Nottingham hotel and conference centre operator Nottingham Venues has abandoned plans to expand its portfolio with a third site, after determining the proposed development would no longer be possible.<\/p>\n
The company, which operates the East Midlands Conference Centre and the adjoining Orchard Hotel, revealed in its latest accounts that it incurred \u00a3114,000 in costs during the year to 31 July 2025 linked to its \u201caborted expansion plans.”<\/p>\n
Despite the setback, the business delivered a stronger financial performance, with turnover increasing to \u00a315.9m from \u00a314.8m the previous year, while pre-tax profit climbed 47% to \u00a31.69m from \u00a31.14m.<\/p>\n
Director Paul Steeples said the company had invested in plans for a third location during the year but confirmed the expansion would not proceed.<\/p>\n
He said in Propel: \u201cDuring the year, the company incurred certain costs associated with a planned expansion to a third site. Since the year end, it has been identified that this expansion will not be possible, resulting in certain costs being disclosed as exceptional, non-recurring items.\u201d<\/p>\n
The operator said growth was recorded across all areas of the business, with particularly strong performances from hotel accommodation and conference room hire.<\/p>\n
Accommodation revenue increased to \u00a37.32m, up from \u00a37.03m, while room hire and conferencing income rose to \u00a33.16m from \u00a32.81m.<\/p>\n
Food sales also increased during the year, rising to \u00a33.36m from \u00a33.21m, while drink revenue grew to \u00a31.26m from \u00a31.16m.<\/p>\n
Steeples added that strong cash generation had allowed the business to fully repay its loan owed to its ultimate parent company during the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowth has been seen in all areas, notably in hotel accommodation income and room hire and conferencing income,\u201d he said. \u201cStrong cash generation has enabled the company to fully repay the loan owing to the ultimate parent company in the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
No dividend payments were made during the period, consistent with the previous year.<\/p>\n
Nottingham Venues is based at the University of Nottingham\u2019s Jubilee Campus and operates the East Midlands Conference Centre alongside the four-star Orchard Hotel.<\/p>\n
The venue business provides accommodation, conference facilities, meeting spaces, catering and event services for corporate, academic and private customers.<\/p>\n
The decision to halt expansion comes as the hospitality and events sector continues to face pressure from rising operating costs, while demand for high-quality conference and meeting facilities remains strong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Director confirms expansion plans had been scrapped after the company concluded a third site was not viable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266702,"featured_media":2113229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53262,9],"coauthors":[127717],"class_list":["post-2113225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-property","tag-nottinghamshire","tag-top-story"],"yoast_head":"\n