It’s a long way from Killyclogher, Co Tyrone to the top of the biggest hotel chain in Northern Ireland.
But it’s a path that’s been trodden by James McGinn, recently appointed as the managing director of Hastings Hotels, which includes the Europa, the Grand Central and the Culloden Estate.
The 57-year-old has welcomed many famous faces and dignitaries during his 28 year run at the hotel group, which included two decades as general manager of the Europa.
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The son of a successful construction business owner in Omagh and the surrounding areas, James has gone on to achieve success in his own right, but still has a lot of time for his Killyclogher roots.
While the majority of the West Tyrone accent has been eroded over the years, there is still enough of it left for those across the county to claim him.
“I’m Killyclogher born and bred, I would have left there when I was 18 and went to university at Queen’s,” James told Belfast Live.
“When you go back to those days in 1984, Killyclogher was still Killyclogher and Omagh was a very long way away.
“We all worked for my father who was a builder back in his day and built most of Omagh and a lot of Killyclogher as well.
“In my youth my uncle Peter managed the Knocknamoe Hotel so throughout my schooling I worked for him a lot, since I was about 14 or 15.
“I would have been cleaning tables and washing ashtrays, so that’s where it got under my fingernails.
“I liked the money and I loved to work, I come from a family with a great work ethic. I loved the work because it wasn’t on a building site and I didn’t have to deal with machinery like all my brothers.
“I was able to be nice and clean and wear a dicky bow and a shirt, and that’s where I learnt to hone my people skills.
“Even though I’m up here now I’d still be very tight with my family and rarely would a few weeks go by where I wouldn’t make the trip down home.
“We’re a tight knit family and that’s one thing our father left us with, a great sense of family.”
James moved to London where he trained to be an accountant, which he detested and couldn’t wait to get back to the hospitality industry.
He ended up taking a job at an American themed restaurant in the city before returning to work for his father.
Having later joined Hastings Hotels in his late 20s, he spent 20 years as the general manager of the Europa Hotel.
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Fast forward to 2022, and James said it was an ‘amazing honour’ to have been asked by the Hastings family to take up the top job across the group.
“I didn’t have to think a lot about it, it was an amazing honour for them to give me and an amazing opportunity for them to give me as well.
“It will be a lovely way to finish out my career at the age that I am, I’ve worked with Hastings for 28 years.”
While James found fame himself in a recent BBC series which provided a look inside some of NI’s most luxurious hotels, he says it has been a privilege to welcome famous faces over the years.
“The biggest budget I ever had was for the MTV Awards in 2011, the Europa was the home of the aftershow party and it took over the entire property," he said.
“We had Jessie J, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber was there. Everybody in the music industry was there.
“I’ve met Prince Charles as he was when he opened the Grand Central, I’ve met with President Clinton and Bono in the Europa as well.
“And those are just the famous names, meeting your regulars every week is something I really love.”
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