Hotel owner plans 2014 investment
THE company behind some of Yorkshire’s best-known hotels is continuing to invest in its assets as it looks forward to a prosperous year.
Acropolis Hotels is the company behind Cedar Court Hotels in Bradford, Harrogate and Huddersfield and also operates the five-star Cedar Court Grand Hotel & Spa, which opened in York in 2010.
Kevin Henry, Acropolis Hotels group managing director, said the group’s position has improved in 2013 and it is continuing investment in 2014.
He said the improvement last year was due to both corporate and leisure customers.
“There’s an element of things picking up in general and the economy is slightly better,” Mr Henry said.
“We have invested money in better bedrooms, better IT systems and appointed new people.
“We think we are doing things better than a couple of years ago and have invested several hundred thousands of pounds over the past couple of years will be investing more over the next few years.”
Mr Henry said the business has a three-year capital expenditure plan and is looking to spend about £1m across the five hotels.
“It is about constant improvement,” he said.
“We will continue the good work of 2013 and continue to invest in the bedrooms, we’ll start to look at one or two of the public areas – bars, lounges – and continue our investment in meeting rooms, which started at the end of 2013.”
Mr Henry said that news such as the Tour de France Grand Départ 2014 taking place in Yorkshire and the region being named as one of the top places in the world to visit in 2014 by travel guide publisher, Lonely Planet, have helped to put Yorkshire on the map.
He said when speaking to other hoteliers, there’s a degree of optimism.
“We are optimistic and have plans in place for the future,” he said.
In its latest report filed at Companies House for the year ended December 31 2012, the group highlighted its property revaluation which took place in 2012.
Due to property values largely reducing since the financial crisis, this is reflected in the group’s figures. The Acropolis Hotels business posted a pre-tax loss of £9m on turnover of £15.433m – a slight increase from £15.392m in 2011.
A separate company, Cedar Court Hotels, which owns the Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield, said turnover remains “more or less static” at £3.9m.
Mr Henry said at the revaluation of properties “doesn’t mean a great deal in terms of the day-to-day operation of the business” and said that the increase in turnover reflects the continued growth of the York hotel.
