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The Times
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Ten years into his partnership with Dunnes Stores, the veteran hotelier reveals why he has no regrets about selling his Kenmare hotel
“Let me take your coat, I’ll hang it on the rack.” Francis Brennan may have sold the Park hotel, the Kenmare property he owned with his brother, John, but his instinct to treat everyone like a guest remains.
“You’re my first interviewee who has taken my coat,” I tell him, to his horror.
“What were they, monsters?”
While the effervescent entrepreneur is most associated with his beloved Kenmare, today we’re meeting at Dunnes Stores’ head office in Dublin. This year marks the tenth anniversary of Brennan’s partnership with the retailer, and a range that today spans everything from nightwear and crockery to body lotions and teddies (named Frankie, of course).
Brennan, 72, describes its enduring success as “unbelievable” and mocks his initial reluctance to accept an invitation to collaborate from Margaret Heffernan, chief executive of the retail empire.
“I didn’t want to do it because I was up to my eyeballs,” he says, before describing how Heffernan, a frequent guest of the Park, was impressed with the hotel’s linen.
The pair danced around the subject of working together on many occasions, but it was John who persuaded Francis to take the next step. Using blunt language typical among siblings, he told Brennan that he was being “stupid” and insisted they meet Heffernan in Dublin.
There, Brennan realised a wide team was ready to bring his vision to life, which finally convinced him to embrace the partnership, beginning with a bedroom collection.
“Everything that we have in the range has the quality of a five-star hotel,” he says, noting that the products are inspired by his 40-plus years at the Kenmare establishment plus international travel.
To keep the bedding affordable, they use percale cotton, which Brennan describes as having a “lovely crisp hotel feel”.