Business

Former Jurys Doyle Hotels CEO becomes chairman at leading homeware comparison site

Pat McCann has been appointed chairman at Ufurnish.com

RENOWNED Irish entrepreneur Pat McCann has been appointed the new chairman for the online homeware comparison site ufurnish.com.

Mr McCann, who was a CEO at the Jurys Doyle Hotel Group and is the founder of the Dalata Hotel Group, has been involved with the online firm, as an investor, since its outset.

This month, as the search and comparison website for home furniture and furnishings reported it had closed £2.3m in funding, it also revealed it has appointed the high-profile Irish businessman as its chairman.

Pat McCann set up the Dalata Hotel Group in 2007

Launched in 2019 by Deirdre Mc Gettrick and Ray Wright, ufurnish.com brings more than 125 retailers onto one website to simplify furniture search.

The couple approached Mr McCann in 2018 for advice when ufurnish.com was all but a concept and the wisdom they received from him on how to build a successful business has stuck with them, they admit.

Mr McCann is one of Ireland's most renowned international entrepreneurs.

In 1969 he joined the Ryan Hotel Group plc.

He was appointed CEO of Jury's Hotel Group plc in 2000, prior to setting up Dalata Hotel Group in 2007 which he grew to 44 hotels across Ireland and the UK.

He joins ufurnish.com as chairman at a time when the company is rapidly disrupting the £25.5bn home furniture market in the UK.

Regarding the appointment, Ms Gettrick explained: “Pat McCann is a visionary business leader and his appointment as chairman is a massive triumph for our business at a time of huge growth.”

Ufurnish.com co-founders Ray Wright and Deirdre Mc Gettrick

She added: “His experience and passion for building businesses and brands will be critical to us as we scale.

“We are delighted to have a person of Pat's calibre on the journey with us”.

2021 has started with a bang for the online firm, with month on month growth exceeding 90 per cent.

Next on the agenda is securing the companies next investment raise, according to McGettrick, who confirms: “Our next key milestone will be closing our Series A investment raise which we are actively speaking to investors at this current time to help us accelerate our growth plans.

“We are targeting a raise up to £10m and first conversations are progressing really strongly with a third of the round subscribed”.

See More: Jurys Doyle Hotels, Pat McCann, Ufurnish.com