Fredrik Korallus appointed chief executive of Puma Hotels
The former global executive vice-president of Carlson has relocated from the United States to help revive the fortunes of the Puma Hotels Collection as its new chief executive.
With debts of more than £330m, Fredrik Korallus has a tough job on his hands as head of the 21-strong group of four-star provincial hotels including the Lygon Arms in Broadway, Imperial in Torquay and the Majestic in Harrogate.
In the company's last set of financial results, Puma posted losses of £175m following a year of upheaval for the company with Spanish hotel operator, the Barceló Group, pulling out of an agreement early to operate the 21 hotels.
Since the end of April, Puma has resumed the direct management of the hotels, which it previously operated prior to the signing of a 45-year lease with Barceló in 2007. The Spanish group agreed to pay a penalty fee of £20.25m for breaking its contract. However, Puma has lost the £30m annual rent from Barcelo.
At Carlson, Korallus was responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution for the group's five brands, representing 1,300 hotels, with a gross room revenue of $4b (£2.5b).
Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, Korallus studied business and hospitality management at London's Thames Valley University, before joining the Radisson Park Terrace in Washington DC in 1989.
He went on to become international director of sales and marketing for Radisson Hotels Worldwide based in London, followed by a move to Australia as vice-president sales and marketing Asia Pacific. In 1996 Korallus moved to Brussels as vice president sales for the Rezidor Hotel Group,
In 1998 Korallus temporarily left hotel operations to lead a management buy out of the Hotel and Catering Training Company (HCTC), which at the time was the UK's largest private hospitality training provider.
He later returned to Rezidor as senior vice president marketing, sales and distribution and was later promoted to senior vice-president and chief operating officer, where he led the development of the Park Inn by Radisson brand in Europe Middle East and Africa.
In 2005, Korallus moved to the US as global executive vice president of revenue generation for Carlson. He successfully grew global revenue by 13% in 2010.
Since 2011, Korallus has supported several US-based start-up companies in the hospitality, technology and wellness industries in board and advisory capacities.
Puma Hotels stays positive despite bank debt of more than £330m >>
Barceló pays £20.25m to pull out of UK >>
HTF secures future with hctc sell-off >>
By Janet Harmer
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