Overview

Kew Green Hotels (‘KGH’) was formed in September 2001 to operate high quality limited service hotels under brand franchises in city centre, edge of town and other ‘premium’ locations.

The company operates 19 hotels across the UK under 4 major brands; Holiday Inn, Express by Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Days Inn. The company will operate a new style Courtyard by Marriott hotel at Gatwick Airport from early 2009.

The company’s principle objectives are to deliver the following:

• A high quality product and outstanding customer service to our customers.
• Excellent return on investment to our shareholders and investors.

The company is owned and run by high energy individuals with extensive management experience in the hospitality industry.

The company currently operates its hotels under a mixture of operating lease and joint venture structures.

KGH is backed by the Bank of Scotland and Moorfield Group, a specialist property finance group who hold a number of diverse property related investments.

KGH is expanding its limited and full service hotel portfolio either through the addition of further operating leases, freehold site purchases or acquisitions of small branded / unbranded hotel chains. The company is also able to offer a range of management contracts from standard turnover and profit contracts to part equity joint ventures. KGH has a proven track record in project feasibility and development, hotel launch support, hotel management skills, revenue and sales and marketing management, human resources, food and beverage planning and control, and property management.

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History

Kew Green Hotels (‘KGH’) was formally incorporated in September 2001 with financial backing from the Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance Group (‘HBOS’) and The Moorfield Group (‘Moorfield). The company immediately established formal brand relationships with Intercontinental Hotels to operate the Express by Holiday Inn brand (‘Express’) and Cendant Corporation to operate the Days Hotel (‘Days’) brand. Over the next nine months KGH entered into a series of operating leases with a variety of developer partners to operate branded limited service hotels, the first of which opened as a Days Hotel in Wakefield in March 2003.

A second Days Hotel was opened in Derby in July 2003 and later that year two Express by Holiday Inns opened at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth and in Nottingham City Centre.
By the end of November 2003, the company was operating 450 hotel bedrooms under the Days and Express brands.

Further hotel deals were struck towards the end of 2003 and during the early part of 2004 to operate an Express by Holiday Inn at London Stansted Airport and a Days Hotel in Luton.
The Express by Holiday Inn London Stansted opened in January 2005 and the Days Hotel Luton in May 2005.

Eleven Courtyard by Marriott hotels were acquired in December 2004 and on May 2007 all eleven hotels were re-branded as Holiday Inns on 1st May 2007, followed by the opening of Holiday Inn Norwich City in June 2007. In June 2008, the company acquired the Marriott Hotel Liverpool South, which was re-branded as the Crowne Plaza Liverpool – John Lennon Airport on 1st August 2008.

In early 2009, Kew Green Hotels will launch a new generation Courtyard by Marriott at London Gatwick Airport. The hotel will offer 218 bedrooms, signature open lobby, lounge, bar, bistro, Mediterranean style restaurant and 4 meeting rooms.

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Aims and Objectives

The company’s primary aims are fourfold:

• To develop and operate limited service hotels in premium locations where demand for affordable, high quality accommodation currently outstrips supply or where the quality of existing bed stock is sufficiently poor that management have identified commercial opportunities in the market.
• Having identified a location, to ensure that the hotel is built and fitted out to a standard that exceeds that required by the brand and which positions the hotel as ‘best in class’ within the limited service market.
• On opening the hotel our aim is to provide outstanding customer service to all our guests and to ensure that their stay with us (however long) is as enjoyable as possible.
• Financially our stated aims are to provide excellent returns to our investors and shareholders by ensuring that our equity is deployed in the most efficient financial structures possible.

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Management

KGH is led by a central team of three directors who between them have over thirty years of accumulated leisure management experience.

Paul Johnson, Founding Director
Responsible for Operations and Commercial Activity

Paul was previously Hotels and Marketing Director at Welcome Break where he was responsible for a group of 19 budget hotels. He has a wealth of leisure management experience, having previously worked for both the Radisson Edwardian, Hilton Hotel chains and Budget Rent A Car.

Jeremy Richardson, Founding Director
Responsible for Construction and Development

Jeremy was the Strategy and Business Development Director at Welcome Break, where he was responsible for all of the group’s third party and non core business activities. His previous experience includes three years with NatWest Ventures and two years with Bain & Company, Jeremy also has an MBA from INSEAD.

Jamie Lamb, Finance Director

Jamie qualified as an Accountant with Grant Thornton and specialised in corporate recovery and insolvency work before moving to Arthur Anderson where he worked in the hospitality and retail sectors across a variety of disciplines. After stints at both Marks & Spencer and BHS, he joined the company in February 2002 as Financial Controller, before being promoted to Finance Director in 2004.

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