, he kept the front door locked so that everyone received a personal welcome. He gave me a rollocking for keeping it unlocked.”
“Ken believed that hotels were about creating a home from home where people feel comfortable.
Scott Harper, now the COO of Hotel du Vin and Malmaison was Ken’s first GM when he opened the hotel in Monaco and he has been really supportive of our investments at One Devonshire, as he knows and values the importance of instilling Ken’s vision of what Devonshire needed to be. The waves Ken made continue to inspire the business and will no doubt do so for years to come – you can’ t say that of too many people.
“The last time I spoke to him, I said, ‘Don’t worry, boss—Devonshire is in good hands.’
He replied, ‘I know.’ It definitely is.