Manchester’s hotels defy gloom with growth in hotel occupancy

Hotel occupancy in Manchester city centre increased to an annual average of 75% in 2011 compared to 71% in 2010 according the latest data supplied to Visit Manchester.

Assisted by record high monthly occupancy in June and July and the previously reported highest weekend monthly occupancy recorded in October, the release of December's hotel occupancy data completes the picture for 2011 showing a strong year for Manchester's hotels sector despite a difficult trading environment.

The December data also reports an increase in the annual average occupancy for the sub-region of Greater Manchester, which is up to 74% from 69% in 2010.

Paul Simpson, managing director of Visit Manchester, said: "It's fantastic to see that the hotel sector in Manchester has picked up in 2011 - the last time Manchester had 75% average annual occupancy was in 2005 and that was followed by our best year since records began with 77% in 2006."

Thank you from The Christie

Blue Training UK purchases Bower Hotel

http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Business/Hospitality-training-provider-buys-Manchester-hotel

Palace Hotel bought back by Principal Hayley

The Palace Hotel in Manchester has been bought back by a previous owner as part of a £200m deal.

Lloyds Banking Group-backed Principal Hayley has re-acquired six hotels – including the Russell in London, George in Edinburgh and the Royal York – from Active Asset Investment Management, in which Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and Simon Cowell are investors.

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The MHA Awards 2011 - And the Winner is

For the last four years the Manchester Hoteliers Association has celebrated its industry’s stars through the MHA Awards. These prestigious awards were presented to the winners at this year’s Ball on Friday 21st October, at The Palace Hotel, in front of 600 guests from Greater Manchester’s vibrant hotel and hospitality community. T

he winners were selected following citations from a record number of nominations from the MHA membership, the largest of its kind in Europe. This made for a tough job for World Class Service and The Manchester College, tasked with choosing the winners from such a strong field.

This year’s ceremony was particularly poignant as it saw the renaming of its most prestigious award in honour of Howard Raynor, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Howard’s wife Teresa and Chairman of the Manchester Hoteliers Association, Stephen Miles took to the stage to present the Howard Raynor Lifetime Achiever Award to Tony Blunn from Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel.

This year’s ceremony was particularly poignant as it saw the renaming of its most prestigious award in honour of Howard Raynor, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Howard’s wife Teresa and Chairman of the Manchester Hoteliers Association, Stephen Miles took to the stage to present the Howard Raynor Lifetime Achiever Award to Tony Blunn from Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel.

The winners were:

Emerging Talent 2011; Laura Daniels, Studying VRQ2 in Professional Cookery at The Manchester College

New Star 2011; Clare Kelly, HR Administrator, The Lowry Hotel.

Employee of the Year (Front of House) 2011; Jack Appleton, Guest Services Manager, Mint Hotel

Employee of the Year (Back of House) 2011; Erica Stoodley, Senior Accounts Assistant, Macdonald Manchester Hotel & Spa

Howard Raynor Lifetime Achiever 2011; Tony Blunn, Maintenance Manager, Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel

Manchester Hoteliers Association is a voice of the hotel industry within Greater Manchester and is represented by more than 40 members, employing 9,000 people and providing 10,000 bedrooms. Members include all grades of hotels and constitute the largest such association in Europe developing and supporting both leisure and commercial markets in the region.

For further information regarding the MHA Awards please contact Louise Hargreaves on:  0161 235 0894