Video podcast: We look at how an intergenerational family business is thriving through the story of The Address Collective, the Irish hospitality group founded on a single hotel in 2004 and now targeting 10 hotels by 2031.
So what does it take to build a hospitality brand across three generations of the same family? The Address Collective is an intergenerational family business that is laser-focused on rapidly expanding its hotels portfolio in the next five years.
We spoke to Cian McGettigan, part of the family behind The Address Collective and Gerardo Larios Rizo, head of Hospitality Sector at Bank of Ireland, for a conversation around what it takes to build a hospitality legacy across three generations of the same family.
“The biggest advantage is that we are family. That probably sounds simple and obvious, but a family working together as a team can be a really powerful force”
Cian and his two brothers Cathal and Brian Timothy, represent what is the third generation of a hotelier family that traces back to their grandfather Jim who founded the McGettigan Hotel Group in the early 1980s and grew it from humble beginnings into a portfolio spanning Ireland, the UK and Dubai. A younger sibling Sarah will be joining the business this year.
Their father Brian, later did a deal with his own father Jim to acquire the North Star Hotel (now The Address Connolly) in 2004, the single property that became the foundation for The Address Collective. Brian and his late wife Ciara were the driving force for the business as it grew, laying the foundations for the current generation to establish their own careers prior to joining the family firm.
The family group headed by Brian now runs six hotels – two in Dublin, one in Cork, one in Sligo and two in Glasgow. The latest addition The Address Collective Capel Street is due to open at the end of this year. The Address Wren, a second Glasgow property recently opened its doors.
Winning at hospitality: A view to a thrill
According to Cian, it is an exciting time for him and his brothers as the third generation of a hotelier family.
“A big thing in family business is that there’s no pressure. We each worked in the hotels pretty much our whole lives, growing up around them and spending our summers there during college, but we each went to university, studied different fields and went into the corporate world across Dublin and London for a few years before making the decision ourselves to come back and be part of the business.
“We all work together, but we each take part in different ways and have ownership over different functions. Cathal, the eldest, has a background in hospitality and is director of operations, taking care of The Address Glasgow, Cork and Sligo. Brian Timothy is a chartered accountant with experience at KPMG, and he takes care of finance, procurement and ESG strategy. I was working in finance in London, and I’ve come back to work with Brian on the development and acquisition side, as well as owning the food and beverage strategy across the entire portfolio. The transition is in its early phases, but we’re all unified and aligned on where we want to get to.”
Getting succession right
The Address Cork
Although the popular TV show Succession paints a more dramatic and intriguing picture of how actual succession in family businesses happens, the binding truth is that it is nevertheless a delicate business that needs to be carefully managed.
Cian says that alignment is the key. “The biggest advantage is that we are family. That probably sounds simple and obvious, but a family working together as a team can be a really powerful force. We know each other extremely well, we’re passionate, driven and committed to achieving our five year growth plan, which is doubling The Address Collective portfolio over the next five years, from a current five hotel group to 10 by the end of 2031. We’ll be at seven by the end of 2026, so we’re very much on that path.
“Hospitality is demanding, but every sector has its challenges, and the key is that we face those challenges head on. When you’re living and breathing the business with your family, the small and big moments mean more, because you’re sharing them with the people you care most about.”
Gerardo, who has spent years working with hospitality businesses on behalf of Bank of Ireland, points to governance as the factor that most reliably separates family businesses that navigate succession well from those that stall.
“The main thing is when companies realise early on that the business will need to adapt and change over time, because the initial concept might not be what you actually end up with,” he says, pointing to a clear split between ownership, management and family roles as central to avoiding friction. He describes the next generation needing to “grow their capability, not inherit the authority,” arguing that this approach has a more lasting effect on the business and its staff.
A scaling journey tempered in adversity
The Covid-19 pandemic was a destructive time for many businesses in hospitality due to the various safety and travel restrictions. But for the McGettigan family’s business it was the tempest that forged a steely new ambition. In a sense the business was born anew.
“What really gave us conviction was a mix of the long-term belief that hospitality would bounce back,” Cian recalls. “There was a lot of uncertainty at the time, but for us it was a matter of when rather than if, and it was important to plough ahead with our plans, because launching The Address Collective wasn’t just a simple rebrand, it was a complete repositioning of what the group was and where we wanted it to go. Pre-pandemic, the portfolio consisted of three standalone hotels: the North Star Hotel, the Kingswood Hotel and the Ambassador Hotel in Cork.
“During the pandemic, as soon as it kicked off, we decided to use the time of reduced occupancy to finalise upgrading and converting each of those three properties to a higher standard, around four and a half stars, and to rename the properties and consolidate the group into a single new brand, The Address Collective.
“It was a bold move, but it wasn’t reckless. It was about how we could come out of the situation stronger than we went into it. The service standards and brand concepts were completely reshaped, and it was also a good time to keep our staff busy and to maintain and retain not only our key management team but also those on the ground in the properties day in, day out. With the launch of the new brand there was a lot of work to be done, from digital media to design and websites, and having that project going on while there wasn’t much else happening in the world was a great time for staff to keep busy and feed into what they believed The Address Collective should be.”
Having expanded in to five new properties, including Glasgow, Cian says the ambition is to keep moving and keep growing. And for that to happen a well-oiled machine is in place.
“We have an extremely strong group level management team covering revenue, brand, finance, operations, procurement, development and marketing, so when it comes to operating in new markets we’ve been able to do that quite efficiently.
“Before we even get to opening or operating in a new market, a lot of due diligence goes into evaluating those opportunities, and our new opportunity evaluation criteria is very strict and specific.”
Breathing life back into beautiful buildings
The Address Glasgow
With the opening of The Address Wren in Glasgow and the impending launch of The Address Collective Capel Street just north of the Liffey in one of Dublin’s oldest business districts, there is a blueprint the business follows.
“The type of assets we look for are buildings that have character in their architecture and design, a strong location, a room count that makes sense, and the potential to accommodate the Address Collective model. That means it has to be a beautiful hotel inside and out, in line with what The Address Collective already is, but with roots that tie back to the locality of the specific property.
“There has to be space and capacity to accommodate a really high quality food and beverage offering, our North Eatery concept across the group, as well as top of the range spa and wellness facilities, a state of the art gym and a club lounge. The biggest challenge is finding that niche subset of buildings within the markets where we want to operate that can accommodate the Address Collective model.”
Bank of Ireland’s Larios Rizo believes The Address Collective model is a masterclass in 21st century hospitality business strategy.
Looking ahead, he expects cost pressure, rather than demand, to be the dominant force reshaping hospitality over the next ten years, pushing operators toward automation and digital tools to protect margins. He also expects well established, disciplined operators to keep taking a growing share of the market. “Those who are doing that successfully, like the McGettigans with The Address Collective, will further grow further,” he says. “If you have a scalable model, you’re likely to continue to grow, because you have the know-how, the expertise and the people.”
For Cian, his brothers and his parents, the impending opening of their hotel on Capel Street is a strong signal for the future.
“It’s incredibly exciting. The Address Capel Street will be the latest flagship, and it will be a manifestation in physical form of everything we want The Address Collective to be, and the best example of where we want the group to go.
“We’re also doing additional concepts that are new to The Address Collective model, including a cocktail lounge in the basement, and all the original structures have been fully protected, because the site has so much historical heritage and character.
“Capel Street itself has become one of my favourite places in Dublin. It’s been pedestrianised since 2022, and there are some really cool concepts coming into the street, while the history is still very much apparent, with strong ties to the 1916 Rising and some of the earliest buildings in Dublin dating back to the early 1700s.
“The fruit and veg market is reopening, and the street was ranked 22nd in Time Out’s coolest streets list, so it’s all happening on Capel Street and we’re excited to be part of that momentum.”
Image at top: Cian McGettigan from The Address Collective with Gerardo Larios Rizo, head of Hospitality Sector, Bank of Ireland
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