Robin Sheppard co-founded Bespoke Hotels in 2000, which has subsequently grown into the UK’s largest independent hotel group, and now boasts over 100 properties spanning the length and breadth of the country and overseas.   

Robin’s greatest achievement, however, has been to fight back from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a debilitating illness which interrupted his life in December 2004 and completely paralysed him from the neck down, taking almost 2 years of relentless physiotherapy to regain mobility. He recovered sufficiently to write a book on the subject, ‘A Solitary Confinement’, the proceeds of which are given to GAIN, the UK charity offering support to sufferers of Guillain-Barre.  The book has sold over 50,000 copies to date, exhausting every friendship Robin has ever made in his relentless pursuit of selling to anyone he meets!   

He has also worked tirelessly to promote accessibility within the tourism and hospitality industries, launching the Blue Badge Access Awards in April 2016, alongside RIBA and the Design Council.  The aim has always been to turn hotel bedrooms and public areas into ‘less-functional and hospitalised’ spaces; seeking to inject delight and surprise wherever possible.  The first prize-giving ceremony took place on 1st December 2016 at the House of Lords.  In recognition of this, in 2017 he was named "Hotel Sector Champion of Hospitality" by the Minister for Disabled People and the Government’s Office for Disability Issues.