What We Do
CAW Ventures is a full hospitality development and management company. A fluid and creative team deliver positive impacts to a variety of projects to increase performance within both new and existing businesses. We collaborate with you to create the unique and memorable not the generic and forgettable.
We have amassed experience in the UK, US, European and Southern African quality driven markets, so we bring international credibility, but local community awareness into any project. CAW Ventures has a strong focus on Hotels, Restaurants, Bars and Private Clubs, while also having insight into Serviced Apartments, Aparthotels, Student Accommodation and Senior Residential Communities.
Our capabilities cover design, construction, conceptualisation, culture development, branding and market awareness, team structuring, training and development, resourcing systems and financial modelling, procurement, pre-opening and on-going management. We deliver hospitality feasibility and comparison studies and ongoing bespoke market intelligence and feedback.
We bring a new luxury to your project, one that is smart and tempered with a healthy dose of wit and functionality in essence what everyone wants.
Project Management
CAW Ventures' highly experienced and creative team provides you with complete conceptualisation for pre-opening expertise along with on-going operational management agreements. Our capabilities also extend to refurbishment and improvement plan requirements. Quite simply let us look over the brief, and you can leave it to us to advise you on how to ensure your project is delivered seamlessly, on time and on budget.
Previous assignments include the opening of the new Annabel’s - a modern incarnation of the iconic Mayfair Club and working with international property investment company GMG (now RE Capital), conceptualising their first boutique hotel in the fast paced, regenerated Camden area. Current projects include developing and managing the exciting and unique Chateau Denmark part of the Outernet Global London immersive entertainment district. Opening late summer, Chateau Denmark will capture and reflect Denmark Street’s cultural heritage and unrivalled attitude as the home of British music. Chateau Denmark’s 55 session rooms and apartments are set over 16 buildings and feature four distinct narratives, each one inspired by strands from the buildings’ history and the community’s musical background.
Bespoke Service Delivery
In short, our training programmes are designed to give your team the tools to inspire them to look again and think again and wow your guests. We achieve this through bespoke coaching and providing knowledge and training designed to meet your exact needs. For each project, we develop a customized strategy plan defining the culture and positioning the business effectively amongst its competitive market landscape. Our training specialists are vibrant, entertaining and inspiring - passionate about performance with style!
360’ Evaluation & Feedback
Our “keep it real” approach to evaluating your business from a third-party perspective provides an honest review. Knowing what is happening both inside your business and in your competitors’ and along with what your guests really experience is so valuable in helping you succeed. Our undercover team can help you improve your guest experience. This can also assist you with streamlining costs, ultimately improving your organisations growth, profits and increase guest loyalty.
We have recently completed a rebranding exercise for a hotel group.
Operational Guidance
Are you a successful business looking to do better? Does your team need reinvigorating? We produce independent business and service reviews, identifying what can be done to improve performance and offering strategic advice. We get into all aspects of the management and their performance, from the GM and hospitality team, all the way through to head office organisation.
Operational Partnerships
Don’t want the stress of the day-to-day running of your dream establishment? We can make things simpler. Our innovative team with their seasoned operational experience can run and manage your property in the manner that you envisage it. We can provide this through either Management Agreements, Joint Ventures or alternatively...
Feasibility
We produce bespoke independent business reviews, identifying optimum performance and offering strategic advice. Typically this would be a 3 to 5 year pre-opening and operational budget, with total revenue analysis and dynamic options. We can deliver critical paths to assist realistic time planning to bring your project to completion successfully and focus on the unique selling points of your businesses performance at all levels of your financial report structure.
About Us
Led by Carrie Wicks, a highly respected and a leading operator in luxury design led hospitality brands. CAW Ventures can conceptualise, advise, oversee and run hospitality businesses with our experienced associates to maximise your business. Our hands-on management experts work with your people on-site and can further develop other areas of your business such as Revenue, Sales & Marketing, Procurement and HR. Our bespoke team combines all their expertise and experiences to ensure you get the right results whatever you are looking to achieve.
Carrie Wicks
CAWVEN is led by the highly respected Carrie Wicks, an experienced and dynamic operator in luxury design led hospitality brands. She is passionate about detail and delivering service to exceptional standards. With a career spread over the UK, the US and Southern Africa, Carrie has been involved in a number of projects on both sides of the Atlantic. Her foresight in creating nurturing, non-bureaucratic, but motivated teams capable of responding to the rapidly changing demands of both markets and customers enabled her, as Operations Director and board member, to open many award winning London and New York hotels during her 19 years with Firmdale. Prior to this she owned and operated a number of restaurants, hotels and conference centres in Johannesburg and the Western Cape’s wine lands. This allowed her to develop an individual style and gravitas that has continued throughout her career. In recent years, this has culminated in Carrie being voted one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Hospitality as well as the CATEY Manager of the Year 2009 and Inspirational Mentor of 2015. Carrie continues to be a passionate supporter of learning and development in the hospitality sector.
Sue Justice
After studying civil engineering in Cape Town, Sue moved into technical sales & marketing. Later on she took up a main board role for a listed gold and later, a granite mining house in South Africa. In this role Sue travelled widely, gaining extensive global customer service experience before relocating to the UK in the early 90’s. She then moved into hospitality as a founding partner and Operations Director for a London-based group of wide ranging restaurants. After a successful trade sale, Sue transitioned into executive search, successfully developing the commercial hospitality sectors for two established recruitment firms and then founded her own company in the sector. Sue is now an established resource professional with an extensive global network and she brings an experienced entrepreneurial spirit to CAW Ventures.
Contact Us
“Hospitality is about making your guests feel like they’re at home, even if you wish they were” – Justine Vogt
Simply put we collaborate with you, not dictate to you. Whatever you expectations, we produce results.
Please reach out to us to establish a good time to start a conversation.
Please reach out to us to establish a good time to start a conversation.
