Tamara Wegmann boasts 16 years’ experience as an international lawyer in both private practice and in-house corporate roles. She joined Spanish based hotel chain, NH Hotel Group, a business that has grown significantly in the past 13 years, doubling the number of hotels and number of countries it is present in. Since 2009 she has led the company’s global legal department and has managed an international team of 12 lawyers based in both Europe and Latin America. In September 2017, she embarked on a new challenge, adding the responsibility of head of compliance in leading the global compliance function of the Group. ‘It is an opportunity to lead and contribute to the business from a different perspective and assessment but complementary to my legal and digital expertise. I have started to implement policy and processes, increase communication and training in order to assess, prevent and control the exposure of the company to potential legal, regulatory and commercial risks’ says Wegmann.

She has significantly contributed to the effectiveness of the in-house function by improving the core hospitality contracts, setting up global contracts data base providing adequate reporting on all relevant contractual terms and conditions related to the hotel portfolio. Wegmann’s business affecting-work has been seen in addition ways, particularly through her contribution to NH Hotel Group’s international expansion and involvement in the organic growth of the NH Hotel Group in Europe and Latin America, negotiating complex deals including lease, management and franchise agreements. One of these issues was the refinancing of the NH Hotel Group, including high yield transactions in 2016, worth €285m.

Noted for her strong leadership qualities, one nominating source explains that after the global financial crisis that affected European regions, Wegmann ‘implemented a structure in which high efficient senior lawyers were in charge of a group of countries and supported in specific legal topics by best friends expertise’.