Burhill Golf and Leisure (BGL), which owns and operates 10 UK golf venues, has appointed Guy Riggott as the new Operations Director of its Golf Division commencing Monday, September 8, 2014.
Riggott, who has more than 20 years’ commercial experience in the leisure sector, including senior management roles at Crown Golf, Esporta Group and De Vere, will report directly to BGL Chief Executive Colin Mayes.
Commenting on the new appointment, Colin Mayes said: “Guy has a strong track record of opening, developing and running complex multi-site leisure businesses and his experience of delivering sustainable growth in a challenging golf market stands out.
“Guy joins BGL at a time when our pay-and-play golf business is out-performing the market and we are growing as a business year-on-year and we have a number of exciting plans to develop our business further. Guy will undoubtedly help us convert a great start to 2014 into a strong year and help us developing our business even further in the coming years.”
BGL is owned privately by Lord Iveagh and members of the Guinness family and has been a leader in delivering high-quality, accessible, family-friendly pay-and-play golf and hospitality for more than 20 years.
Riggott, who has a BA Honours degree in hotel and catering business management from Brighton University, said: “I trained in a hotel environment which provided me with strong management, service and organisational skills, as well as a focus on customer service which is vital to the modern golf facility.
“BGL is a very strong business, with exciting growth plans, and I look forward to playing a significant role in making these plans come to life.”
Riggott’s appointment follows the announcement that former BGL Golf Operations Director, Hugh Knowles, has moved to the newly created role of Operations and Development Director of BGL’s Adventure Leisure business.
The company currently operates Adventure Golf courses at two of its pay-and-play golf centres and plans to expand the portfolio, as well as branching into alternative attraction-led activities such as indoor play and adventure climbing centres.