Now it’s your turn

In the words of Jim Morrison, “This is the end, my only friend, the end.”

This has been a history book. I first published some of these stories more than twenty years ago.

I look back in awe at my younger self – not quite sure how he did it. And I occasionally wince, but for the most part, I stand by what I professed in those years. The lessons I learnt have been the making of the man I am now.

The reader will no doubt take what they need and leave the rest as they forge their own path and learn their own lessons. My mind has been open enough to learn some from others, but mostly it has been through my own sometimes painful mistakes and experiences.

YOTEL emerged from the tiny 30-room airport sleepover at the outset, up to 700 bedrooms in New York which our first CEO, Gerard Greene, eventually handed over to Hubert Viriot. Now they’re on track for 50 hotels around the world including one in Tokyo … talk about selling ice to the Eskimos!

Richard Hodgson took over YO! Sushi from Robin Rowland who had built the business through two previous venture capitalists. He has expanded the brand into products and supermarket kiosks before selling it, with him in the driving seat again, to a venture capital company based – amazingly – in Japan.

My regard for all these people is boundless. In that respect I am fortunate. Relationships can run the rocky road as businesses change hands, but through noble behaviour they have survived and thrive.