One of Surrey’s most popular golfing destinations, Foxhills Club & Resort in Chertsey has promoted Tej Walia FIH MI, the General Manager of five years, to Managing Director.
Tej will oversee business operations and day-to-day running of Foxhills, as well as lead sister club, Farleigh, Warlingham in Surrey.
With a hospitality career that spans more than 25 years across India and the UK, Tej is a respected member of the Institute of Hospitality and is a St Julian’s Scholar and Master Innholder.
His career started with stints at Oberoi hotels, Kempinski, Grand Hyatt and The Leela Palaces & Resorts, before he spent eight years at Hilton developing his management acumen. Tej then held leadership roles at Fawsley Hall Hotel, Dartington Hall, MGM Muthu Hotels, Macdonald’s Crutherland and Houstoun hotels in Scotland before joining Foxhills in 2018.
He has led significant growth at Foxhills including the build and launch of our new £7m family building, The Pavilion - part of a £25m investment project which also involved renovation and improvement work in the restaurants, bedrooms and golf courses. Now with record membership and revenue, Foxhills continues to go from strength to strength under his guidance.
The move comes as the venue starts celebrations marking 40 years of ownership by the Hayton family. Current MD, owner Marc Hayton, will become CEO, focusing on preserving Foxhills’ culture and unique character.
He said, “Since Tej joined Foxhills, he has made a real difference to the business, to our members and to more than 300 colleagues. He deserves this opportunity. It is 40 years since my family acquired Foxhills and I will now concentrate on ensuring ongoing resources are in place to meet guest expectations into the next 40 years.”
Tej said, “Foxhills is a very special place and it is my privilege to lead the superb team we have here. We recently held a long service celebratory dinner where a quarter of our 300 staff were eligible for an award having been with us for more than five years. That’s because this is a great place to work! Our guests and members feel that which is evident in all the fantastic feedback we get.”
Foxhills is home to a 66-bed hotel together with an Olympic array of facilities including an award-winning gym and HealthSpa and The Pavilion, a recently built family space measuring 1,700 square metres, which includes an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, games room, fitness studios, soft play area, creche and restaurant.
In addition to 11 tennis courts, the resort has a total of five swimming pools and three restaurants, offering more than 200 activities and fitness classes each week.
It offers two 18-hole championship layouts and the Manor Course, a par-three nine-hole course, as well as a short game Practice Den and driving range.