Hospitality

Finance leadership for operators with ambition.

From founder-led restaurant groups to private equity backed hotel platforms, we place the finance professionals who turn hospitality ambition into durable, investable businesses.

Why Carnegie

A sector where finance meets the floor.

Hospitality is one of the most operationally demanding sectors a finance professional can work in. Revenue arrives daily, margins are decided in pennies, and every site tells its own story. A finance leader who cannot read a site P&L as fluently as a balance sheet will not last.

We recruit for the businesses navigating growth, acquisition and the demands of private ownership across multi-site operations. Because so many hospitality operators are now investor-backed, our private equity heritage is a genuine advantage: we place people who satisfy both the operations director and the board.

Our hospitality practice is led by Director Andrew Hallam, a specialist in hospitality finance recruitment, so every mandate is handled by someone who knows the sector, not a generalist passing through it.

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Across the journey

The right finance talent at every stage of growth.

Our support is shaped by where a business sits in its journey, from the first finance hire to the preparations for investment or exit.

01

Foundation

The first proper finance hire, bringing discipline to margins, cash and supplier terms in a business where pennies per cover decide profitability.

02

Growth & Roll-out

Site-by-site expansion demands finance leaders who can model new openings, control capex and keep reporting honest while the estate multiplies.

03

Investment & Acquisition

When private capital arrives, so do investor reporting, covenant compliance and board scrutiny. We place the professionals who have lived that transition.

04

Maturity & Exit

Established multi-site operators need finance functions that can withstand diligence, support refinancing and present the business at its best.

Roles we place

From first controller to group CFO.

Who we partner with

Across the hospitality landscape.

Backed by private capital? Private equity is our deepest specialism.

Need interim cover during growth or transition? Our contract practice moves quickly without compromising on quality.

“In hospitality, the finance function is not back office. It is the difference between a concept and a company.”

Years in finance recruitment
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Growth stages we recruit across
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Mandates from repeat clients
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Dedicated hospitality practice lead
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Common questions

How we work with hospitality operators.

Why does hospitality finance need a specialist recruiter?
Hospitality finance is unusually operational. Margins are thin, cash cycles are daily, and performance is decided site by site. Professionals who thrive in it combine technical accounting with genuine commercial instinct, and identifying that combination requires a recruiter who knows the sector. Our hospitality practice is led by Director Andrew Hallam.
Yes, frequently. Many of our hospitality clients are private equity backed, and the finance leaders they need must be as comfortable with investor reporting and covenant compliance as they are with site P&Ls. Our private equity heritage means we understand both sides of that requirement.
Yes. Roll-out is where hospitality finance is tested hardest: new openings, capex control and reporting that must keep pace with the estate. We place finance leaders who have delivered through expansion, not merely observed it.
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Building your finance team?

Whether you are making a first finance hire or strengthening leadership ahead of investment, we would welcome the conversation.