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INTERVIEW


Lee David Stephens


MSpa International – the spa arm of the Minor Hotel Group – manages 44 spas, 450 staff and has 30 more potential projects. The general manager talks to us about the importance of brands, simple KPIs and Minor’s recent investment in Per Aquum


KATIE BARNES, MANAGING EDITOR, SPA BUSINESS T


his July, the Thai-based Minor Hotel Group (MHG) invested US$4m (€3m, £2.6m) to gain a 50 per cent stake in Per Aquum – the luxury boutique resort and spa man- agement company famous for its Huvafen Fushi property in the Maldives which fea- tures one of the fi rst underwater treatment rooms. Its plan is to build on the three existing Per Aquum properties – two in the Maldives and the Desert Palm in Dubai – by developing up to a possible 15 more. The investment brings MHG’s portfolio to 94 hotels and resorts most of which are in Asia, although it has a growing presence in Africa and the Middle East. Forming part of Minor International (MINT) – a company listed on the stock exchange of Thailand (see p34) – MHG has aggressive expansion plans to grow to 150 properties in the next fi ve years. Lee David Stephens, the general man-


ager of MSpa International, the group’s spa operations arm, explains what all of this means for his division and what exciting things we can expect in the future.


BRAND APPRECIATION As part of the Per Aquum deal, MSpa inher- ited the Lime Spa concept which Stephens describes as more of a design-led, upbeat spa offering in a region that’s typically focused on romance, reclusiveness and candlelit dinners. On working with the new brand he says: “We’ll levy our strengths in terms of operational support and give them [Per Aquum] access to our training, cen- tralised bookings, e-commerce and sales and marketing systems; and as a profit- driven company, I’ll certainly be measuring performance of facilities.”


Stephens, who’s worked in the hair and beauty industry for 20 years, joined MSpa in mid 2012


With the Lime Spa addition, MSpa now has six in-house spa concepts for both MHG and third-party properties (see p36). Its other brands include: Mandara Spa, the Steiner-owned concept which MSpa has the franchise licence for in Thailand and China; Anantara Spa, developed for MHG’s luxury hotels of the same name; Aequa- lis Spa, an urban spa concept focused on ‘high tech, high touch’ and the Individu-


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ally Tailored Spa Collection, a bespoke line. Meanwhile, Avani Spa, its newest con- cept launched at two MHG-managed Avani properties in Sri Lanka in 2012, has been created as an upscale contemporary spa offering for those seeking tailor made treat- ments, who appreciate attention to detail and who also have a passion for design. “MINT’s chairman and founder [Wil- liam Heinecke] love brands,” says Stephens.


Spa Business 3 2013 ©Cybertrek 2013


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