Sanguine’s new owners plot growth
THE new owner of the hotel management arm of Liverpool’s Sanguine Hospitality is planning rapid growth.
Interstate Hotels and Resorts, a joint venture between US-based Thayer Lodging Group and China’s Jin Jiang Hotels, swooped on Sanguine in an undisclosed deal last week. The deal marks the company’s entry into the UK market.
Sanguine operates 14 hotels including the Hotel Indigo & Marco Pierre Steakhouse Bar & Grill in Liverpool, Holiday Inn Express Hoylake and Doubletree by Hilton Chester.
It also has a management contract for Doubletree by Hilton in Liverpool, which is not yet open, and a Hotel Indigo in Manchester which has not yet been built.
Ted Knighton, president and chief operating officer of Interstate Hotels and Resorts, told TheBusinesDesk.com the firm was expecting to see major growth.
He said: “We are a global management business and we have been looking for a way of entering the UK market for some time but for us it was about finding the right platform. We believe we have found that in Sanguine and we are delighted to be here.”
Nick Taplin, managing director of Sanguine Hospitality, said the portfolio was set to grow rapidly.
There are five new facilities under construction: the Hampton by Hilton at Exeter Airport, the Hampton by Hilton, Sheffield, Hilton at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton, the Double Tree by Hilton, Liverpool and the Holiday Inn Express in Birmingham’s Kennedy Tower, close to Snowhill.
“We have effectively doubled the size of the business and will be looking to do so again,” he said. “By the time we open Kennedy Tower we will have more than 1,000 people employed by the business.”
Mr Taplin said the firm was already eyeing a fourth property in Birmingham, which would be the conversion of an existing building, while plans were in the pipeline for new hotels in Newcastle, London, Manchester, Cardiff and Glasgow.
“It’s a big market out there and with a partner like Interstate we feel we are primed for growth,” he said.
Mr Knighton said the integration of the business would be an easy process. Interstate plans to run the operation from offices in Birmingham.
