Manchester aparthotel group eyeing Birmingham market
INDEPENDENT hospitality company Blue Rainbow Aparthotels has revealed ambitious growth plans which will see it invest more than £20m in new openings.
The investment over the next 18 months will add a further 560 rooms and see it offer dining services to guests for the first time. Following those openings across a number of cities, the company is planning a move into Birmingham.
The group plans to grow its annual turnover from just over £4m this year to nearly £13m in 2017.
Founded in 2005, Blue Rainbow is the brainchild of managing director Will Hannah and Jason Abbott, operations director. It currently has 128 rooms at two sites in Manchester and one in Edinburgh.
Guests – mostly corporate customers and weekend city breakers – are offered our and five star accommodation in luxury apartments which feature Wifi, DVD players, on-site gyms, kitchens with welcome packs including fresh bread and milk, and also complimentary laundry facilities.
Hannah, a former marketing consultancy boss in the corporate travel sector, told TheBusinessDesk.com: “We want to take Blue Rainbow to the next stage over the coming years. We have a proven concept and offer and our existing apartments are fully booked, it’s the right time to grow, we’re very excited.
“The first phase of our expansion will see us add a third Manchester site. We are very close to agreeing terms on a building which we will convert into 52 apartments and 225 hotel rooms – which is a new concept for us, as is the addition of a food and beverage offer, which we are refining now.”
He said the Manchester project would cost around £11m, excluding the property lease. The hotel element will open in the third quarter of 2014 with the apartments nine months later.
In Leeds there will be investment of around £10m in a city centre hotel with 145 rooms and two restaurants to open mid-2014. A second phase will add 8-10,000 sq ft of conference space.
Blue Rainbow’s strong operational performance is evidenced by results for June from the STR Report, a hotel industry performance reporting tool.
The results show that Blue Rainbow out-performed its competitors in Manchester, by growing its market share and occupancy levels.
Hannah added: “We pride ourselves on offering a home-from-home experience for both business guests and those on a weekend city break and believe this report confirms our increased market share when it comes to providing quality accommodation.”
