Full name: Hans Rudolf Enderle
Position: Chairperson of City Lodge Hotels group, since 1993
Main activity of the company: Hotel group
Date and place of birth: September 17, 1942, Switzerland
Education: Hotel School, Lausanne, Switzerland; Diploma; Harvard University PMD
First job: Receptionist at the Langham Hotel in Johannesburg, 1959
Size of first pay packet: R100 a month
First job with present group: Founder and chairperson of the City Lodge group of ‘limited services’ hotels
Value of assets under your control: R500-million
Number of people under your leadership: 800
Management style: Open door, relaxed, participative
Personal best achievement: To have a close-knit family
Professional best achievement: 1993 Sunday Times Businessman of the Year; 1996 Marketing Man of the Year – Institute of Marketing Management (IMM Marketer of the Year award)
Person who has had the biggest influence on your life: My parents
Person who has had the biggest influence on your career: Charles Fiddian Green
Person who you would most like to meet: Nelson Mandela
Businessperson who has impressed you most: Sol Kerzner
Philosophy of life: Keep on dreaming. Believe in yourself and persevere. Look forward and not backward. Be honest and fair. Enjoy and have fun in your work or quit. Life and work must be fun. In work, pick the right people and delegate generously. The most important feeling, both in life and at work, is ‘the feeling of belonging’
Biggest ever opportunity: My main mentor in business, the late Charles Fiddian Green, picking me out of a crowd of people when Rennies bought Holiday Inns in South Africa. He sent me to Harvard Business School in Boston, well before he appointed me chairperson and MD of Holiday Inns South Africa. Harvard was the most extraordinary learning experience with respect to both business and life issues. “Uncle Charlie” was an excellent motivator and delegator and it was fun working for and with him
Biggest ever disappointment: Not to be a better golfer
Hope for the future: As a committed South African, I have faith in the future of this country, with the hope that our leaders will make decisions that ‘put South Africa first’
Favourite music: Most pop music
Favourite sport: Golf and skiing
Favourite website: www.citylodge.co.za
Hobbies: Being together with family
Car: Mercedes-Benz
Pets: A dog
Miscellaneous dislikes: Dishonesty
Favourite other South African company: Famous Brands
Favourite foreign company: Don’t have one
Married: Barbara Jean Enderle
Children: Stephen and Julie
Clubs: Erinvale Golf Club, River Club, Johannesburg Country Club
Position: Chairperson of City Lodge Hotels group, since 1993
Main activity of the company: Hotel group
Date and place of birth: September 17, 1942, Switzerland
Education: Hotel School, Lausanne, Switzerland; Diploma; Harvard University PMD
First job: Receptionist at the Langham Hotel in Johannesburg, 1959
Size of first pay packet: R100 a month
First job with present group: Founder and chairperson of the City Lodge group of ‘limited services’ hotels
Value of assets under your control: R500-million
Number of people under your leadership: 800
Management style: Open door, relaxed, participative
Personal best achievement: To have a close-knit family
Professional best achievement: 1993 Sunday Times Businessman of the Year; 1996 Marketing Man of the Year – Institute of Marketing Management (IMM Marketer of the Year award)
Person who has had the biggest influence on your life: My parents
Person who has had the biggest influence on your career: Charles Fiddian Green
Person who you would most like to meet: Nelson Mandela
Businessperson who has impressed you most: Sol Kerzner
Philosophy of life: Keep on dreaming. Believe in yourself and persevere. Look forward and not backward. Be honest and fair. Enjoy and have fun in your work or quit. Life and work must be fun. In work, pick the right people and delegate generously. The most important feeling, both in life and at work, is ‘the feeling of belonging’
Biggest ever opportunity: My main mentor in business, the late Charles Fiddian Green, picking me out of a crowd of people when Rennies bought Holiday Inns in South Africa. He sent me to Harvard Business School in Boston, well before he appointed me chairperson and MD of Holiday Inns South Africa. Harvard was the most extraordinary learning experience with respect to both business and life issues. “Uncle Charlie” was an excellent motivator and delegator and it was fun working for and with him
Biggest ever disappointment: Not to be a better golfer
Hope for the future: As a committed South African, I have faith in the future of this country, with the hope that our leaders will make decisions that ‘put South Africa first’
Favourite music: Most pop music
Favourite sport: Golf and skiing
Favourite website: www.citylodge.co.za
Hobbies: Being together with family
Car: Mercedes-Benz
Pets: A dog
Miscellaneous dislikes: Dishonesty
Favourite other South African company: Famous Brands
Favourite foreign company: Don’t have one
Married: Barbara Jean Enderle
Children: Stephen and Julie
Clubs: Erinvale Golf Club, River Club, Johannesburg Country Club