Langlands Hotel manager resigns; search starts for replacement

“Bryan [Townley] will be the first to acknowledge there is a lot still to be done, but he’s made a good start for whoever takes it on.”

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Bryan Townley has resigned from his role as manager of The Langlands Hotel.

The Invercargill Licensing Trust has started its search for a new boss for its 4.5 star hotel, The Langlands.

Current manager Bryan Townley resigned last week after being named the first-ever manager of The Langlands Hotel in 2018. At that time, he was the Ascot Park Hotel manager.

Townley started fulltime in The Langlands Hotel role in October 2021 helping to get it set up for its opening in last year.

ILT chief executive Chris Ramsay said Townley had “set a good platform” for whoever was to take on the job.

“Bryan will be the first to acknowledge there is a lot still to be done, but he’s made a good start for whoever takes it on.”

He expects the position will attract plenty of interest both internally and outside of Southland, given the profile of the new hotel.

“We are aiming to start advertising the position formally from today”, Ramsay said.

On top of Townley’s resignation, executive chef Jinu Abraham is also finishing up at The Langlands Hotel.

Ramsay said that was not a complete surprise given his family had remained in Auckland.

He had flagged that he might return after helping set up The Langland Hotel operations, Ramsay said.

“He has done a fantastic job. But again, sort of like Bryan, he has set the place up so it’s a wonderful platform for the person who takes over.”

The good news is Ramsay expects to be able to make an announcement soon on a replacement executive chef which oversees all of its food operations at The Langlands.

Attracting chefs has been the ILT’s biggest challenge when trying to turn The Langlands Hotel into a profitable operation, as well as cover its other hospitality businesses.

“A snapshot from last week, we are 5% short of our workforce which represents around 35 people and 14 of those are chefs. They are critical roles, you can’t open without chefs, it is as simple as that.”

It has meant for restricted hours at ILT restaurants, including Meld at The Langlands, which is currently open just three days a week.

“We know it will go well when it’s open seven days a week, but plain and simple we just don’t have enough chefs to pull it off.”

So, what does that mean for The Langlands Hotel in terms of its current financial situation?

“It’s fair to say that restaurants don’t make money operating three days a week. It’s also fair to say a small bar like Niche, and a small bar like 360 do not necessarily make money on the restricted days and hours we’ve got those operating under,” Ramsay said.

“But quite simply we are doing what we can to have them open, knowing that it’s the hotel that’s going to be the main driver of revenue until we can get those other businesses open seven days a week."

“And being really blunt; as a standalone option small bars will be lucky to make money. But put a small bar in a hotel where your main profit centre is accommodation then you can make it work.”