Shutting down half of a chain’s hotels while renovation work is being done can be costly, but it reflects a commitment to a long-term strategy that was instrumental in Michael Kreuger being named among the top financial officers in British Columbia. Kreuger, senior vice-president, finance and accounting, with SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts, joined the company three years ago and immediately launched an aggressive $550 million redevelopment program that called for the renovation of half of SilverBirch’s 20 hotel and resort properties across Canada. In order to maintain consumer confidence, Kreuger closed the hotels entirely while renovations were being completed. “The strategy is to take short-term hits for long-term value creation,” Kreuger explained. It paid off. Under his tenure, SilverBirch’s operating margins revenue at the renovated hotels rose to 37.1% from 19.7% and SilverBirch was named Canada’s Company of the Year in the 2013 Pinnacle Awards by the publishers of Foodservice and Hospitality magazine and Hotelier magazine. This January, SilverBirch was also honoured as one of Canada’s 50 Most Engaged Workplaces, an award that largely reflects Kreuger’s emphasis on creating a collaborative work environment, according to SilverBirch board chairman Kevin Mahoney. Kreuger is a co-winner of the Transformation Agent award in the 2014 CFO of the Year Awards. While Kreuger admits “surprise” at the honour, it is well deserved, said Valerie Mann, managing partner of Lawson Lundell and a judge in the CFO Awards. “Michael has shown tremendous strategic initiative and forward thinking in the successful business transformation of SilverBirch,” Mann said. |
