Meet the team

George Buchanan

George Buchanan and his wife Katharine moved into Hodsock Priory in January 2006. They have overseen a dramatic renovation project of the Priory and Courtyard and now run the Priory partly as their home and partly as a hospitality business, hosting weddings and celebrations, events and meetings. George has been a venue manager since 1999 so knows how to look after people in old buildings and give them an experience they will remember. Starting work as assistant manager of The Dominion Theatre in London’s West End, he was quickly promoted to the 4,500 seat Hammersmith Apollo and then became General Manager of The Southampton Guildhall. Hosting rock, pop and comedy shows to 20,000 people a week teaches you how to manage an old building, co-ordinate staff and run events. Most days it was like the Wild West.

Lynda Pepper

Lynda takes care of every detail of our Weddings at Hodsock Priory. From the first viewing with brides, grooms and their families, through all the careful planning stages of the wedding to the actual big day itself. She’ll help liaise with the caterers, florists, cake makers, registrars, entertainers and house staff, having everything set out as agreed with the bride and groom. She’ll leave plenty of time to allow for any last minute alterations and work from first light until the last guest leaves. Lynda has been awarded a Nottinghamshire STARS award for Excellence in Customer Service.

Ken Pepper

Ken has lived at Hodsock since 1979. Over the past 30 odd years, he has had the most varied roles of anyone at Hodsock in its history. From Gamekeeper to Chauffeur, Chief Hedgecutter to Champion Drain Unblocker, Snowdrop Visitor Guide to the man who can make the Bride laugh to ease her nerves just before she walks down the aisle, Ken looks after us all at Hodsock. Ken makes sure everything will run like clockwork on for all our functions. He cuts the grass, changes light bulbs, clears away cigarette ends, ensures everything works and that the staff are well trained in health & safety. On a Wedding day, he welcomes our guests, serve drinks, act as MC, keeps a close eye on the Bridal Party and keeps the party atmosphere going. Whether you are a visitor or you live and work here, Ken will always have a good story to tell and in his words, ‘If you cut me open, you’ll see the word Hodsock written through me like a stick of rock’.

On each Wedding day, Ken and Lynda make the bride and groom and their families feel like they are the most important people in the world. Nothing is too much trouble, they put everyone at ease and even become part of the family by the end of the night. You’ll find them chatting to the guests, pouring wine at the tables, clearing glasses, freshening up the house for the evening reception, helping the DJ unload his equipment and making everything run smoothly. Lynda will be up early to serve breakfast and Ken will come and help carry bags and wedding presents to the car. Each year, when we open the gardens for our famous displays of Snowdrops, they have fans queuing up to speak to them having met them at a wedding the previous season. It’s a joy to watch them in action.

Lindsay Jones

Lindsay runs ‘The Courtyard at Hodsock’  - our new luxury self catering accommodation suites and meeting facilities developed from the ruins of our old estate dairy. This includes dealing with customers, planning of conferences and events, management and maintenance of the accommodation, development of events to attract more customers to the Hodsock Estate and sourcing new meeting, conference and short break business too.

Lindsay’s building up Hodsock’s events programme, including prestigious events such as Shakespeare’s Globe performing As You Like It in the open air at The Priory. Her enthusiasm knows no bounds and she is often found cooking breakfast for our mid week guests, attending to delegates during a high profile conference, co-ordinating arrangements for the forthcoming weekend event and all with a smile on her face. In just a short six months since we opened we were awarded five stars at our initial Visit England inspection. She has devised The Hodsock Treasure Trails – a series of fiendish scavenger hunts around the Estate that delight everyone from families to business clients. Lindsay has been awarded a Nottinghamshire STARS award for the Best New Entrant to the Hospitality Business.