Simon Stamper: Dedication, Optimism, and English-ness with a Twist

By Hend Seif El Din

With everything that’s been going on in Cairo, I naturally had to bring it up, focusing on the latest events that–in my opinion–must’ve shaken the hotel industry as much as they’ve affected almost every other one.  Before discussing the latter, we talked about whether or not he’s enjoying living in Cairo. Luckily for us Cairenes, he’s here to stay!  And for those of you who are wondering how he manages to “survive” in Cairo, stay optimistic, and get along perfectly well with Egyptians…I’ll let you in on a little secret.  For starters, this isn’t Stamper’s first time in Cairo.  He was here during the early 90s, when he was the Executive Assistant Manager at the Semiramis InterContinental Hotel, which is why he was asked to come back two years ago to take on the four different products offered by InterContinental Hotels Group; the InterContinental Citystars, Inn, the Staybridge Suites, and the InterContinental Residence Suites, each catering to different guests and clients.

Other than all of the advantages I mentioned above, the complex is situated perfectly, being just 15 minutes away from the airport.  In Stamper’s own words, “So, I guess that the hotel, strategically, is very well set for success, with the four brands that we have. Like many businesses in Egypt.”

Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the past events, especially the ones that took place in June, affected the business, and yet Stamper managed to rise above it, ensuring quality and customer satisfaction.  So…how did he–along with the rest of the hotel staff–manage to overcome the numerous obstacles?  “We’ve been looking at the local corporate business; so we’ve been working very hard on developing relationships with local existing companies, so that we could attract that type of business.” Furthermore, Stamper added that they’re making sure that the relationships are “personal.” The latter does not mean that prior to the events less attention was paid to the level of intimacy with regards to relationships, but, as Stamper so eloquently put it, “It always has been personal, but the best thing I can say is if you bought a car last year that had six gears, and you buy the new car next year it’s going to have eight gears, so what we did is we just moved up two gears to make sure that we were always in the door before any of our competitors were.”

In terms of project work, there’s a lot happening at the InterContinental Citystars!  They’re currently working on a big renovation of the kitchen, ensuring that it is more efficient.  Also, they’re working on the InterContinental Residence Suites, once again, renovating them completely.  Clients will be glad to know that Stamper informed me that the team intends to completely redo the kitchens, the lounge, the bedrooms, and the bathrooms, making them more luxurious than they already are!

But were there any projects that had to be put on hold?  Apparently, yes.  But those projects were planned prior to Stamper’s arrival, and he still intends to resurrect them in the future.

Moving on to Stamper’s Cairo-survival skills.  Since it’s his second time in Egypt, as I previously mentioned, he–of course–sees a big difference between then and now, noting that “it’s not been an easy two years, but the one thing that I see that certainly gives me a lot of hope is that Egypt has so much to offer, when I look at the business that comes into our hotel…you’ve got all the potential of the factories, then you have the resorts on the red sea, which is so convenient for European travelers because it’s like a four hour flight, all year round sun, the beach; in Cairo and Luxor you’ve got all the antiquities…we hope the bounce back happens soon.” Since the General Manager assignments are open-ended and he likes living in Cairo, he’s probably going to be around for a while (lucky for us!)

But what exactly does he like about Egypt?  Other than the culture, he likes the Egyptian people, and he knows how to maneuver well around-and-with-them.  How?  Well…he puts his “English-ness” aside sometimes; using it as his guide, but also trying to be as local as possible, but of course “sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

I was also happy to find out that Stamper is “optimistic by nature.”  He believes that “you have to be optimistic, so we continue with our plans.”

He also epitomizes the perfect manager, by setting the perfect example, which helps keep his employees motivated, and dedicated; “You have to be optimistic because if the leader of the business is pessimistic, then everyone gets depressed, then your service level suffers, the customer suffers, so when you go through a storm, you have to have a steady hand on the wheel to guide the business through the storm, so that we deliver good service.  It’s about walking the talk.  But I also try to be sensitive at the same time; so you know when we went through those days last August you couldn’t go into the office with a huge smile; you just have to be sensitive to what’s happening, but being firm, fair at the same time.”

He’s also optimistic about 2014, believing that the second half of the year will be better than the first, while promising to provide the same level of Intercontinental service at all times.

So how did he manage to keep the standards that high with so many difficulties happening around the business?  His answer was quite “simple,” actually…well, to be honest, not that simple, but that of a genius!  “We’ve looked at big ticket savings,” he told me, “so for example, instead of having the whole hotel open when we know we’re not going to be full, we have certain floors closed, which saves energy and allows us to concentrate manpower on areas where the guests are.  So we’re keeping things really efficient and making sure we don’t have any inefficient areas, managing energy is one of those key things.  And of course we’ve managed our spending on areas that don’t have a huge return. So we used to spend a lot of money on advertising; we’ve just been sensible where we can save money, so we’ve all reduced our traveling we only do business trips overseas if it’s absolutely necessary.”

As for the type of clients, it’s comforting to know that they haven’t changed.  As a matter of fact, a lot of clients that arrived before June haven’t returned, due to the current situation and the travel bans, nevertheless, they do promise to come back, as opposed to not coming back at all.

I couldn’t help but wonder, did the InterContinental come up with offers and deals to help attract clients like various other spots in the capital?  The answer to my question was “not really.”  Instead, they came up with packages for certain periods, such as the Eid period, for example. 

They also followed a “value added,” concept.  In other words, they “kept the price as is, and threw in extra things,” like beverages and desserts.  They also didn’t drop or revise any of their prices, and neither did they reduce the quality, because Stamper believes that the client should receive the same quality throughout; the latter should never be compromised.

As for 2014, there’s yet another thing in store for hotel guests!  Everyone who has an IHG Rewards Club loyalty card will get free Internet access…perfect for business travelers! 

Personally, I was very curious to find out about Stamper’s management techniques, how and why he deals with his employees in a certain way.  Other than being an optimist–and a realist–at the same time, he let me in on another secret!  “Developing people for me is really important, because I’ve been with IHG for 23 years, and every step of my career there was someone who believed in me and gave me opportunity for advancement, so when I see talent, I always remember that someone gave me the opportunity within the company and that’s what I like to do. When I see people with talent they remind me of me, so I always remember to make sure that I give the opportunity and the coaching as well, because you can’t just give someone the opportunity and say yalla get on with it.  You need to take the time to guide, show, and help the person grow…make time for them.”  So it’s not just about being a manager, but being a peoples person by nature, he helps his employees grow; it is no longer a solely corporate matter, but more of a personal one.