New CEO @ Millennium & Copthorne

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels has appointed Wong Hong Ren as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect.

 Mr. Wong, 59, succeeds Richard Hartman, who will remain on the Group Board as a non-executive Director.

Mr. Wong was made Non-Executive Director of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels after the group’s flotation in 1996 and has been Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director since April 2001.

 He has served as joint CEO and twice served as Interim CEO, including the eight months prior to Mr. Hartman’s appointment in April 2008. During those periods he demonstrated strong leadership in streamlining the group’s management systems and putting in place many of the cost management and capital expenditure controls that protected the group from the impact of recession following the 2008 financial crisis.

He is a Director of many of the group’s subsidiaries and has a deep working knowledge of the group’s business operations.

Mr. Kwek Leng Beng, Chairman of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Plc, said, “Wong Hong Ren emerged as the strongest candidate to fill the position of group CEO after a prolonged search and many interviews conducted with other potential candidates. The board believes that Mr. Wong’s deep understanding of the group and its strategy, his disciplined approach to operational management, his keen analytical skills and his outstanding contribution to enhancing the asset value of the Group make him the ideal successor to Richard Hartman. His leadership will provide vital continuity as we execute our existing strategy.

The group has already started its search for a new CFO, and expects to soon announce the appointment of a Group Chief Operating Officer. 

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