Staycations have not saved hotels
The so-called staycation frenzy hasn’t stopped hotels going bust. According to analysis by Wilkins Kennedy, the accountant, British hotel groups are going under faster than ever, partly because of the reluctance of banks to lend to property-based companies. Figures show that the hotel sector suffered 53 corporate insolvencies in the third quarter of this year, compared with 18 in the same three months two years ago. Wilkins Kennedy concludes that the growth in staycations has failed to cover revenue lost from cutbacks in business travel and conferences and a lower spend on extras, such as spas and food and drink. In other words, every silver lining has a cloud.
A white Christmas in summer
We have become used to retailers launching their Christmas lines in the middle of summer. But Housing Units, the family-owned furnishing retailer in Failsworth, Manchester, will this week take the practice a step farther when it brings in snow machines to coat the front of the store and part of the car park in artificial snow. The company, famous for its top-hatted doormen, claims the £250,000 marketing ploy is part of its recognition that customers like to spread the cost of Christmas over time, but if you ask me it all sounds a bit too Disney.
Dramatic change for Four Seasons
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ReardonSmith, the hotel architectural practice, has sent me details of the continuing revamp of the Four Seasons in Park Lane. It certainly looks dramatic. The building, which had long since begun to look dated, has been stripped back to its base structure and an extra two storeys are being added, along with a rooftop extension that will house a state-of-the-art spa. All very different from when I worked there as night auditor in the mid-1980s.
BHA boss’s move sparks speculation
The announcement last week by the British Hospitality Association (BHA) that Bob Cotton, the organisation’s chief executive for almost a decade, is to step down in July next year has set tongues wagging about who might succeed him. I have no knowledge of the matter, although the day before the announcement I spotted Mr Cotton having lunch near the BHA offices in Holborn, London, with David McHattie, chief executive of the National Skills Academy for Hospitality, of which Mr Cotton remains chairman. Pure coincidence?