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PROPERTY
Brewdog
announces plans
for crowdfunded
craft beer hotel in
Scotland
Scottish brewer, BrewDog has
announced plans to open a craft beer
hotel in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
The 26-room hotel, dubbed The
DogHouse, will boast a craft beer spa
with beer-based treatments, a craft beer
tap in every room serving the brewery’s
flagship Punk IPA, and an in-shower
beer fridge so guests can drink whilst
they shower. BrewDog introduced the
DogHouse concept last year with the
announcement of a hotel in Columbus
Ohio at the site of its American brewery.
A recent property acquisition in
Ellon, Aberdeenshire has allowed the
company to finally open a hotel in
the brewery’s homeland, Scotland. In
addition to the construction of the hotel,
BrewDog is expanding its brewery
to include a 300hl brewhouse and a
canning and packaging hall.
Guests will be able to watch brewers
at work from rooms overlooking the new
facility, providing the ultimate immersive
beer experience.
The hotel and brewery will be built on
a 3.25- acre site adjacent to BrewDog’s
current 1 million hl brewery.
The funding for the hotel and
brewery expansion has come from
BrewDog’s record-breaking Equity for
Punks crowdfunding initiative, which
has seen the Scottish brewery raise
over £53m since 2009 from more than
73,000 craft beer fans. Priority booking
for The DogHouse will be given to
‘Equity Punk’ investors.
March 2018
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EXPANSION
IHG reveals plan
to further expand
with new and
acquired luxury
brands
Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG)
has revealed it is to launch a new
upscale conversion brand as well as
acquire luxury brands later in the year.
The news comes as the group
published its preliminary results for the
year to 31 December 2017, in which a
2.7% increase in which RevPAR, in its
preliminary financial results for 2017.
Across the UK RevPAR increased
4.5%: made up of an 4.6% in the
regions and 4.3% in London.
Total group revenue for the company
was up 5% to $2.57bn (£1.84bn)
while revenue grew by 4% to $1.78bn
(£1.2bn). Operating profit also increased
by 7% to $759m (£544m).
IHG now operates 798,000 rooms
worldwide as the result of an additional
48,000 rooms and the removal of 7,000
rooms in the past year.
Keith Barr, chief executive of IHG,
said: “In recent years, we have built a
powerful and effective enterprise which
has supported our transition to being
fully asset light, and driven strong
performance across our 5,300 hotels.
Today we are announcing a series of
new initiatives that build on our well-
established strategy and will drive an
acceleration in our growth rate.
“We moved at pace to develop
and roll-out the concept for our new
mainstream brand, avid hotels. Since
September we have signed 75 hotels,
with the first due to open later this year
and a global launch being planned.”
The announcement comes as IHG
achieved its highest annual organic
growth across the business since 2009.
IHG will be adding to its existing 13
brands which include Crown Plaza,
Holiday Inn and InterContinental Hotels.
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The group has never been so
strong . By developing our
‘augmented hospitality’ model,
we are at the forefront of
an industry that is constantly
transforming and has
unlimited prospects.
Sébastien Bazin, CEO , AccorHotels
PROFITS
AccorHotels
posts 66%
increase in
profits for 2017
AccorHotels has posted a strong
increase in its profits for 2017, driven
by “robust business and very dynamic
development”.
Europe’s biggest hotel group which
includes Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and
Ibis, said in its full year update for 2017
that net profit increased by 66% to
€441m (£389m) in 2017.
Furthermore operating profit grew
by 24% to €492m (£434m) on a 17.7%
increase in revenues to €1.94bn (£1.71bn).
Sébastien Bazin, CEO, said: “[Our]
earnings for 2017 mark another leap in
performance, with excellent operating
results and record development.
The group continues to benefit from
positive market trends with a confirmed
increase in volumes.
“Against this buoyant backdrop,
AccorHotels continues to pursue its
dynamic trajectory, consolidate its
market share and enrich its range of
services for customers and partners.
The group has never been so
strong. By developing our ‘augmented
hospitality’ model, we are at the
forefront of an industry that is
constantly transforming and has
unlimited prospects.”
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