Today OYO is announcing the appointment of a new Head of the UK business, Rishabh Gupta. He will be succeeding our current UK Head, Jeremy Sanders, who is leaving OYO to spend more time with his family and three young children.

 

We are sad to say goodbye to Jeremy after an exciting year of UK expansion, during which we’ve hired 500 people across 7 offices; brought 200 UK hotels with 5000 rooms onto the OYO platform across more than 50 cities and towns — from bustling London to the tranquil Scottish Highlands — and built the UK business from scratch to one that’s having a positive impact on the economies and communities in which we operate.

 

As OYO enters into an exciting new phase in 2020, it’s important that we continue to grow and scale while doubling down on our goal of offering improved customer experience and building great partnerships with asset owners.

 

OYO has already committed over £40 million in investment in the UK, which will help in fueling not just OYO’s expansion plans in the region over the next couple of years, but also in helping to ensure the highest standards of customer experience. We will achieve this under the leadership of a new Head of the UK business Rishabh Gupta, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the team.

 

Under Rishabh’s leadership, OYO has emerged as Indonesia’s largest hotel chain with over 2000 hotels and almost 50,000 rooms under management across 100 cities. He has built a strong team of over 1100 who will continue to drive growth in Indonesia once he takes up the UK role. Rishabh brings over a decade of experience leading consumer and technology companies across Asia with a strong focus on operational efficiency and sustainable growth, including at Airbnb, Deloitte and WPP.

 

Jeremy will be passing the baton of UK leadership to Rishabh over an agreed transition period that will provide a smooth handover. Under Rishabh’s leadership, we look forward to continuing OYO’s growth in the UK in 2020 and for the long-term.

 

We are focused on building a new kind of tech-driven hospitality business. We want people around the world to experience high quality, safe and hassle-free travel, whether they’re a consumer looking for an affordable place to stay, or a hotel owner looking to take the growth of their business to the next level.

 

Our thanks goes to Jeremy, who has demonstrated the traits of a true OYOpreneur in growing the UK business so far, and we look forward to our next phase of growth in 2020 and beyond.