Biography of Sean Flynn

Sean Flynn is a highly experienced C-Suite Executive with a keen sense of business acumen. As a Management Consultant, both external and internal, he has advised many companies in Canada, the US, and throughout Asia.  He is both a Certified Franchise Executive and a fully Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. 

His books "Franchise Success: Unlocking the Path to Business Expansion", and "Franchising in Asia: Unlocking Growth in the World's Most Dynamic Region" were published on Amazon  in July 2024.

Currently, he serves as the Principal Consultant of DS Flynn & Associates Inc. in Vancouver, BC, where he provides advisory services to various Industries in the areas of mergers & acquisitions, growth & turnaround strategies, franchising, brand creation, strategic marketing, and operational systems. 

His previous experience includes working as the Executive Vice President, Hotels Division of SilverNeedle Hospitality Group Pte. Ltd., Singapore, where he successfully launched three hotel brands: NEXT Hotels, Sage Hotels, and Lync Hotels. He also oversaw all SilverNeedle Hospitality Hotel Operations for 50+ hotels, Sales & Marketing, Digital Marketing, Revenue Management, Distribution, Hospitality Projects, and Brand Management in addition to establishing a new franchising platform for the development of a mid-scale business-focused hotel throughout Asia. He led the successful launch of the NEXT Hotel Brand in Brisbane with a ramp up to competitive profitability in only 6 months.  Launched the Sage Hotels® brand of hotels with conversions in Adelaide and Wollongong, and new builds in Melbourne and Brisbane.

Before this, he worked as the Chairman & CEO of Brotzeit International Pte Ltd & Brotzeit Pte Ltd, Singapore, where he created sustainable shareholder value by growing the Brotzeit brand into the world’s leading contemporary German Bier Bar & Restaurant concept primarily through a franchising model. He also opened several successful stores in various markets, including Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Bangkok, and the Philippines.  Brotzeit was named “Franchisor of the Year” by the Franchise Association of Singapore in 2012.

He served as the Executive Vice President of Operations at Rendezvous Hospitality Group (RHG) Pte Ltd, which is the hospitality arm of The Straits Trading Company Limited, a 120-year-old Singapore listed public conglomerate. In this role, Sean was in charge of all hotel operations for both the Rendezvous and The Marque brands of hotels across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and China. He reported directly to the CEO and managed a team of senior executives.  During his time at RHG, Sean implemented several initiatives to reposition the two hotel chains as "business hotels" in the 3.5- and 4.5-star segments and created unique selling propositions (USPs) amongst the competitive set. He re-built the infrastructure to position the operations for sustainable growth, restructured the Operations Department, and vastly improved the competitiveness of the hotels. Under his leadership, RHG recovered 9 percentage points of revenue per available room against the competitive set within 18 months.

Sean’s previous accomplishments include turning around Smitty’s, Canada’s largest family restaurant franchise business, by increasing same-store sales by 40% over 2 years, boosting franchisee profitability by 75%, achieving unit growth of 15% per year, and increasing corporate profitability by over 40% annually. 

As President/CEO, he also revitalized the Shakey's Pizza brand in the USA by rebuilding all the infrastructural support systems and standards of operations, hiring a dedicated team of professionals, and implementing menu re-engineering, new prototype development, improved operations and marketing, and franchise sales.

Sean worked at Scotts Holdings Limited from 1992 to 1996. Sean led the successful turnaround of the A&W Restaurants business in Singapore and Thailand, with a total of 27 units operating.  He turned the business around from loss making to profitability and sold the business at a multiple of 12.   He was also the  Head of Corporate Planning and reported to the Board of Directors/Executive Director. In this role, he restructured and reorganized the parent company and its subsidiaries through the formation and implementation of a package of strategic planning reforms. This program included defining core businesses, divesting non-core businesses, developing new organizational structures promoting the decentralization of authority, developing new policies and procedures, and introducing new management processes and reporting formats. The success of this program resulted in a 30% increase in profits in the first year, as well as vastly improved employee morale.

Sean's final position at Scotts Holdings was Regional Manager of Ascott Serviced Apartments for Southeast Asia/Australia. In this role, he was responsible for finding appropriate opportunities for growth throughout the region. Direct reports included two Area Managers covering Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, and Indochina, as well as Country Managers for Malaysia and Thailand.

Prior to Scotts Holdings, Sean led the growth of Pizza Hut Business in Singapore and Malaysia for Cerebos Pacific Limited who was the Master Franchisee for Singapore and Malaysia.  Under Sean’s leadership the business doubled in value and grew from 12 to over 40 units.  For a Charity event in 1990, entered the Guinness Book of Records for having built the World’s Largest Pizza at 33.9 meters in diameter.