Last month, Graham Copeman departed the Goring (where he had been first hotel manager and then general manager) to become managing director of the St James’s Hotel and Club, Park Place, London.
Following positions at The Lanesborough, Copeman also worked at One Aldwych, Covent Garden, where he helped launch the hotel, working there for four years before joining Claridge’s as House Manager in 2002.
In 2006, Copeman was appointed hotel manager at The Goring, later taking the reins as general manager, where he oversaw day-to-day management of the hotel and project managing each phase of the hotel’s substantial refurbishment, in anticipation of The Goring’s Centenary in 2010. He was also solely responsible for co-ordinating the hosting of the Middleton family and their guests for the Royal Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011.
In his new role, Copeman is expected to push staff training and development; cultivate both domestic and international relationships; increase profitability and commercial success; and nurture executive chef William Drabble’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Seven Park Place.