Hotel operator in £6m Derby swoop
Derby’s Riverlights Holiday Inn hotel has been sold to Starboard Hotels for around £6m.
The firm, which owns 15 hotels across the UK, has also bought two retail units in the Riverlights complex in the city, and says it wants to expand the hote’s bar and restaurant facilities.
The Holiday Inn was brought to the market by CBRE on behalf io Moorfield Group for offers in excess of £6m earlier this year.
Coutts & Co. provided senior debt for the acquisition which is now the 14th hotel to be funded by the bank.
Heiko Figge, head of hospitality, leisure and operations, Moorfield Group: “We are pleased to have sold the popular Derby Riverlights Holiday Inn hotel to such an experienced and expert operator as Starboard and would like to thank the general manager and her team for having done such an outstanding job during our ownership of the property.
“The team has continually delivered the highest room occupancy in Derby and I am sure that the hotel will continue to flourish under Starboard’s ownership.”
Starboard Hotels founder and managing director Paul Callingham said: “It has been a tremendous year of growth for Starboard and we are delighted to have made another important acquisition. We welcome the team from the Holiday Inn Derby into the Starboard family and we are looking forward to working with the General Manager Carrie-Louise Holleran and her team.”
Kerian Barnes, group operations director for Starboard, added: “This is a great hotel for us to take over and utilise all our experiences from our other IHG properties to improve facilities and the overall guest experience.”
He added: “We are looking at developing the ground floor at the Holiday Inn, where we will be expanding the hotel, introducing the open lobby concept and improving the restaurant and bar which will create new jobs for the area.”
