Steve Cesinger has over 35 years of experience in private equity, corporate finance, investment banking, distressed/workouts, treasury and operations, including a principal focus over the last 17 years in commercial real estate and hospitality. Since forming Valor with long-time friend and colleague Euan McGlashan, Steve has advised on client portfolio acquisitions and financings for more than twenty hotels representing over $1 billion in transaction value.

Previously, Steve oversaw treasury, asset management and private equity operations for the Dewberry Group, an Atlanta based firm whose $500 million+ investment portfolio includes hospitality, office, retail, and multi-family properties. Steve’s extensive investment banking experience encompasses a variety of industries, with notable transactions involving leading consumer facing companies such as Little Tykes, MGA Entertainment, Bumble Bee Seafoods and Whole Foods Markets. Steve has arranged mergers, acquisitions and public and private debt and equity financings, both as principal and agent, representing over $4 billion in aggregate value, including over $1 billion of debt restructuring and distressed transactions.

Specialising in human resources for the last 30 years, Moira is an award-winning hospitality graduate from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland. With over 32 years of hospitality experience, Moira is a key member of the UK and Valor Global executive team, and is responsible for global HR activity, bringing operating standards, HR management systems and parity across all hotels. As a driver of change and innovation, Moira continues to reimagine the human resources strategy as it evolves and aligns to support the business objectives. Our culture as Hotelitarians and employee engagement are at the heart of all that we do. This is our differentiator where Valor Hospitality Partners continues to be recognised as one of the best hospitality companies to work for globally. This resulted in Valor Hospitality Europe receiving a prestigious accolade within the industry, winning Best Employer at the Catey Awards.

Moira has played a major role in the restructure and repositioning of the organisation during previous company takeovers, and to Valor Hospitality Europe where she helped to realign and support the business merger initially from a PLC structure and between private equity ownership.

Moira’s accolades include national training award winner, Best Employer in Hospitality, and Catey winner. She has previously judged Catey awards and other industry people awards. She is an active member of the Hotel Employers Group.

Brian joined the Valor team in August 2017 as Special Projects Manager. He possesses more than 15 years of hospitality experience in various roles and has a Bachelor's of Science degree in Business Management.

Beginning in August 2002, he joined Euan McGlashan at Barnsley Gardens Resort as a Guest Services Representative. Soon after joining Barnsley, Brian was promoted to a role assisting Euan with special projects and initiatives at the property. He also has experience with event planning, catering, and private country club management.

Brian’s role as Special Projects Manager at Valor focuses on the successful execution of tasks necessary to prepare new hotel properties for opening under Valor management. Brian utilizes exemplary communication and software skills to track project tasks and keep the team as a whole connected.

Brandon has over 15 years of corporate finance, treasury and operations experience, including a principal focus over the last nine years in commercial real estate and hospitality.

Prior to joining Valor Hospitality, Brandon was Senior Vice President, Finance with Dewberry Capital Corporation, where he oversaw all asset management functions and was directly involved in the proposed conversion of a historic office building in downtown Charleston, SC into a 155 room independent luxury hotel.

Previously, Brandon served as Senior Financial Analyst with Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, where he was responsible for the preparation of equity fund returns and fund composites for the U.S. equity business, which had approximately $17 billion in assets under management.

Brian has over 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Educated in Ireland, he is a graduate of the Galway Hotel School. Brian spent many of his formative years with Millennium and Copthorne Hotels, including time as General Manager of the Copthorne Hotel Cardiff. He then took a change in direction and spent several years in the health and fitness industry, which included the role of Operations Director for Esporta Health Clubs. From there he went to De Vere and was COO of De Vere Hotels and Village Urban Resorts.

Brian has experience in both public and private equity funded companies and most of his career has been spent in multi-site roles with lots of experience in new openings and repositioning projects. Brian is the first Managing Director of Valor Hospitality Europe and shares the same desire as its founding partners and his European team, to create and maintain a leading management company, recognized for the quality, energy and engagement of its employees.

Following an award-winning career in luxury, resorts, independent and branded hotels, Euan formed Valor Hospitality Partners in 2012 with longtime friend and business partner Steve Cesinger. Since then, Euan and his dynamic team have executed on many distressed property turnarounds, new builds and re-brandings, resulting in a highly-regarded reputation for the quality of the Valor execution both commercially and culturally.

In 2013, Euan and Steve purchased a U.K. operating platform, which today operates 36 hotels and resorts throughout Great Britain. Utilizing their unique brand of culture and results delivery, highlights of the U.K. work includes taking an IHG portfolio of underperforming U.K. hotels to the number one operated franchise portfolio in Europe and throughout the entire estate; project managing multi-million pound renovations, upgrades, rebranding; and the concepting and development of ‘High Street Retail’ themed restaurants within select Hilton Hotels. In 2013, Euan formed PMR Hospitality Partners in Cape Town, South Africa with lifelong friends, Tony Romer-Lee and Michael Pownall, creating a bespoke, unique, full-service management company targeted at filling a huge need gap in the Sub-Saharan African hospitality market. In 2018, PMR became Valor Africa & Middle East turning Valor into what is now referred to as Valor Global with new office openings in Bangkok, Thailand and Dubai.

Euan’s vision for a truly bespoke global management company sharing resources, skills, and strategic thinking, as well as internally-created operating systems, procedures and guidelines which Reimagine Hospitality has come to life with Valor Global now managing, asset managing advising, or consulting on over 80 projects around the world.

McLean T. Wilson is a principal of Kemmons Wilson Companies, and in that role he provides oversight to the company’s hotel and real estate development interests.

He is President of Valor Hospitality Partners, our hotel management company based out of Atlanta, as well as the Chief Investment Officer of Kemmons Wilson Hospitality Partners, a hotel fund. And for the better part of the past decade, McLean co-led the redevelopment efforts of the 1.5 million square foot and $250 million Sears Crosstown Redevelopment Project in Memphis, now known as the award-winning Crosstown Concourse.

McLean’s professional board involvement includes Valor Hospitality Partners, Kemmons Wilson Hospitality Partners, as well as Billy Reid. He is also a former board member of the InterContinental Hotel Groups Owner’s Association, and was previously a chairman of the Revenue Performance Committee and Holiday Inn Committee (IAHI).

Alex joined the Valor team in late 2020 as the Global Director of Digital & Brand Strategy, looking after the global Valor brand and Americas region hotels. A native Atlantan and graduate of the University of Georgia, Terry College of Business, she continues to evolve her studies in our industry, gaining certifications from the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University.

Alex has been in the hospitality industry for 7+ years, most recently with IHG supporting their loyalty program and luxury brands marketing efforts. She brings with her experience from all facets of hospitality marketing, from introducing new loyalty partnerships and managing ancillary hotel products, to thoughtfully adding new and acquired brands to the digital portfolio from a global perspective.

Her passion for serving others has translated well in hospitality, always striving to deliver the best services in every aspect of a guest’s hotel journey: from the dream state of travel planning all the way through to check-out.

Kemmons ‘Kem’ Wilson, III joined KWC in 2005 as a Principal. He is currently the President of Kemmons Wilson Hospitality Partner Funds.

After college Kem grew his investment experience as a research analyst for a hedge fund of funds and as a financial analyst for an investment consulting firm.  He then spent two years working with the disabled community at a 501(c)(3) where he gained some invaluable life skills.

For his first couple years at KWC, Kem’s primary focus was on the company’s private investment endeavors.  He then transitioned to help build out KWC’s wealth preservation  functionality by focusing on the individual marketable securities portfolios for the family and a selection of Wilson-related corporate & charitable entities. With over 20 years of investment experience, Kem’s expertise in private equity initiatives and hospitality investment opportunities is instrumental throughout the KWC portfolio.

In addition to his seat at KWC, Kem serves on the Boards of Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Valor Hospitality Partners, Kemmons Wilson Hospitality Partners, Peak + Energy Solutions and Wilson Investment Management. He is actively involved in philanthropy as Chairman of the Board for Repairing the Breach and serves on the Board of Trustees for Furman University where he is the current Chairman of the Investment Committee.

Kem holds a BA in Business Administration from Furman, a Master of Management in Hospitality from Cornell and an MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell.

Matt Gray joined Valor Hospitaliy in January 2013 and was Valor's first First Food and Beverage hire. He brings a wealth of world-class resort and restaurant experience to his leadership role as the guiding force behind Valor Hospitality’s food operations. Matt oversees menu and recipe creation, pricing, procurement, kitchen design and flow, staff recruitment and training and total cost controls across all disciplines.

Matt was the Executive Chef at the world-famous Inverlochy Castle Hotel, Fort William, Scotland. Under Matt’s direction, the hotel was awarded a Michelin Star rating for nine consecutive years. Travel and Leisure rated Inverlochy as ‘Best Hotel in Europe 2006’ and was voted ‘Restaurant of the Year’ by Decanter Magazine in 2003.

Matt was later recruited in 2009 to the U.S. by world-renowned French Chef, Albert Roux, to head up Chef Roux’s first American restaurant, Chez Roux at La Torretta Lake Resort and Spa in Houston, Texas. Under Matt’s leadership and direction, Chez Roux was voted ‘Best New Restaurant’ in Houston 2009. In his spare time Matt is avid Formula One fan and has become a great lover of his Big Green Egg which he plays with at any opportunity he has come all weathers.

Mark became Operations Director at Valor in 2015, after spending over 20 years in various operational and leadership roles in the hospitality industry. Mark has been instrumental in the growth of Valor in the UK and has overseen extensive refurbishment, rebrand and extension projects, as well as the integration of many new hotels into the UK portfolio. He is obsessive about service and quality standards and, as a result, Valor is recognised by our brand partners as one of the leading hotel management companies in the UK. Mark strongly believes in developing and mentoring his team and several of our current General Managers have risen through the ranks to achieve their positions under his leadership.

Craig joined Valor as Director of Operations in 2018 after spending more than two decades in various facets of the hospitality industry. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from Webber International University where he attended on a basketball scholarship, Craig began his career in the hospitality industry with Hyatt Hotels and worked his way through the Rooms Division with leading roles in housekeeping, front office, reservations, revenue management, and security. Craig’s Hyatt tenure spanned more than 13 years and five hotels across the U.S. and the Caribbean.

From there, Craig left the brand-managed world of Hyatt and was one of the first corporate leaders of Kokua Hospitality, a third-party management company based in Chicago. Craig was initially in charge of Transitions and Special Projects, where he oversaw new acquisitions and renovations. During the downturn of 2008, Craig moved back into the property level as General Manager of two of Kokua’s assets in downtown Chicago. Then as Kokua began to grow again, he was asked to move back to above-property oversight, where he finished his tenure with Kokua as Vice President of Business Development.

In early 2015, Craig joined Charlestowne Hotels in Charleston, SC as Regional Director of Operations. In this role, he was responsible for all areas of hotel operations, from pre-opening development through post-opening operations. Craig assisted in the initial launch of Graduate Hotels, overseeing the operations in five of the first six properties in this new and growing brand. During his tenure with Charlestowne Hotels, Craig led operations at luxury inns and independent and branded properties in locations across the U.S.

At Valor, Craig oversees all facets of Valor’s operation in the Americas. He strongly believes in the development of his team and focuses his time on grooming and mentoring leaders throughout the company, as well as Valor’s strategy for growth and operational excellence.

Paul Nisbett is a high-performing senior hotel executive with over 20 years in the industry and a proven track record in the management and construction of financial services. Paul recently held the role of CFO of the Hotel Collection from April 2012 till February 2015, and was appointed as acting CEO to manage the group’s transition from Barceló to Puma Hotels Collection.

Whilst in this role, Paul was instrumental in establishing a focused entrepreneurial management team and repositioned the Hotel Collection as a leading four-star provincial hotel company.

Prior to joining the Hotel Collection, Paul spent four years at Principal Hayley Hotels, initially as Chief Operating Officer and then as Special Projects Director. This was preceded by five years as Commercial and Finance Director at Malmaison and Hotel Du Vin Hotels where he developed a six hotel, £150m business into a 28 hotel, £500m business in five years.

Paul’s earlier career included positions with Le Méridien Hotels, Forte and Hilton.

Louise has 20 years of experience in the travel and hospitality industry for a number of leading brands. Having graduated from the University of Birmingham with a BSc (Hons) in Mathematical Sciences, Louise’s early career was centered on profit analysis before she moved into roles with more of a focus on revenue generation. Louise has held senior management positions with Travelodge and Thomas Cook, and her career to date has given her an in-depth knowledge of all areas of revenue management, coupled with strong analytical skills. Her knowledge of different industries allows her to share alternative approaches to maximising revenue.

As Revenue Director, Louise is responsible for driving a total revenue culture by developing the group’s revenue team, optimising distribution and setting the strategy for pricing and inventory allocation.

Vanessa is an experienced sales and marketing leader, having spent over 25 years within the hospitality industry. Vanessa joined the business from Interstate Hotels & Resorts, where she held the position of Vice President of Sales and Marketing UK and headed up the sales and marketing function for over 60 hotels. The portfolio encompassed franchised hotels with Hilton, IHG and Accor, as well as several independent hotels and a wide range of restaurants, leisure clubs and spas.

Prior to Interstate, Vanessa was Director of Sales UK for Chardon Management which, at the time, operated over 30 hotels across 10 brands. Other career highlights include four years as Director of Sales Development for 36 IHG hotels and six years with Millennium & Copthorne Hotels.

In a brief departure from the hospitality industry, Vanessa was very successful as a Regional Director for one of the UK’s largest training providers, where she grew her region from seven to twenty centres in two years. It didn’t take long though, before her love of the hotel industry brought her back.

Vanessa is passionate about leading her exceptional team of highly engaged and motivated sales and marketing professionals, and, as a result, driving increased revenue to Valor hotels.