A nationally recognised accommodation industry leader, David brings a global growth lens to his position as the Managing Director of The Ascott Limited, Australia. His experience spans multiple senior corporate and strategic management positions in various locations across Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific. David is responsible for overseeing The Ascott Limited managed estate portfolio throughout the country, notably the leadership of its business format franchise brand, Quest Apartment Hotels, which has over 160+ properties throughout Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the United Kingdom. With optimism, resilience and perseverance, David has guided the group through the COVID-19 pandemic into the thriving brand it is today, even amongst the most uncertain of times. It’s his unique ability to always think ‘how can we do better?’ than makes him an invaluable leader in the industry – and it’s not an attitude that goes unnoticed. David is a board member for Accommodation Australia and is a member of the Advisory Board member for the Tourism and Transport Forum (Australia). With a high regard of education, David holds an MBA from the University of Newcastle, Australia, is certified in Hotel Real Estate Investments and Asset Management by Cornell University and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). The industry veteran with over three decades of hospitality management experience believes in purpose-led brand ethos and operations. David views the measure of his success greater than mere revenue generation figures, but the stewardship each Ascott Australia brand offers the communities they serve.

With an ambitious pipeline plan for The Ascott Limited, Australia’s property portfolio, James acts as the General Manager, Growth and Capital Strategy for the group. He brings 20-years of corporate finance, strategy, development, and investment experience to the table having worked across a range of industries including consulting, banking and property development – he's even a qualified Chartered Accountant. James has a set focus on expanding the Quest Apartment Hotels footprint across the country and ramping up development on the group’s globally loved brands too, introducing fresh products and accommodation experiences to the Australian market. He is responsible for the transformation, integration, network planning, origination and oversight for project design and delivery of The Ascott Limited, Australia’s entire growth strategy. Through James’ expertise and leadership, Ascott Australia has grown into a market leader aligning its national property footprint to the diversifying needs of the modern corporate and leisure traveller. It’s these same skills and attributes that makes James’ involvement as the Chairman of the Property Council of Australia (Hotels division) all the more valuable. Sitting at the forefront of Ascott Australia’s growth, James and his team view sustainability and accessibility as key property development priorities, shaping the future of serviced apartment design - factors that underpin the group’s pursuit of an effortless guest experience.

As a seasoned finance executive with experience spanning hospitality, real estate and asset management, Kamal holds the esteemed role of The Ascott Limited, Australia’s Chief Finance and Commercial Officer. He brings in over 20-years of hotel industry experience to his position and leads with a core focus on driving profitability at the property level for each of the group’s brands, and the portfolio in its entirety. A graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Kamal has held senior positions across the Middle East, Vietnam and India, where he has perfected the arts of analytical decision-making, driving profit through sustainable practices and leveraging skilled teams to exceed KPIs. Having graduated with Honours in Bachelor of Commerce (Management Accountancy) and earned his Master's in International Finance and Applied Economics, Kamal is a determined business leader when it comes to fine-tuning his professional dynamic. With sincerity, wisdom, and an innate sense of objectivity, Kamal’s financial decision making is always focused on the big picture, ensuring each decision is collaborative, data-driven and based on reason. With the latest developments in The Ascott Limited’s acquisition of the Quest Apartment Hotels brand, Kamal now not only focuses on creating investment value within a franchise business model, but also aligning this with the financial strategy and commercial goals of the managed estate brands in the portfolio.

A thought leader across sales, marketing and environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives, Anthea has proven instrumental in the growth and success of The Ascott Limited, Australia, as the group’s General Manager, Brand and ESG. First joining the group’s franchise brand, Quest Apartment Hotels, in 2012, she’s since risen through multiple leadership roles within the organisation. She has continued to mature these leadership skills having graduated from the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and poses as Deputy Chair of the Melbourne West Board and Chair of PACC subcommittee of Accommodation Australia. Responsible for driving brand and ESG strategies across the diverse bucket of brands that Ascott Australia presents, Anthea has an undeniable connection with social impact storytelling. She leads a passionate team of creatives, who follow a common goal – to communicate with purpose. With alignment, collaboration, and innovation at the forefront of Anthea’s campaign strategies, she champions this purpose-led approach to increase brand equity amongst the group. Understanding the importance that data plays on tactical marketing activity and how a supplier village is pivotal to the success of each brand, Anthea upholds strong stakeholder management skills and priorities the analysis phase after every project. Through her guidance, Ascott Australia has made great strides in delivering sustainable, inclusive, diverse, and equitable initiatives. Key milestones include growing diverse representation at a leadership level and implementing a new Gender Equality Policy that includes paid parental leave for the Ascott Australia corporate office employees.

The Franchise Operations business unit at Quest Apartment Hotels is unique by many means, and is led by David, the company’s General Manager, Franchise Operations. David’s role is to solely maintain and nurture the dynamic relationship between Quest Apartment Hotels, as the franchisor, and its business owners. David and his team work day-in day-out to support, provide guidance, upskill and educate the franchise business owners when it comes to the multiple facets of operating a Quest apartment hotel. Whether it’s optimising business plans, strategising inventory management solutions or facilitating discussions with the Sales team for corporate client acquisition advice, David leads a number of well-positioned and experienced Franchise Relationship Managers to meet these demands, alongside a Franchise Establishment team which specialises in greenfield and brownfield property operations. Having joined Quest in 2009 as a Franchise Support Manager, David is a long-standing thought leader in the world of franchising. With a vision to create effortless Quest guest experiences, he is hungry to exceed compliance targets to achieve the utmost consistency and alignment across the network, from properties in regional, coastal locations to those in busy-bustling metro areas. In a unique position within the Senior Leadership Team and The Ascott Limited, Australia corporate office, David’s efforts are solely focused on the Quest brand. Quest was recognised as the first franchise system in Australia to secure FRANdata’s 5-star rating, and David works to maintain the status of Quest’s proven business format franchise model as the preferred franchising provider.

With a people and strategy career spanning two decades, The Ascott Limited, Australia’s General Manager, People & Culture, Paul, has always understood that employee fulfilment is critical to the success of any company, particularly one that wants to continue to thrive. Bringing his signature brand of optimism, Paul is responsible for Ascott Australia's people and culture solutions, from employee recruitment to retention. Through his passion for personnel development, Paul continues to make a positive difference in the lives of those within the Ascott employee community through the exciting, supportive and impactful programs and initiatives integrated into the backbone of the company. In addition to exceeding quality of work and productivity benchmarks, Paul drives tangible commercial outcomes, all thanks to him and his team’s fixation on fostering work environments that meet the needs of every employee. His passion for effective stakeholder partnerships and pride in sharing the success of the corporate office’s positive team culture has seen award-winning outcomes including ’Best Place to Work’ awards, and the property network remaining employers of choice in the accommodation industry. Paul is a hands-on operator and enjoys attending property events to walk-the-talk when it comes to diversity, accessibility and inclusion, promoting the Ascott values through every interaction. Paul lives and breathes the recently launched brand belief statement of the Quest Apartment Hotels brand everyday - “Everyone deserves a place to be themselves. We go further to create the moments that matter.”

With a distinguished and expansive legal career, The Ascott Limited, Australia harnesses the fair and just General Counsel that is Dennis. Dennis brings over 20-years of legal leadership expertise to the Ascott Australia Senior Leadership Team, having advised global public and private companies throughout his career. He is an integral part of each business unit’s daily operations, facilitating effortless contractual transactions between a multitude of internal and external stakeholders, with the support of his in-house legal team. With extensive experience formulating policies, reviewing rules, abiding by regulations and studying guidelines, Dennis has a proven track-record in grasping opportunities for the Ascott Australia brands in a way that sets the company up for success. In an increasingly complex legal landscape, Dennis protects the interests of Ascott Australia’s brands and the properties within it, from pre-opening to matured established properties at every step of the way. With a keen eye for detail and a focus on legal and ethical compliance, it’s no wonder that Dennis has previously received a Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Lawyer of the Year award. Dennis’ guiding motto, Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum - ‘Let Justice be done though the heavens should fall’, is a reflection of the honesty and right-doing behaviour that he harnesses, solidifying his indispensability to the Ascott Australia Senior Leadership Team.

Navigating the momentous managed estate brand opportunities within The Ascott Limited, Australia, Mark is placed in the company’s Senior Leadership Team as the Area General Manager. Mark manages the non-franchise brands within Ascott Australia’s portfolio, overlooking existing property operations and hotel pipeline rollouts across the diverse array of brands to meet the ever-changing needs of travellers in the APAC region. Mark embraces the opportunity to upscale and spotlight the managed estate brands within the Australian market, including the high-end, luxury Oakwood Premier, state-of-the-art, chic Citadines, and the new, exciting, co-living accommodation product that is lyf. With different brand identities, standards and traveller types associated with each brand, Mark’s 20-years' worth of hospitality experience proves useful as he strives for high guest satisfaction levels through guest experience enhancement strategies, personalised to each brand’s unique guest offerings. His practical approach to project delivery and proven leadership skills are essential in introducing and strategically expanding awareness of Ascott Australia brands in the market. With a Bachelor of Business in Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Management, Mark is a hard-working hospitality leader, ready to take on the challenges that come with building an operationally prospering network of distinctively branded hotels.

With over 15-years of Sales-orientated hotel experience in both the UK and Australia, Jen joins The Ascott Limited, Australia Senior Leadership Team in the role of General Manager, Sales and Distribution, driving revenue for the brand portfolio, with a corporate focus. With a natural flare for relationship-building and leadership, Jen champions the task of guiding the company’s largest business unit to success, customising her approach to the needs of each team member and role they play. Having perfected all the necessary sales skills across her career including identifying leads and prospects and bringing them through the sales funnel, acquiring and nurturing client accounts, negotiating rates and closing sales – Jen has an immense amount of experience that contributes to the financial success of Ascott Australia. Her caring persona and pure understanding of the importance to meet client needs and wants is what sets her apart as a leader within the hospitality industry – no request is too small when the guest experience is at stake. Data-driven and KPI-orientated, Jen is a skilled project manager with a wealth of sales and revenue strategy knowledge. With a firm understanding of the financial statuses and targets of each brand, Jen works closely with the revenue team to analyse historic performance data and identify trends before forecasting future performance based on revenue optimisation tactics. Jen always has her finger on the pulse when it comes to consumer booking trends and industry landscape advancements - another reason why’s she an invaluable addition to the Ascott Australia Senior Leadership Team.

Pitcher Partners is a full-service accounting, audit and advisory firm with a long-standing reputation for providing superior expertise and advice to clients, with a particular focus on the middle market. We have resources and depth of technical expertise few can match. We are large enough to meet the challenges presented by our clients but can maintain close and personal involvement with them and with each other. As Managing Partner my focus is on providing strategic guidance and support to the Partnership, ensuring our firm achieves its vision - to be the pre-eminent firm to the middle market, whilst creating opportunities for our people, our clients and community. In this role, I have been able to execute and introduce new initiatives that challenge the traditional way in which we work, including flexible working arrangements and ‘dress for your day’. I have over 22 years of experience working with large family groups, private property developers, construction businesses, fund managers, businesses in the financial services industry and listed public companies. I have also worked closely with clients on advisory boards and client committees. Middle-market businesses are the backbone of Australia, and I am proud of our firm and the people I work with in our ability to deliver value to our clients.

Teena has built a wealth of experience working in the private development sector, focused primarily on acquisitions and capital arrangement. She has over 20 years experience in the banking & finance sector primarily in property finance. Funding specialisation has included property investment and development transactions from $10m - $200m, including club and syndications. PDG 07/2013-07/2017: Responsible for site acquisitions, assessing project feasibilities and preparation of project information reports to assist in securing opportunities. Arranged the project funding and oversaw the settlement phase of projects, working with valuers and financiers to maximise the highest achievable settlement completion and minimise the risk of settlement fall overs. Prior to 2013: Teena held a senior director position for Bank West and was a team leader at Suncorp Group. Over Teena's career in the Finance sector Teena held management roles and demonstrated a strong capability in leadership, capital management, change management and building a business.

Corina is a widely respected leader in both the franchise industry and the small to medium-size business (‘SME’) community, with over 25 years of experience in senior executive positions across a range of diverse organisations and businesses. Her roles have seen her develop a wide understanding of issues and challenges covering many sectors and industries. This has enabled her to provide significant strategic, innovative, and operational leadership and services to a broad range of businesses (whether they be established or in their infancy). Corina has displayed her skills in a comprehensive list of industries including medical, real estate, bulky goods retailing, department stores, construction, professional services, hospitality, fast food, cafes, and restaurants, automotive, technology, fitness, and the personal aesthetics industry. Corina is a Certified Franchising Executive. She has been a committee member of the ACCC Franchising Advisory Board, the Franchise Council of Australia Policy Advisory Committee and the Victorian Small Business and Franchising Consultative Committee. She chaired the Franchise Council of Australia’s Chief Executive Syndicate for Victoria, as well as chairing an ideas exchange forum for CEOs within the franchise industry. In 2012, she was awarded the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) Woman in Franchising (Vic/Tas) award; in 2016, Corina was a member of the Small Business Ministerial Council, which advises the Minister and provides guidance to the Victorian Government on small business operation. Her business acumen recently saw her recognised as one of the top 50 small business leaders in Australia in the Australian Small Business Champions Awards, 2021. And she was awarded Medal of the Order of Australia 2024, for service to business, and to the community.