Paddy Crerar CBE, Crerar Hotels

Paddy Crerar has been involved in the Scottish hospitality industry for more than 30 years. Principally a hotelier Paddy’s first major role was as MD of British Trust Hotels which after 7 years of growth he led to successful sale in 2005. The Crerar Hotel Group with Paddy as CEO was also formed in 2005 - this included Crerar Hotels and a specialist management and consultancy company Crerar Management which focused on recovering asset underperformance. The Crerar Hotel Group also owns and operates www.easybreaks.com, marketing hotel bedrooms for over 400 hotel clients. In March 2020 Paddy stood down as CEO of the company and took on the role of Chairman.

A Trustee of HIT Scotland since 2002 and Chair from April 2013 to May 2018, Paddy became a Patron in 2020. Paddy is a strong supporter of the hospitality industry with past and present roles including being a Director of Visit Scotland, Thistle Award steering group and judge and Chair of The Crerar Trust, a charity set up to distribute funds to good causes connected to the communities Crerar hotels operate within.

In addition to the hospitality industry Paddy holds a number of non-executive positions including Highlands and Islands Enterprise which is a board he is particularly honoured to serve as his family and roots are from Oban and the West Highlands. He, his wife Sheila and their three children live in East Lothian where they farm pedigree cattle, lambs and cereals.