HOSPITALITY 

Sharan Pasricha: Shepherding Ennismore 

Constantly traversing across Europe and America, Sharan Pasricha, Founder and Co-CEO of Ennismore Group, the hotelier who built his global Empire, continues to extend the borders of his hospitality business into the Middle East and beyond.

Sharan Pasricha is an entrepreneur born in India and based in the UK. He is the founder of the hospitality group, Ennismore, which owns the urban-chic Hoxton hotel chain, the tartan-luxe Gleneagles golf resort, and a slew of London restaurants. In recent years, the group also made a foray into budget hotels. In 2021, it tied up with Accor to make Ennismore the world’s largest and fastest-growing global lifestyle hospitality company.

Educated at the Doon School, India, Sharan Pasricha went to Millfield School in Somerset, England. Thereafter, he earned an Accounting and Finance degree from Regent's College, London. Subsequently, he secured an MBA from London Business School. 

Sharan Pasricha's entrepreneurialism first came into play as a six-years-old when he hit on a novel idea of selling sandwiches his mother made for him to his schoolmates. He then requested his mother to make more sandwiches as he sold out of them during the school recess, making a profit. This made him a bit greedy, and he subsequently raised the prices of the sandwiches. He was caught only when one of the parents complained to his mother about the rising sandwich prices. His entrepreneurship became evident once again at 22, when he co-founded UK-based Rush Media, a student media and marketing agency. He was associated with the agency for three years. 

Sharan Pasricha's uncle in Delhi noticed his budding business acumen, and asked him to head his leather garment business. Although he found running a firm of 300-plus employees a daunting task, he turned around the dwindling sales of the company in spite of his lack of experience in the field. However, after three years at the leather firm, he quit his job to study Master's in Business Administration (MBA) at London Business School while doing his internship at a private equity firm.

Entrepreneurial Journey 

On completion of his MBA, Sharan Pasricha started business with one hotel in East London before he expanded The Hoxton in the UK, Europe and the US. He founded Ennismore 2011, and made efforts to acquire Soho House. A year later, in 2012, Ennismore acquired the Hoxton Hotel in Shoreditch. In November 2012, Ennismore bought an office building in Holborn, which later became The Hoxton, Holborn. In 2013, he launched The Hoxton, Amsterdam. In 2017, The Hoxton, Paris, opened after completion of a four-year renovation. It was an 18th century hôtel particulier, which was designated 'monument historique' by the French government. Ennismore opened its first US operation in 2018, with the setting up of The Hoxton, Williamsburg, New York. It shortly opened facilities in Portland, Chicago and Los Angeles. In the same year, back in Europe a third Hoxton opened in Southwark in London followed with Rome, Barcelona, and Shepherd's Bush opening in 2021. In 2023, the Hoxton opened in Brussels, Germany, and a second facility in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Hoxton is planning facilities also in Vienna, Edinburgh and Dublin. 

Hoxton

In 2012, Sharan Pasricha acquired The Hoxton, Shoreditch. In London’s East End, Sinclair  Beecham, the founder of Hoxton, Shoreditch, turned a car park in 2006 into his first hotel. It is one of the hotels, according to Sharan Pasricha, that has truly stood the test of time despite a number of other facilities coming up in recent years. At The Hoxton, the group invested substantial time and money to provide strength and stability, in order to continue to remain relevant. Among the expansions within the hotel, it launched Llama Inn on the rooftop in partnership with a chef from Brooklyn. The rooftop facility added a whole new dimension to the hotel. Besides, it also renovated the public spaces and refurbished bedrooms. The Hoxton is inspired by the diversity and originality of the streets and scenes of London.

Sharan Pasricha has built the brand to suit the growing needs of guests at the hotels. The Huxton lobby figuratively has always been the town square of Shoreditch. As Shoreditch has developed so have the hotel's customers and this, in turn, has improved the brand equity. In 2023, the group opened Estelle Manor in the Cotswolds, England. According to Sharan Pasricha, Estelle Manor was originally conceived as a Hoxton in the countryside. It is located on a sprawling 3000-acre parkland in Oxford. It's originally an old manor built over a hundred years ago. It has a fascinating history of being an old police training academy and a conference hotel at the time of its takeover by the group. For Sharan Pasricha, who has a predilection for the old and vintage, it is truly exciting to work in old buildings that have so much history, replete with fabulous stories from the past.

Gleneagles 

In 2015, Sharan Pasricha acquired the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland, a former beverage company owned by Diageo. The hotel has since undergone over 12 major renovation projects. The Century Bar, The American Bar, The Birnam Brasserie, Dormy Restaurant and Auchterarder 70, Ochil House, Bob & Cloche, and Little Glen & The Den were set up in 2016. With the opening of Gleneagles Townhouse, he expanded the brand. Located in Edinburgh, it has a hotel, restaurants, bars and member’s club. The facility was named "Best Hotel" by the GQ Food & Drinks Awards 2023. Gleneagles has won a slew of awards. 

Gleneagles, originally built in 1924, celebrates its centennial this year. In the last five years, the group has given an impressive makeover to this property. It's one facility that has drawn huge appreciation not only from people of Scotland but also from across Europe. According to Sharan Pasricha, he carried out the transformation of Gleneagles with an owner-operator mindset. 

Delano Dubai

Sharan Pasricha has been excited to bring Delano from its origins in Miami, Florida, US, to Dubai, UAE. The highly anticipated hotel, located near the old Caesars Resort and Julius Tower at Bluewaters Dubai, is now accepting bookings ahead of its grand opening in October 2024. This project is coming up following an agreement between Dubai Holding and the owners of Delano Ennismore. The new hotel will have 167 guest rooms, including 84 suites, and a massive five-bedroom penthouse designed in the signature Delano style. Delano in Miami had redefined the urban resort experience three decades ago, and in Dubai it got a makeover. It will have four restaurants and bars, including a reimagining of the iconic Rose Bar, offering a spectacular view of the sea. 

Recently, the group tied up with Rikas Group, a homegrown operator with about 18 F&B venues. Founded seven years ago in Dubai, Rikas is built by the visionary young Parisian Rizwan Kassim. Rikas Group has brands, such as Twiggy, Mimi Kakushi, La Cantine and others. His expertise and experience have given further strength to the Ennismore family.

The group’s global portfolio now includes the youthful 25hours collection, with 15 properties enlivening Europe’s party capitals; contemporary-art-skewed 21c Museum Hotels, based in Louisville; the Paris-born punk-chic Mama Shelter brand; the glossy Mondrian and opulent SLS chains; the modish Miami Beach haven, Delano; and the hybrid hostel, Jo&Joe.

Sharan Pasricha has been included in Conde Nast Traveller’s "50 People Changing The Way We Travel" and "The Caterer’s Top 100 Most Powerful People in Hospitality." He was awarded an MBE, the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, in The Queen's Birthday Honours in 2022 for services to the hotel industry. He also received the Alumni GOLD (Graduate of the Last Decade) by London Business School, his alma mater, in 2018.

Ennismore has been included in "Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies" lists in 2020 and 2021. It was  ranked No. 29 in "FT1000: Europe’s Fastest-Growing Companies." And it is part of "FT Future 100," the UK’s fastest-growing businesses that are shaping the future of their sector.

Sharan Pasricha's business has grown manifold, with over 145 hotels and more than 400 restaurants, and the group has 30,000-plus team-members. As per company sources, dozens of more hotels are being planned for the near future.

Spouse And Family

Sharan Pasricha married Eiesha Bharti in 2009. They have two children, a daughter and a son. Sharan's father-in-law is Sunil Mittal, Founder and CEO of Bharti Airtel. 

Eiesha Bharti Pasricha's childhood was spent with her grandparents who lived in Scotland. She pursued her education at Cheltenham Ladies’ College in England, and later graduated with degrees in Politics, Italian, and French from the University of Bath, England. She maintains an active presence on social media platforms, often sharing glimpses of both her personal and professional life.

Eiesha's brother Kavin Bharti Mittal was the founder and CEO of the former Hike Messenger. Despite having more than 100 million registered users and worth $1.4 billion, it went defunct in 2021, as the firm reportedly was unable to compete with global messaging platforms.

Ennismore Group is committed to making a positive impact on the world, with a major focus on creating inclusive communities among its own teams and across other locations. For the group, a brand only works if it has a purpose; otherwise it is merely another product. With extensive planning it builds brands that connect with people. It is not just the price point, but the location and narrative of the hotel that provide the winning edge. The hotel business, as per Sharan Pasricha, is a canvas to express his interest in design, architecture, culture, food and many other related aspects. Essentially, hotels enable to create experiences and develop lifestyle brands. The biggest lesson he has learnt is not to take 'no' for an answer. In every sector of every industry, he says, people warn you about the risks involved and that such a thing is not yet attempted. That is precisely why you should try to do it.

(Photo: Courtesy Company Site)

Read Allure of Ajmal