One of the hospitality industry’s leading business women is stepping down from her role at The Apartment Group (TAG) after more than three years.
Northumberland-born Debrah Dhugga returned to her roots to become chief operating officer at the Newcastle leisure operator in 2019, having spent 10 years as managing director of luxury operator Dukes Hotel, overseeing hotels in London and Dubai. The Apartment Group owns and operates a strong portfolio incorporating hotels, wedding venues, bars and restaurants in Northumberland, Newcastle, Durham, and Sunderland and during her time at the group, Ms Dhugga has harnessed her expertise in the hotel industry to double the size of the group’s hotel portfolio.
During her tenure she has also transformed its city centre leisure venues, replacing its Madame Koos, Floritas and House of Smith bars with a string of new sites called the Collingwood Collection. Despite arriving at the company just before the pandemic, Ms Dhugga put plans action to invest millions of pounds into two new sites – Whitworth Hall Hotel & Deer Park and Jersey Farm Country Hotel to turn them into luxury boutique hotels, alongside the company’s existing popular Northumberland hotels Newton Hall and Le Petit Chateau.
