It has been a busy few days for Andy Cosslett, the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) chief executive. The rugby-loving Englishman was in Paris over the weekend to watch the Rugby World Cup final, then flew immediately to Dallas to attend IHG’s annual Americas conference.

The event, attended by 4,500 hotel owners, managers and investors, has much in common with a rock concert. In the spirit of the occasion, Mr Cosslett entered the stage to deliver his keynote speech playing an electric guitar.

But the Manchester University graduate was not at the conference simply to wow IHG’s partners. He was there to unveil a relaunch of its Holiday Inn brand, the latest of a series of changes that are gradually transforming the fortunes of the world’s biggest hotel company.

Much of what he is doing is based on the brand marketing expertise he built up during 11 years at Unilever and 14 years at Cadbury Schweppes, where he ended up running its Europe, Middle East and Africa operations.

Mr Cosslett, still famous in the ice-cream world for launching Viennetta, retains his links with the food business through his non-executive chairmanship of the Prince of Wales’s Duchy Originals business.

The 52-year-old is married with two children and lists tennis, golf, rugby and - fortunately for his audience in Dallas - guitar-playing among his main pastimes.

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