Ms Paola Bergamaschi Broyd has joined the board of Millennium and Copthorne Hotels plc (M&C) as an independent Non-Executive Director.

She has over 25 years of experience in the financial services sector with large global banking groups such as Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. Her most recent role was Head of Asset Owners, Senior Managing Director, EMEA for State Street Corporation in London, where she was responsible for the sales of multi-product solutions to institutional clients across Europe.

Since her retirement in 2014, she has taken on several independent Non-Executive Director positions with non-public companies, including The Bank of New York Mellon, Wells Fargo Securities and Italian asset management firm, Arca Fondi.

With Ms Bergamaschi Broyd, the M&C Board is now comprised of five independent Non-Executive Directors and three Non-Executive Directors who are nominees of M&C's controlling shareholder, City Developments Limited.

M&C Chairman Mr Kwek Leng Beng said, “When we published our year-end results for 2018 we said we were in the process of selecting a new independent Non-Executive Director following the departure of two independent Directors during the latter part of 2018, and I am delighted that Paola has agreed to take on this role. Not only will she bring additional financial expertise, her international experience and ability to think commercially and strategically will add significant value to the Board. We look forward to working with her,”

Ms Cheng Hwee Fern joined Millennium Hotels and Resorts (MHR) as Director of Marketing for South East Asia on 25 March. She has worked for the Wyndham Hotel Group and Radisson Hotel Group in regional marketing and branding roles, leading execution and localization marketing efforts through traditional and digital marketing. She was also key in leading the global re-branding of the “Radisson” brand in APAC and the market entry of the “Radisson Blu” brand in APAC.

In her current role, Fern will lead the regional Marketing team with an oversight of all property-based marketing teams in the region. She reports to Andrew Tan, Vice President Sales, Asia and functionally to Franck Kermarrec, Senior Vice President, Global Brand & Loyalty Marketing.

Mr Jean-Philippe Daniel Jacopin took the helm at Orchard Hotel on 7 March. He has worked with international hotel chains such as The Pavilions Group, Shangri-La Group and Hilton Group. Preferring to be known as JP, he was recently General Manager at The Pavilions Phuket and oversaw the Sales & Marketing Asia team in Bangkok office and the daily operations of The Pavilions Phuket. He was also part of the development team of the upcoming The Pavilions Niseko Resort and Residences in Japan.

Mr Farid Alain Schoucair became General Manager (GM) of Grand Copthorne Waterfront on 11 March. The half-Swiss half-Lebanese hotelier has lived and worked in many countries including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Dubai, Jeju (South Korea), Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands), and Manila. He was most recently previously General Manager at New World Makati Hotel in the Philippines and played an important role in the hotel’s rebrand from Renassiance Hotel, including conceptualizing, developing, implementing strategic plans and driving market initiatives. He was also previously Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur.