Menu
Abigail Tan

Jazz Shaper: Abigail Tan

St Giles Hotels Group

Abigail Tan is CEO of St Giles Hotels Group across the UK, Philippines and North America, bringing a dynamic approach to hospitality.

Posted on 29 May 2026

Live on Saturday at 9am with Elliot Moss, and available to listen back here on Monday.

Raised in Penang, Malaysia, she grew up immersed in the hotel and real estate world and joined the family business formally in 2009 as Director of Corporate Affairs and Strategic Investments, later becoming CEO in 2018. 

Abigail is passionate about building a hospitality brand rooted in energy, kindness and excellent guest experience. Alongside leading the business, she founded Hotels with a Heart, St Giles’ charitable initiative supporting local communities, with a particular focus on underprivileged children, education and hospitality-sector wellbeing. 

With degrees in business management and international management and innovation from the University of Exeter, Abigail combines strong commercial leadership with a clear sense of purpose. Outside work, she is known for her adventurous spirit, from flying helicopters and riding motorcycles to boxing, playing guitar and spending time with her young son and dog, Elmo.

Highlights

Hospitality isn’t just about and leadership isn’t just about someone leading someone, someone giving orders from the top. It’s about understanding what drives people.

Personality you cannot teach, values you cannot teach. Everything else in hotels you can teach.

It’s who can you trust to be the steward or the guardian of the business moving forward.

Listen to my intuition, listen to my boundaries, and set my boundaries

Maybe why hospitality suits me is that I want everyone to be happy

How can we help you?
Help

How can we help you?

Subscribe: I'd like to keep in touch

If your enquiry is urgent please call +44 20 3321 7000

I'm a client

I'm looking for advice

Something else