As of August 1, 2022, Rick Medford joins the Executive Committee of MEININGER Hotels as the Vice President of Change Management & Technology. With this appointment, the group is accelerating its ability to adapt to changes driven by the digitalisation of the hotel industry and making technology a priority at the highest organisational level of the company.
Rick Medford joined MEININGER Hotels in 2019 as Head of IT. In his new position as Vice President of Change Management & Technology, Rick will also oversee transformation projects aimed at increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of all the business processes of the MEININGER group, which currently includes 32 hotels. In addition, he will continue to be in charge of IT.
"Our service offering has always been known for its high customer satisfaction and outstanding value for the money. By optimising our business processes and systems, we're safeguarding these qualities for the future," explains Ajit Menon, CEO of MEININGER Hotels. "Rick Medford benefits from many years of corporate and consulting experience in software-based change management projects, and will take the lead in advancing this area at MEININGER Hotels."
Extensive change management experience
Prior to joining MEININGER Hotels, Rick Medford helped develop change management processes at Marks & Spencer, Vertex Data Science, Sainsbury's, and Domino's Pizza. Rick has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Newcastle University.
Digitalisation projects at MEININGER Hotels
In June, the group announced the introduction of cashless payments in its hotels. Today, most MEININGER hotels only accept cashless payments. In addition to fully digital check-in and self-service terminals, MEININGER Hotels is currently working on a booking tool for tour operators to improve the scalability of the tour operator business while making it simpler and more efficient.