Costas Panayiotou

Costas Panayiotou’s career began at 15 when he left school to join his father’s company as an apprentice at The Ability Group’s building and maintenance department which looked after their 6,000-unit portfolio. 

Costas was based in Hackney working and learning the business from the bottom up. Costas eagerness and hard work saw him swiftly moved into The Groups’ Residential Lettings Department in 2007.

WORKING HISTORY

Having gained a solid understanding of the Lettings sector, in 2009 Costas was entrusted with the re-development of East Weald in the prestigious Bishops Avenue, which involved the restoration of a Grade II listed house and over 40,000 square feet of residential development and private gardens. The successful renovation of this property attracted national attention and was featured in various media outlets before going to market for £100M. 

In 2010, Costas was promoted to the Asset Management department of The Ability Group’s Hotel division, at their headquarters in Portland Place, W1. Costas aptitude at project managing and hard work soon led him to Head of Asset Management. Here he created a team of 3 departments: finance, sales and building maintenance. With this solid team in place, Costas was able to earn a tight grip on the control of the Groups’ 8 leased and managed hotels and govern the General Managers’.

ABILITY GROUP

By 2015, Costas was responsible for the performance and management of the groups’ portfolio of 8 Hilton hotels, as well as a ready portfolio of 50 apartments, 3 shopping centers in Germany and private members club. His primary responsibilities were ensuring that the hotels achieve their groups’ objectives and continue to perform to an exceptional standard, whilst balancing costs, especially pertinent with competitors at key locations. Costas created a system whereby each hotels General Manager reports directly to him, thereby ensuring Costas was able to maintain The Ability Group standards and KPI’s.   

As a keen entrepreneur, Costas’ had been able to identify areas for improvement and gaps in the market for example he championed and oversaw exciting and profitable modifications to the business, including hospitality partnerships and securing exclusive contracts for The Ability Groups’ Hilton Hotel portfolio. This led to The Groups’ Hotel portfolio becoming more efficient and profitable.

7P

With an eye for identifying profitable business opportunities and a passion for entrepreneurship, Costas took the decision to diversify and expand his business career into Cyprus and into the fuels sector. 

His company, 7P Petroleum, is based in Larnaca, Cyprus. 7P owns and operates petrol stations and provides transport services for its fuels and natural gas to both retail and wholesale sectors.

It is a new dynamic company which is rapidly growing, by purchasing underperforming sites and transforming them. Year 1 has already seen sales of over 10M liters of fuel and rapid expansion as 7P is imminently purchasing more fuel stations. 

At the age of 30, Costas already has a vast business career behind him which has laid the foundations for the future.