Leaders Talk: Timothy Griffin - Principal of Wellbrook Hospitality & Co-Founder at LEVEN

Prior to founding Wellbrook with his two partners, Timothy was Managing Director for North America for Ennismore’s the Hoxton brand. Griffin launched the Hoxton in the US market, establishing a central office and North American team in New York City and led the highly successful opening of Hoxton hotels in New York, Portland, Chicago and LA.

What inspired you to co-found LEVEN Hotels, and what key values or goals drive the brand’s vision in the hospitality landscape? 

TG: Now, more than ever, we have a heightened appreciation of what a sense of freedom and flexibility bring to the quality of our lives. We wanted to create a brand that supported this - a place that plays a role in helping guests live their best life. A place that fosters community by creating space for meeting, creating, working, eating, drinking, resting, learning, growing, living.

• Freedom is a key principle for the brand. We felt traditional hotels had lost the core essence of hospitality by focusing on what served the business, rather than what makes people happy and at ease. We wanted to create a hotel where guests felt they had the freedom to be themselves – without restrictions.
• Flexibility is a key driver for us. Our team members love to be a ‘yes’. We wanted to foster an environment where nothing is too much to bring a smile to a guest’s face.
• Alos, Social is core element of the LEVEN brand – bringing like-minded people together to share new experiences whether it’s over great food and drink or at our series of activation and events.
• Thoughtful is at the heart of everything we do. How we treat our people, our guests, our community and our planet are all front of mind.

Today's hospitality has a strong focus on community engagement. Can you share some ways your brand actively contributes to the local communities in which it operates? 

TG: The first LEVEN hotel is located in Manchester’s Village district - a community with a heart. From the beginning we wanted LEVEN to contribute meaningfully to that community and become a part of the rich fabric of the Village. Shortly after opening, LEVEN ran a successful collaboration with 15 local Manchester artists to provide a free pop up space for them to showcase their work at the hotel, which successfully brough together not only the local creatives but the wider community.

Our team loves to play a role in engaging with our community whether it’s running the Manchester Marathon to raise money for a local charity, mentoring students at Manchester Metropolitan University, or hosting Queer As Day, a group founded in 2024 by a member of the team to create safe spaces for LGBTQIA women to network and socialise.

We wanted LEVEN to be a great place to work, stay and hang out. So, fun is important for the brand. Not manufactured fun, but an honest light-hearted approach to life that translates into an environment that guests want to return to again and again and where our team members jump out of bed in the morning wanting to go to work.

LEVEN also takes pride in working with local suppliers to supply things from pastries to gin and champions local initiatives such a running clubs and art classes.

Photo credit: LEVEN hotels

How does LEVEN Hotels approach innovation in hospitality, and what unique experiences or services does it offer that set it apart from traditional hotels? 

TG: LEVEN was the first independent hospitality brand to launch a hotel in the Metaverse.

We believe that as the Metaverse evolves from a sci-fi concept into a reality, every industry disrupted by the digital era will feel its impact. We believe the potential for creative hospitality brands is limitless and saw an opportunity to connect our real life space with the online and create a digital amenity space for our customers. The

LEVENverse is a place open to all, enabling global networking of likeminded people in an immersive, fun virtual hotel environment ,expanding upon LEVEN’s physical social spaces to reach a broader audience. The LEVENverse provides an extended platform for makers, creators and innovators to showcase their work, as the physical LEVEN hotel does, through commissioned NFTs and creative digital experiences for users to enjoy.

LEVEN has a popular line of merchandise commissioned for the Manchester hotel including caps, T-shits, hoodies and more. A new merch line is dropping in Q2 which with new lines including beanies, bucket hats and dog accessories.

Every guest receives a part of LEVEN branded socks in their room to keep them cozy. The socks have become a collector’s item, with guests looking out for the newest 6 monthly design to drop. Guests also receive a free breakfast smoothie in the mornings and can check in and check out whenever they want as long as we have the room available.

From an interior design perspective, we drew on the meaning of LEVEN - to live - to craft spaces that were not only stylish and sophisticated, but felt warm, relaxed, homely and honoured the fabric of the landmark early 20th century warehouse building. We preserved as much of the original fabric of the building as possible. We built on the rich canvas of the building by keeping exposed detail such as the red brick, steel pillars and timber. By selecting calming colours, and paying attention to the tactility of materials, using natural woods and stone, the interiors complement the industrial fabric of the building. We embraced the juxtaposition of raw materiality with calming layers - for example the corridors are wrapped in floor to ceiling wooden panels painted in a charming Farrow & Ball Card Room Green with soft textured carpeting set against an industrial mesh ceiling. All of these design decisions were made to create spaces that people want to linger in.

We selected around 300 individual pieces of art for the hotel, many by local artists. The use of art to create a visual narrative was twofold. Firstly, the art selections represent the essence of our brand – crafting spaces that welcome a community of unique individuals. The art is eclectic, inspiring and at times unexpected. Secondly, the mindful use of art adds a layer of atmosphere that is distinctly residential - helping guests feel at ease.

Emotional connection to brands becomes increasingly important to travelers. How does LEVEN cultivate a sense of belonging for both guests and locals, and why is this important to the brand? 

TG: At the core of LEVEN is to foster an environment that puts our guests and team members at ease, whether it’s the hotel interiors designed to be restful and homely with a touch of whimsey or making staying with us hassle-free from arrival to departure. If we can make people feel good, then we begin to build an emotional connection. LEVEN brings heart and life to its neighbourhood. The town hall of its community, LEVEN is center of a community of entrepreneurs, makers and creators. Culturally aligning with the values of a new generation of consumers seeking out like minded brands that align with their values. However, this connection can only be maintained and fostered if the experience is consistent and has integrity.

Looking ahead, what role do you envision LEVEN playing in shaping the future of hospitality, particularly in areas like sustainability, technology, and social responsibility? 

TG: LEVEN is playing a role in returning hospitality to what should be its core principle of making people feel good, whether they work in our hotel, are staying overnight or dropping in for a drink or dinner

Manchester LEVEN was developed with principals of sustainability in mind, as an adaptive reuse of a derelict industrial building rather than a new build property. Energy efficiency initiatives, carbon reduction plans and actively reducing waste and use of plastics are all embedded in the day-to-day operations, including partnering with a not-for-profit created to help travellers offset their carbon by planting trees. We endeavour to help shape a brighter future one small decision at a time.

As we scale the brand to other locations to bring what is special about LEVEN Manchester to a wider audience in other great cities, we hope our core principles for how we run our business will role model what the future of hospitality can look like.