Our Staff
David Irwin - General Manager
David was born and brought up in Bridgwater, Somerset. He started work at 15 at Simpsons in the Strand ( the most famous English restaurant in the UK ), customers included Bobby Charlton, Joan Collins, Clint Eastwood, Charlton Heston and numerous others. David actually served them all as a trainee waiter.
He then worked at White Hart Hotel in Sonning on Thames ( Uri Geller was the hotels next door neighbour ) as a waiter and promoted to a trainee manager at the Kings Arms Hotel in Berwick upon Tweed ( a sister hotel ), and
spent 10 years there progressing from trainee, assistant, deputy and finally general manager.
David started work for Lloyds hotels in march 04 at the Castle Hotel in Ruthin and came to the Bryn Howel in march 2005 when we took over.
He is passionate about Liverpool FC and tries to watch as often as possible and likes to travel and play golf.
Although he has no formal college qualifications, he has learnt his trade by doing
all aspects of hotel work in his younger years.
Jimmy Davison- Head Chef
Jimmy has been Head Chef at The Bryn Howel for 18 months. He learnt his trade at St Davids Hotel in Ewleo and worked there for 15 years.
Jimmy makes most of the food he serves fresh on the premises - you won't see any frozen cheesecakes on his menus !
He believes in British, home grown food, great meat with fresh vegetables, strawberry's picked locally and bread made in his kitchen.
His favourite part of working here is the great atmosphere and of course the fabulous kitchen that he gets to work in.
Patrick Jefwa Giryama - Restaurant Manager
Patrick has built up the reputation of being the Bryn Howel's Mr Personality, thanks to his bubbly personality and excellent customer care.
Born in a small village called Marafa in the district of Malindi in Kenya, Patrick always had a strong desire to work within the food/restaurant business. He took the first steps towards this by joining the highly prestigious Utalii College in Nairobi, which has the reputation as the best Hotel Management training establishment in all Africa, on leaving school.
On gaining his N.V.Q. 3 in Hotel Management, he went straight into airline catering in Nairobi before joining the Tamarine Hotel in Mombasa, which is world famous for the quality of its seafood.
Patrick took up the opportunity to work in the U.K. by joining the company in 2003. He quickly moved up to his current position at the Bryn Howel and has developed a very loyal following of customers, whom he would prefer to regard as friends.
Patrick's English is excellent, being taught it from primary school, and his Welsh is improving!
Oh, and if you have ever wondered what the Bryn Howel is in Swahili then its Mlima Wa Howel
Sandra Chambers - Assistant Manager
There is nothing about the Bryn Howel Hotel that Sandra doesn't know about, having originally joined the staff of the hotel back in 1987.
Originally from the picturesque village of Peplow in Shropshire, Sandra is now very much a local girl living in the nearby village of Froncysyllte.
Sandra started out as a receptionist before moving up the chain to her present position of Assistant Manager. She has always taken great pride in the hotel and is keen to ensure that the right standards are set for one of Wales top hotels.
An N.V.Q. Level 4 in Business Management certainly ensures that the Bryn Howel is in good hands and all guests are ensured the very best, be it a wedding, conference or simply a stay away from home.