OYO strengthens leadership team; elevates four executives in India

Hospitality major OYO Hotels & Homes has promoted four executives to key senior leadership roles in India, effective October 1.

The company has elevated Ankit Gupta to CEO, frontier and workspaces; Harshit Vyas to COO, India and South Asia, franchise business; Abhinav Ankur to chief strategy and transformation officer; and Anuj Bhatnagar to CFO, business, the company said in a statement.

Ankit Gupta joined OYO last year as COO and senior vice president of the frontier businesses. He led several portfolios including OYO Townhouse, OYO LIFE, OYO Campus, and OYO Home.

In his new role, Gupta will continue to drive the frontier  businesses while taking charge of OYO Workspaces.

Harshit Vyas, now COO of the India and South Asia franchise business has been associated with the company for over six years. In his new role, Vyas will continue to work closely with Rohit Kapoor, chief executive officer, India and South Asia.

Abhinav Ankur, chief strategy and transformation officer,  has been with OYO since 2015 and in his last role as head of strategy for OYO India and South Asia, he worked closely with all leaders on cross-functional strategic initiatives. In addition to continuing the above, Ankur will now lead OYO’s human resources function for India and South Asia.

Anuj Bhatnagar, CFO business joined OYO as vice president finance for the franchise and demand channels in January 2020 after a stint with Bharti Airtel, where he worked for 13 years.

“At OYO, we have always worked towards nurturing meritocracy across levels and are proud to have resilient, robust and diversified leaders. The role enhancement for Gupta, Vyas, Ankur and Bhatnagar are further steps in this direction,” Rohit Kapoor said.

The development comes within a month of the company extending its furlough period for a section of its India-based employees till February 2021, in a revision of its earlier decision to send the staffers on the leave with a limited benefits (LwLB) scheme till August 2020.

In August, OYO said it would restore full salaries of its India employees in phases until December 2020, in a reversal that affected as much as 60% of its workforce across India and South Asia in the first phase.