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Not that it hurts to have a bit of extra motivation occasionally. In his case, a desire to say “I told you so” lingers large. “The day I joined Intercontinental, the FT ran a management article that said people who cross industries usually fail,” recalls Cosslett. “I keep a copy of it in the bottom drawer of my desk.” It helps stop the former chocolate boss heading for meltdown.

The biggest project the group faces is a $1 billion rebranding and modernising of Holiday Inn, the largest chain in America, where it is affectionately known as Big Green.

It is vital that IHG gets it right. “Every generation of management has a responsibility to take things forward or you end up like the dinosaur in the downstairs lobby,” he says. “Managing and supervising the evolution of brands is a serious business and it’s one you have to face up to — you can’t duck that.”

Cosslett believes that while the big chains have their knockers, they have a healthy future — IHG claims three people check into a Holiday Inn every second — so not upsetting the regulars is important.

No detail is too small to be ignored. There is even a global playlist of 1,000 songs to be played in public areas, with different tracks for specific parts of the world. Anyone checking into a Holiday Inn in France, for example, can listen to Carla Bruni’s Raphaël while waiting at the check-out desk.

The hotel industry is not all about touchy-feely stuff, though. It can be ruthless. Cosslett’s predecessor, Richard North, felt the sharp end of the business when he was ousted in 2004 because the IHG board decided he didn’t have the right skills to take the company forward.

Sir Howard Stringer, chief executive of Sony Corporation, the electronics giant, and a former non-executive at IHG, says the board did not believe hiring Cosslett was controversial, despite it being the prevailing view in the City at the time. “I liked the idea of bringing in someone with fresh ideas. Most global executives travel widely; they stay in a lot of hotels and pick up an understanding of different cultures. He had those two qualities in spades.”

Another bonus was that he brings Cadbury chocolate bars and biscuits to board meetings, which quickly endeared him to his new colleagues. “I thought, here’s a man who doesn’t turn his back on his old company; it was very loyal,” says Stringer.

North’s departure raised eyebrows, as IHG was performing well, but the board felt the group needed someone with stronger credentials in running brands. The company was starting to sell most of its property assets to become a franchisor, where the key skill is promoting its various hotel marques — an area where Cosslett was deemed stronger.

Since he took over in February 2005, IHG has sold off some £3.5 billion of property, and the boss sees no need to reverse that and start snapping up sites while prices are depressed.

“We will be asset right,” is the snappy maxim he offers. “We still want to buy properties for new brands, for example. We’re building an Indigo \ in San Diego, and we’re doing that on our dollar. It helps give our owners confidence if we put our own money into the first couple.”

This is the key to ensuring IHG’s success — making its brands attractive enough to property owners that they want to have the Holiday Inn or Crowne Plaza sign above the door instead of any one of the myriad rival chains out there. The more owners it can sign up, the more it grows.