MONTH IN REVIEW
MONTH IN REVIEW
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START: THE MONTH’S NEWS BEGAN HERE
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Ramada Park
Hall Hotel closes
after legionnaires
discovery
The Ramada Park Hall hotel has closed
after the discovery of legionella bacteria
in samples taken from the property’s
water system.
The City of Wolverhampton Council
has served a prohibition notice on the
property following concerns related to
the hotel’s water management system.
Following the results of tests on
water samples, the Ramada Park Hall
Hotel has been prohibited from using
its hot and cold water systems until a
schedule of remedial works has been
completed.
Councillor Steve Evans, cabinet
member for city environment, said:
“The health and safety of our residents
and visitors is a key priority for the
council and our environmental
health team who regularly carry out
inspections at premises across the city.
“Today, after careful consideration,
we made the decision to serve notice
to formally prohibit the use of the hot
and cold water systems at the Ramada
Park Hall Hotel due to issues with its
water management system.”
Although Legionnaires’
disease is rare and we are not
currently aware of any cases in
this instance, it’s important that
we take the right precautions
to prevent the risk of anyone
falling ill.
Councillor Steve Evans
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MONTH IN REVIEW
TREVPAR
TRevPAR hits
‘historic’ high at
UK hotels
A 5.6% year-on-year increase saw
hotels in the UK hit a “historic” total
revenue per available room (TRevPAR)
high in August, propelled by a robust
year-on-year increase in revenue per
available room (RevPAR).
According to the latest worldwide
poll of full-service hotels from HotStats
TRevPAR at hotels in the UK in July was
0.8% above the previous high recorded
in September 2017, and represented a
second consecutive month of TRevPAR
growth in what the group said has
been a “fairly forgettable year of trading
for hotels in the UK”.
The growth in total revenue was
driven by a 7.9% increase in RevPAR,
which hit £114 this month, and was also
a record, far exceeding the previous
high of £107 achieved 10 months earlier.
HotStats CEO Pablo Alonso said:
“July is not historically a month during
which UK hoteliers would expect to be
achieving a TRevPAR high. However,
soaring demand levels, which have
primarily been led by the leisure
segment have helped hotels to drive
top line revenues in this month over the
last couple of years.
“The strength of demand has been
attributed to an uplift in staycations
since the Brexit vote, as well as an
increase in international visitors to the
UK. The improvement will be to the
delight of hotel owners and operators
as July presents an opportunity to drive
revenue and profit which previously did
not exist.”
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ACQUISITION
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BREXIT
Dalata Hotel
Group acquires
Clayton Hotel
Aldgate lease for
£91m Brexit will force
hospitality
businesses to
embrace the
‘now economy’
Dalata Hotel Group has exchanged
contracts to acquire the long leasehold
interest of a hotel under development,
located at Aldgate, London for a total
consideration of £91m.
As part
of the
transaction
Dalata will
acquire
the entire issued share capital of
Hintergard Limited from Aldgate Hotel
Holdco, an investment vehicle of an
international private equity real estate
investor.
Hintergard owns the 300-year
leasehold interest of a hotel under
development, located at Aldgate,
London. The deal is conditional on the
completion of the hotel to an agreed
specification. The construction of the
hotel, which will be branded Clayton
Hotel Aldgate London, is expected
to be completed and operational
towards the end of this year.
The property will be located
adjacent to Aldgate East
Underground Station and in close
proximity to the new Liverpool Street
and Whitechapel Crossrail stations,
both of which are scheduled to open
in December 2018.
Dalatta said the transaction will be
funded by an additional debt facility
which has been secured from the
company’s existing banking partners.
Dermot Crowley, deputy CEO of
business development and finance,
said: “We are delighted to secure
this new hotel in Aldgate, London.
We already successfully operate two
Clayton hotels in the Greater London
area at Chiswick and Cricklewood.” Brexit, coupled with a weaker pound,
will push UK businesses to embrace
the ‘now economy’ and use technology
to plug staffing gaps with temporary
workers, digital recruitment platform
Adia has said.
The group’s new white paper –
Future of Flexible Work - Recruiting
in the ‘now economy’ – says that
businesses will need to reach quality
‘flexible’ workers faster and in greater
numbers, through social media
recruiting, app-based technology or
other innovative methods.
The Department for Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy suggests there
are close to 2.8 million people working
in the ‘now economy’ in the UK with
those involved generally younger than
the rest of the population, with over half
(56%) aged 18 to 34.
They are made up of those who
choose to earn their main income
from flexible work, casual earners
who take on flexible work on the side
of permanent positions, individuals
who take on flexible work in addition
to permanent work as a financial
necessity and those who have to
pursue flexible work but would like a
permanent position.
The ‘now economy’ allows
employers to offer jobs on a non-
permanent basis to reduce the cost of
permanent workers; cover holidays/
sick days; meet deadlines; fill in
during seasonal peaks; staff large-
scale events, and work on temporary
contracts or non-permanent
campaigns. Businesses like Deliveroo,
People Per Hour and AirBnB have all
been cited as examples of businesses
thriving in the ‘now economy’.
October 2018
October 2018
STAT OF THE MONTH
999
That’s the number of years Easyhotel’s
new lease is worth on a site at
Blackpool’s iconic promenade, which
will be used to develop a purpose-built
103-room hotel.
REVENUE
Hand Picked
Hotels reveals
strong growth
during 2017
Independent UK country house hotel
group, Hand Picked Hotels, has
reported strong sales growth during
the 2016/2017 period.
Total revenue for all properties grew
by 2.1% (£1.7m) between 2016 and 2017
on a like-for-like basis, primarily driven
by a 3.7% increase in the average room
rate. According to the group health club
and spas performed “exceptionally well”,
with a like-for-like revenue increase of
8.2% across ten sites within the group.
Chairman and CEO Julia Hands said:
“2017 was an exciting and fulfilling
year for our business, characterised
by changes in the portfolio, continued
investment in our hotels and some
positive financial highlights.
“I’m delighted that the Channel
Islands in particular continued to
deliver solid revenue growth, especially
St Pierre Park Hotel, Spa and Golf
Resort in Guernsey following the £3m
redevelopment of its spa and health
club during 2016, and our five-star
Grand Jersey Hotel and Spa which
enjoys a prime location on the seafront
near St Helier.”
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ACQUISITION
AccorHotels
completes the
acquisition
of Mövenpick
Hotels & Resorts
AccorHotels has announced it
has completed the acquisition of
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts in a deal
worth £411m.
The French hospitality group signed
an agreement with Mövenpick Holding
and Saudi-based Kingdom Holding to
buy the Swiss-based hotel operating
company that was first announced in
April this year.
Founded in 1973, Mövenpick Hotels
and Resorts operates in 27 countries
with 84 hotels and a particularly strong
presence in Europe and the Middle
East. The group also plans to open 42
additional hotels by 2021, representing
around 11,000 rooms, with significant
expansion planned in the Middle East,
Africa and Asia-Pacific.
The hotel group will benefit
from AccorHotels’ loyalty program,
distribution channels and operating
systems, which will help optimise its
performance.
Sébastien Bazin, chairman and CEO
of AccorHotels, said at the time of the
announcement: “With the acquisition
of Mövenpick, we are consolidating
our leadership in the European market
and are further accelerating our growth
in emerging markets, in particular in
Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.”
As the world of
work evolves there
will no longer be a
requirement or option
to employ as many
full-time , permanent
staff
Ernesto Lamaina, Adia CEO
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