A new general manager has been appointed at The Belfry as the resort looks forward to exciting plans for its development under new ownership and management. Willem Verhoeven brings a wealth of international experience in the golf, leisure and conference markets to the world-renowned resort in Wishaw, Sutton Coldfield.
His impressive career was founded at the St Andrews Bay Golf Resort & Spa in Scotland, and he progressed from there to being general manager of boutique hotels in his native Netherlands, and also for UK hotel chain Malmaison.
The 33-year-old joins The Belfry ahead of a £30 million refurbishment of the resort by new owners American investment firm KSL Capital Partners due to start next year.
Willem arrives from Hotel De Wolfsberg and Trib Event Ltd, which he both co-owned in the Netherlands. After graduating with a degree in hospitality administration from the International University for Hotel Management in the Netherlands, Willem joined St Andrews Bay Golf Resort & Spa in 2002.
He went back to Scotland in 2008 to take on the role of general manager at Malmaison Edinburgh before leaving in 2010 to become co-owner and director of De Wolfsberg.
Building on the conference emphasis of De Wolfsberg, named Best Hotel in the Netherlands in 2011, Willem also co-founded Trib Event Ltd, a company specialising in the organisation of outdoor concerts.