Principal Consultant

• Mr.Narendra Verma joined Oberoi Hotels as a Management Trainee in 1966, in the 1st Management Training Program started by Oberoi Hotels, with the assistance of a Technical Director from Cornell University, New York. The 2-year Post Graduate Management Program is recognized by the International Hotels Association, Paris.
• After having completed the Management Program, the Company sponsored Mr. Verma for a further 2-year specialized Course in Hotel Planning since he had studied Engineering in England after having completed his schooling in London.
• In New York, Mr.Verma was trained and under studied with a leading firm of Hotel Consultants, Messrs Robert L.Kahn Associates, who at the time were the Consultants for Inter*Continental Hotels and other chains.
• On return to India in early 72, he was entrusted with planning, design, specifying and installation of local and imported equipment of the Laundry and Food Service Facilities for the Oberoi Towers in Bombay – a 700 room Hotel with 9 F&B outlets. On completion of this assignment, he was appointed as a General Manager to establish the Facility Planning Department for the Company at their Corporate Office in Delhi.
• From 1973-79, he was involved with the overall expansion, renovations, refurbishing and development of various Oberoi Hotels in India and abroad, i.e. Mena House Oberoi in Cairo, Lanka Oberoi in Colombo, Dammam Oberoi in Saudi Arabia, Oberoi Bogmalo Beach in Goa, Bhubaneshwara, Grand Oberoi in Calcutta amongst others.
• In the year 1979, he was promoted as the Vice President in-charge of Planning & Development. For the next 3 years, he was responsible for Projects in Iraq, Singapore, Australia, Egypt and traveled extensively in Europe, America, Australia, South East Asia, to inspect Hotels and work on the planning of new projects with leading Architects, that the company was negotiating for their management. During this period he was exposed to the legal, financial and contractual aspects of entering into Management Contracts.
• In mid 1982, he was assigned Egypt as his region, in addition to his already mentioned responsibilities, where he oversaw the entire development of new projects, such as the Nile Cruisers, Restaurant Cruisers, Resort Hotels, Casinos, Ethnic Restaurants and other such ventures, he was also overall in charge for the operations and management of the properties in the region.
• During this period he became the Managing Director of a Joint Venture Company established between Oberoi Hotels and the Egyptian Government Public Sector undertaking, to develop and manage new projects in Egypt. During this period the company give him the sole Power of Authority for all matters relating to Egypt and he was responsible for all legal and financial aspect of company matters.
• In 1989, Mr.Verma was transferred back to the Corporate Office in Delhi to oversee the planning and development of the 4-star Novotel chain of hotels that had just begun to be established by the Company. During this period, he made several visits to France to meet with “Accor” in-order to understand their concepts and philosophy of operation & management and to learn as to how investments can be reduced for developing Budget Hotels and understand how they can in-turn be more profitable. During this period, hotels in Agra, New Delhi, Jaipur and Udaipur were designed.
• Mr Verma left the Oberoi Group at the end of ’92, after working with the company for over 28 years. On leaving, he established his Consulting Company, providing advice and assistance to various individuals and groups developing Hotels, Restaurants, Laundries, Flight Catering Units and other allied fields.
• During this period the company has successfully rendered consulting services, ranging from site selection, conducting Feasibility Studies, making Design Briefs, planning, monitoring, equipping hotels, for various companies who have later tied up with Radisson, Hyatt, Fortune, Taj Group, etc and to Park Group, Leela Group, Mathoot Group etc. etc.
• Mr. Verma has regularly been writing articles on various aspects of Hotel design and development, which have been published in the leading periodicals. He has also been regularly giving lectures and talks to various Hotel and Catering Associations when called upon to do so. He became a regular member of FOOD SERVICE CONSULTANTS SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL, U.S.A. in 1979.
• He was also been appointed as Honorary Consultant to India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) from July,1999 to advice the expert committee constituted by ITPO for upgrading food facilities at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
• He is also a part of the Panel of Industry Experts on the Express Hotelier & Caterer Advisory Board which has been constituted by Indian Express Group and a visiting faculty to Institute of International Management & Technology, Gurgaon, a Hotel School being jointly launched by Radisson Hotels Worldwide & Oxford Brookes University.