Our Development Team

Joe Margison is the Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Hotels, with over 25 years of experience in investment and finance.

He most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Group. Since he joined the Group in 2015 Joe was part of, and co-led since 2023, the investment and commercial team. He worked closely with multiple Virgin businesses as both an investor and operating partner. He also oversaw the Virgin Group real estate portfolio, leading investment, development and asset management. Joe has represented the Virgin Group on numerous company and property boards across the travel and leisure and health and wellness sectors.

Prior to joining the Virgin Group, Joe was with the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, where he focused on investments in private equity, credit, and real estate. He began his career at Ernst & Young and is a Chartered Accountant.

As Chief Development Officer, Greg is responsible for setting and implementing Virgin Hotels’ global growth strategy, identifying opportunities in key markets, and structuring transactions that work for Virgin Hotels and its Owner/Developer partners. Greg spearheads Virgin Hotels entrance into the branded residential business. He works in tandem with the Chief Executive Officer, Executive Committee, and the Development team.

Before joining Virgin Hotels, Greg served as Senior Vice President, Development at Accor, where he led development for North and Central America as well as the development of luxury and upscale brands in South America. Greg’s tenure at Accor also included leading the global residential business. Prior to Accor, Greg led development for the Americas and the Global Residential business at Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI). Greg earned his Master of Business Administration from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Alex oversees Virgin Hotels expansion in Europe and will work closely with capital partners and strategic investors to acquire new and existing properties in cities across Europe. Hoping to acquire two or three properties per year, the brand is keeping options open, targeting cities from London, Paris and Rome to less-predictable locations like Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin. 

Alex’s most recently served as Vice President of Development for YOTEL, focusing on Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Prior to this, he was Director of Montpelier Hotels Ltd., a hospitality investment and corporate finance advisory firm and Director of Development for Bridgehouse Capital, a private equity company with total assets in excess of $1 billion. More recently, he spent five years with Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. where he managed more than $500 million of acquisition, financing and dispositions of non-core assets. He successfully executed third party hotel management agreements for OEH in London and North American (Cadogan Hotel, Durley House and The Inn at Perry Cabin).

As VP of Development, Tim brings more than 25 years of experience in hospitality and real estate and leads new management and investment opportunities for Virgin Hotels. Most recently, Tim worked as vice president of investments for NewcrestImage, overseeing the acquisition and disposition of over $1B in hospitality real estate. Prior to NewcrestImage, Tim served as the vice president of real estate and franchise development for Choice Hotels International, specifically focused on the launch and growth of Cambria Hotels.  Tim also spent time as the vice president of real estate for Gatehouse Capital, and the Director of Development for Accor North America.  

Prior to getting into development and investments, Tim spent time consulting in the hospitality space with KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and PKF Consulting.

As Vice President of Development Services, Leslie is responsible for garnering partner relationships with developers, engineers, architects, designers, and more.

Prior to Virgin Hotels, Leslie served asa Development Services Consultant at Montage International. From 2017 – 2020, she worked for Canyon Ranch Wellness Resorts, within the Design and Development team starting as the Global Director to then later become Vice President of the division. Shammas provided design and construction leadership for all the architectural and interior renovations at the existing properties, while simultaneously lending her support on new development and acquisitions for proposed properties.

Liza Stone joined Virgin Hotels as General Counsel in April 2022. As the chief legal officer of the company, Liza oversees Virgin Hotel’s domestic and international legal affairs, including corporate governance, regulatory compliance, labor and employment, intellectual property, and litigation matters.

Liza brings to Virgin Hotels over 25 years of legal experience in domestic and cross-border hospitality transactions. Prior to joining Virgin Hotels, Liza was a senior member of the Global Hospitality Group at Sidley Austin LLP, an internationally recognized law firm. At Sidley, Liza represented institutional owners, investors, and lenders as well as major hotel brands in connection with acquisitions and dispositions, financings, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions for hospitality assets.

Prior to Sidley, Liza worked at internationally recognized law firms, and served as Associate General Counsel of the Real Estate Healthcare Lending Group of a publicly traded commercial finance company.

Liza is also fluent in Japanese and Spanish.