Nicola Underhill is General Manager of the Hilton Birmingham Metropole – the UK’s largest Conference & Events Hotel outside of London.
In her time at the hotel, she has been behind the award-winning refurbishment and relaunch of the hotel. As part of this process, Nicola supported a number of initiatives that looked to bring in more diversity and equity in its work force, recruiting over 500 people in the aftermath of the pandemic (and subsequent reopening), and including new faces from different, often disenfranchised, parts of society.
These efforts formed the basis of the hotel’s award-winning initiative ‘A Place for Everyone’ which has seen the hotel share its experiences, encouraging others in the industry to adopt similar practices.
Nicola was included in the Women to Watch in Hospitality, Travel & Leisure Index 2019, which aims to highlight talent in the industry while also inspiring women to pursue a career in the sector and reach senior roles. She has also been selected to become part of the UK&I Director of Operations Development Programme and in 2022 received the Guiding Star Award by the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO) for her work in diversity, accessibility, and equity in the work force. She was also a finalist in General Manager of the Year for this year’s Catey’s.
Previous to her role at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, Nicola had roles with Hilton St George’s Park, Hilton Garden Inn Birmingham and Macdonald Hotels and Resorts’ Craxton Wood property.