An Eventful Life: "Luxury, nature, tranquillity - we've got it all"
Phoebe Vela-Hitchcox, MD of luxury Cotswolds estate The Lakes by Yoo, spills the beans on her events career - and the connecting thread that runs through it
“I love bringing people together,” says Phoebe Vela-Hitchcox, MD of The Lakes by Yoo. “All through my career, connecting people has been at the heart of everything I’ve done.”
Forging connections is central to Vela Hitchcox’s vision for The Lakes by Yoo, the 850-acre estate of private properties and holiday homes she runs in the Cotswolds. Drawing on her events background, she’s also developed an onsite corporate events business with a 70-room hotel and three events buildings, hosting everything from corporate team building to senior leader retreats.
“When you’re an event planner, you’re all about service - it's ingrained in you,” she says. “That's an aspect of my career that really helps in hospitality.”
And Vela-Hitchcox has had quite the events career. She started off planning conferences and events for the Financial Times in the 90s, followed by a role at events business Informa based in Russia. In 2003, she ventured into public relations at Press Holdings Media Group, owners of The Daily Telegraph, where she ascended to head of corporate affairs and events, before joining the renowned Bell Pottinger PR agency as group director of marketing and communications.
Phoebe Vela-Hitchcox, MD, The Lakes by Yoo
Phoebe Vela-Hitchcox, MD, The Lakes by Yoo
“My first job was as an events associate over 30 years ago, writing and developing compelling programmes in the events division of the Financial Times,” she says. “I was identifying speakers and relevant trends and topics in the various industry sectors. I used to go into and work with the five-star London hotels and bring my intellectual corporate audience. That's really helped in terms of what we need to provide as an offering at The Lakes by Yoo, and what bespoke experiences should be.”
Inspiring
In 1996 she was working for Informa, developing conferences and exhibitions in Russia following the fall of the Soviet Union.
“One of the challenges was the language,” she says, “and it was also a struggle because it was still very close to Soviet times – it was really a rural and quite primitive environment.
“Russia is very different now. When I was there, as a company, we were instrumental in absolutely changing the face of how things happened because we brought in the Western brands. It was an inspiring time for me.”
The idea for The Lakes by Yoo was born at the turn of the millennium, when Vela-Hitchcox’s property tycoon husband John Hitchcox, owner of Olympia, arrived at the Gloucestershire site and had a vision of building a community of like-minded people.
“It was a brownfield site with gravel pits, but he had a vision of creating an environment where people could relax, have that injection of nature, and where families could relax and play and engage and connect,” says Vela-Hitchcox. “It was all about like-minded people in a very safe environment and a safe community - and also individuals that wanted to explore their creativity within themselves. So you can create your own home, which is a big selling point.
Planning permission took 10 years, and the build started around 15 years ago.
“It’s having that second home where you can get to on a weekend,” adds Vela-Hitchcox. “You've got that injection of country, and we've also got the concierge and hotel facilities. It really works for suburbanites because it's country-lite. You get here and you don’t have to worry about anything, because it's all taken care of for you.”
Vela-Hitchcox is a firm believer in the galvanising effect of nature for senior execs, citing early morning yoga sessions with leaders from brands such as Lotus or BMW.
“Nature helps them relax, but also focuses their mission, helping them fix problems or build products,” she says. “A lot of our corporate clients really want to bring their customers or their teams into a very luxurious natural setting. We've got 11 lakes and lots of fields, so there's lots can be done here from a corporate perspective.
“Bringing clients into this environment, they find it worthwhile, as it's very informal, but it still has that element of design and class which they appreciate.”
“Since Covid there’s been an increase in people wanting to bring teams away into a natural, informal setting, so we came up with an offering that suits that with our hotel rooms. They can spend the day doing meetings, talking about strategy, and also have some team building activity and fantastic catering.
“Covid made people feel that they wanted to be in environments that weren't just high-rise hotels, they wanted to be able to connect and engage in a natural outdoor setting.”
The Lakes by Yoo’s client list is packed with incredibly successful professionals, creative entrepreneurs, and lots of businesses. The president of Bloomberg has got a house here, among other from across the financial industry.
Staying overnight with my family in one of the lakeside cabins was a true pleasure. The beautiful, richly decorated interior a stunning synergy of wood, velvet and leather, with deeply comfortable furniture and relaxing, homely colour palettes. The convenient hidden kitchenette made it a real home-from-home, while the USP, the deck looking out onto the lake, was a step beyond anywhere else I’ve ever stayed. Curled up on the plush outdoor sofa, cold drink in hand, looking out over the glistening water disturbed only by the occasional kayak, wild swimmer, or duck coming into land, was almost heaven. Clever planting of grasses and trees maintains a sense of privacy, while the whole estate envelops you in a safe feeling from start to finish.
In the week of our visit, the estate's bar and restaurant played host to the launch of Cotswold resident Jeremy Clarkson’s new Hawkstone lager brand, and the motormouth Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host is not alone in choosing The Lakes by Yoo for product launches.
“We have car brands who want to launch their electric vehicles here because of our sustainability image,” says Vela-Hitchcox. “Our houses are made out of sustainable wood, they're cooled with the lake water, our credentials are very high. A lot of corporate companies love to align with us because it aligns very much with their EST activity.
“We’ve got 11 lakes and lots of open spaces, we're able to accommodate most team building and multiple sports; everything from kayaking and fishing to wild swimming, which is really very popular," she adds. "We also have a spa that we launched in 2023, we can do wellness activities, facials, massages, anything for those who want those mindfulness moments.
“We’re consistently trying to develop our offering, in terms of our events spaces. The key thing is being able to come into an environment which has it all - luxury, nature, tranquillity, and activities.”