Bradford Means Business meets Wayne Topley, Managing Director – Cedar Court Hotels Yorkshire.
Please describe your role and the company you work for.
My role at Cedar Court Hotels Yorkshire is to add value and provide clarity while supporting and nurturing the talented team members who work with us. I ensure that every department aligns with our vision for excellent customer service, fostering a hospitality-focused and truly engaged team. If my leadership is effective, the results are clear: guests experience ‘Proper Yorkshire Hospitality’, our team feels empowered, and our product continuously improves. We aim for nothing less than the ongoing growth and success of Cedar Court. As one of Yorkshire’s longest-standing hotel groups, Cedar Court has been a key player in the region’s hospitality sector for over 30 years. Since the new owner took over in 2018, the company has undergone a significant transition, elevating our offerings and ensuring we remain at the forefront of hospitality in the region.
What excites you about your job?
Every day is different, and you can add value in many ways… growing and developing a positive culture within any business is always the best part.
What is the proudest moment of your career?
It’s not the awards, the growth, or the business milestones… it’s more simple than that. During the COVID-19 pandemic, within just 14 days of the national lockdown in 2020, we successfully repurposed all four of our hotels, each one tailored to meet different hospitality and accommodation needs in response to the crisis. What made me most proud was witnessing my exceptional team step up without hesitation, embracing the challenge and embodying the spirit of ‘Proper Yorkshire Hospitality’ by answering the call for help.
What advice would you give to someone wishing to join your industry?
It is a great place to build a career. As an industry, we quickly recognise, develop, and motivate raw talent and people with great personalities. It offers real rewards and often fast-tracked development. Like a career, if you put in the effort, you will be rewarded.
What makes a good boss?
For me, it’s clear: someone who can set the pace and signal great behaviours while at the same time taking the time to listen to every opinion they can consume.
What do you do to unwind after a long day in the office?
I love films of any genre (with the exception of horror!) Big Screen or small Screen, I don’t care. With friends, family, or on my tod, it’s my happy place.
What is it you love about Bradford?
Is this even a question? Architecture, history, art, food, the accent—I have seen a massive change in Bradford over the last twenty years that I have been in Yorkshire, and next year, with Bradford 2025, we are in for a real treat!
What was the first job you had and how much did you get paid?
My dad got me a job on a farm when I was 14, and it paid 25p an hour! Forget about it.
Name four people dead or alive you would like to go to dinner with?
Wow, great question… My Father, who passed away 25 years ago, Stephen King, the author, and John Hughes, the director. And to stir things up, why not Donald Trump? I find him entertaining, and I know my dad would as well.
What is your favourite book?
The Stand – Stephen King, 100% Classic.
The one place on earth you have always wanted to visit and why?
I have been so fortunate with the travel I have completed in my career. Although I would love to travel to Japan, I have yet to do so, and it looks so different from the rest of the world.
What would your superpower be?
Flying – can you imagine how much time you would save?
What is your happy song?
Lionel Richie – all night long, I know all the words (even the bit in the middle).
If you could retire tomorrow what would be the first thing you would do?
Spend three months touring the UK, visiting places I have not seen, and reconnecting with the 100s people I have worked and connected with over a 30-year career (to date).
What is the craziest thing you have ever done for charity?
I threw my wife out of a plane.. well ok, our team was completing a skydive for Maggie’s in Leeds and raised a stunning £15K. My wife has always wanted to do a parachute jump, so I volunteered my place to my wife, and we both got our wish.
