Roddy Watt teams up with Joyce Frankish to target senior hospitality roles in Scotland and North of England
Buell Hospitality has announced the launch of Buell Recruitment, a new specialist recruitment division focused on senior leadership and management appointments across the hospitality industry. The venture was announced in Edinburgh in November 2026. It marks a return to the recruitment sector for Buell Hospitality CEO Roddy Watt, who founded and built Berkeley Scott before floating the company on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in 2004.
Joining Watt to spearhead the new division is Joyce Frankish, appointed Director of Recruitment. Frankish most recently led management recruitment in Scotland for Berkeley Scott, and previously headed management recruitment at Xpress Recruitment, working alongside founder Paul Wilson before that business was acquired by Berkeley Scott.
Buell Recruitment will initially focus on Scotland and the North of England, offering both Executive Search and Database Selection recruitment. The division will specialise in senior executive and management appointments across hotel operations, food and beverage, sales and marketing, revenue management, finance, human resources and other key business functions.
The new division will draw on Buell Hospitality’s established relationships with independent hotel owners and operators, its Buell Connect community and a national network of some 60 specialist Business Partner companies, the company said. It will also undertake project recruitment assignments for hospitality businesses requiring multiple appointments, offering what the company described as a flexible, commercially competitive approach to recruitment fees and guarantees.
Roddy Watt, CEO of Buell Hospitality, said: “Recruitment is very much in my blood. I spent 25 years building Berkeley Scott, and I know first-hand from this experience, and more recently from launching Highland Coast Hotels, just how important finding the right people is to the success of any hospitality business.”
He added: “The industry continues to face significant challenges in attracting and retaining talent, particularly at senior management level. We believe there is a real opportunity to bring a fresh, highly personalised and commercially sensible approach to this market.”
Watt also said: “What makes this particularly exciting is the combination of Joyce’s outstanding recruitment experience, my own background in the sector, and the considerable reach of the Buell Hospitality network. Through our relationships with hotel owners, operators and our extensive community of specialist Business Partners, we are exceptionally well placed to identify talent and opportunities.”
He continued: “Our ambition is clear: to establish Buell Recruitment as Scotland’s leading specialist hospitality management recruitment business, before taking that success across the rest of the UK.”
You Might Also Like:
Nearly £6m funding boost targets growth across Scotland’s food and drink sector
Farmstrong Scotland strengthens board with two senior appointments
Hospitality leader to run six ultramarathons across Scotland for Drinks Trust’s 140th anniversary
Speyside’s Glen Moray renews Senior Open golf sponsorship
Joyce Frankish, Director of Recruitment, said: “I’m delighted to be joining Roddy and the Buell team to launch this exciting new venture. Having spent my career working with hospitality businesses and candidates across Scotland, I understand the importance of building long-term relationships and finding individuals who are not just capable of doing the job, but are genuinely the right fit for the business.”
She added: “Buell’s established industry connections, combined with our specialist knowledge and a genuinely flexible approach, give us a fantastic platform from which to build something different. I’m very much looking forward to driving this new enterprise.”
The launch represents a further expansion of Buell Hospitality’s portfolio of specialist services, which includes Buell Connect, its support community for independent hospitality businesses, and Buell Advisory, providing operational, commercial and management support to hotel owners and operators. Buell Recruitment will work alongside established Buell Business Partners including Ellis Mack, Caterer.com, Recruit Genie, AAB People and TAYL Training.
