Britannia Hotels
Britannia Hotels is a British hotel group with 61 hotels across the country. Britannia operates at the budget end of the market, and includes the Pontins Holiday Park portfolio. In recent years, Britannia Hotels has been a subject of widespread criticism over the hygiene and maintenance of its locations, with the consumer group Which? declaring the hotel chain to be the worst in the United Kingdom since October 2013:[2][3] the controversies have contributed towards the growing general perception of Britannia Hotels as "Britain's worst hotel chain"
Overview
Britannia Hotels was founded in 1976 with the purchase of the Britannia Country House Hotel in Didsbury, Manchester. Its Chief Executive, founder, and largest shareholder remains Alex Langsam. Langsam is a non-domiciled taxpayer, registered as living in Austria for tax-purposes since 1999.[5] His net personal worth was valued at £90 million in 2013 by The Sunday Times.[6]
Its head office is based in the old town hall in Hale, Manchester. A large cluster of the company's hotels are located in and around Manchester.
Soon after its foundation Britannia began making a number of further acquisitions.
The second purchase in 1981 was a derelict listed building in central Manchester (the former Watts Warehouse standing on Portland Street, Manchester). After redeveloping the unit it opened in May 1982 as the Britannia Hotel Manchester. At the end of 1982 British Rail sold off its hotel division - British Transport Hotels. From this sale, in 1983 Britannia bought the Britannia Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool.
In 1987 Britannia Hotels converted an unused building in Manchester that had been the city's C&A department store - this became the Sachas Hotel.[7][8] Later in the same year Bosworth Hall, a country house style hotel in Market Bosworth Leicestershire, was purchased. Bosworth Hall was being converted from a hospital/nursing home into a hotel and Britannia took over the development from the builders who went bankrupt. In 1988 the company purchased and began development of the International Hotel adjacent to Canary Wharf in the London's Docklands. The hotel opened on 9 June 1992. A year later, Britannia took over a 187-bedroom hotel in Stockport. After a period of refurbishment the Britannia Stockport Hotel opened in 1993. In the summer of the same year the group also purchased the Europa Hotel situated close to Gatwick Airport.
In the following 10 years the group acquired 16 more hotels in locations such as Birmingham, Aberdeen and Newcastle. In November 2004 it acquired four hotels from the Grand Leisure Group: the Grand Hotel in Scarborough, the Grand Hotel in Llandudno, the Grand Burstin Hotel in Folkestone and the Grand Metropole in Blackpool. In January 2011, the company bought North West holiday camp business Pontins out of administration in a £18.5m deal which safeguarded about 1,000 jobs. Following the acquisition Britannia had to deal with a series of complaints.
From 2005 to 2015 the Group enjoyed its most rapid period of expansion acquiring 23 hotels - including the Palace Hotel in Buxton and the Basingstoke Country Hotel acquired from the Hotel Collection[17][18] and the Trecarn Hotel Torquay[19] and Cavendish Hotel in Eastbourne. In 2016, Britannia Hotels also purchased The Bromsgrove Hotel & Spa which was previously owned and operated by Hilton. Later in 2017, Britannia Hotels also acquired the Royal Hotel in Hull from the Mercure Hotel Group expanding the empire to 53 Hotels
Events
The 1988 Philip Saville film The Fruit Machine featured interior and main entrance scenes of the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, including a vertical pan shot past the lit marquee at night.
In 2008 as part of the Capital of Culture celebrations, a musical based on the Adelphi Hotel, written and directed by Phil Willmott, Once Upon A Time At The Adelphi, ran at the Liverpool Playhouse from 30 June until 2 August.[22]
Industry reception
In 2011, the Group Travel Awards declared Britannia to be the "Most Group-Friendly Hotel Chain or Group".[23] Two years later, The Institute of Customer Service recognised Pontins (one of Britannia's subsidiaries) as the Most Improved Organisation at the 2013 UK Customer Satisfaction Awards.[24]
Controversies
Britannia Hotels has been a subject of widespread criticism on many areas, such as hygiene and maintenance. In October 2019, consumer group Which? declared Britannia Hotels to be the worst hotel chain in the United Kingdom for the seventh consecutive year, despite a slight increase in the overall score (39%, compared to 35% in 2018).[2] Britannia Hotels had been at the bottom of the Which? hotel chain rankings since October 2013, when then-editor Richard Headland warned that other chains (such as Premier Inn) were undercutting Britannia with better service at similar prices.[3]
Hygiene and maintenance issues
In 2005 and 2006 the Grand Hotel in Scarborough and the Britannia Adelphi were investigated by the BBC over theft and hygiene.[25][26] In November 2014, an undercover investigation by the Liverpool Echo also found issues with the upkeep of both the exterior and interior of the Adelphi, warning that the ageing interiors and basic service placed Britannia Hotels at a disadvantage in the fast-evolving "cut-throat" tourism industry.[27] However, Which? journalists found the Britannia Lodge (near Gatwick airport) to be in a worse condition, reporting smells of damp because of a clogged ventilation fan, a bathroom affected by mould, and stains that only show up under ultraviolet light.[2]
Oyster.com, a hotel research and booking site, has also reviewed a number of Britannia Hotels. The website commended most of the reviewed locations for their proximity to city centres or public transport hubs,[28] as well as efforts to renovate some rooms in the Manchester location,[29] but also raised concerns about outdated interiors, inconsistent maintenance, and Wi-Fi access fees,[30] the latter generally considered to be inappropriate in a country where the internet access is a major part of daily life.
Planning issues
In the mid-1980s, Alex Langsam, owner of the Britannia Hotel Group, acquired the Grade II* listed London Road Fire Station in Manchester. Proposals were made to redevelop it into a hotel and offices, however the plans were delayed and in 2006 it was placed on English Heritage's register of "at risk" historical buildings.[31] The city council attempted to compulsorily purchase the building[32] but on 29 November 2011, their proposal was rejected.[33] In 2015 Britannia announced their intention to sell the building. It was sold to Allied London in 2015 and renovation commenced in 2018 with the building to be redeveloped as a mixed-use comprising leisure and hotel facilities.[34]
Social issues
Amid increasing pressure against Britannia Hotels over poor cleanliness, The Independent reported in October 2014 that the Home Office temporarily rented rooms in three Britannia locations (two in Bournemouth and one in Folkestone) to house asylum seekers, because of overcrowding at the detention centres in London.[35] The Daily Telegraph reported that the Home Office also rented rooms for new refugees who were waiting for long-term housing.[4]
In December 2018, the Britannia Royal at Kingston upon Hull cancelled a charity reservation for rough sleepers on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, without giving a reason. The incident led to a significant escalation of general criticism against Britannia Hotels, who were then forced to temporarily remove their presence on social media.[36] Britannia Hotels currently uses Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for social media.
Legal issues
In September 2007, Manchester Crown Court fined Britannia Hotels £39,486 for food hygiene offences at the Britannia Hotel in Stockport, shortly after TripAdvisor rated it as one of Britain's dirtiest hotels.[37] In December 2014, the Nuneaton Justice Centre also fined Britannia Hotels £25,400 for food hygiene offences, at the Royal Court Hotel in Coventry.[38]
Britannia Hotels was also prosecuted for breaking health and safety laws, after a student drowned at the Adelphi.[39] In November 2015, the Liverpool Echo investigated a guest's complaints about the Adelphi[40] In June 2017, the Adelphi was prosecuted for breaches of food safety and hygiene regulations.[41] Further issues with the Adelphi have been reported since.[42][43][44] The Liverpool Echo visited the Company's headquarters in June 2019, in order to interview a spokesperson about the complaints, but no-one would see them.[45]
In 2013 the chain was successfully prosecuted for putting guests and construction workers at risk of asbestos fibre exposure at the Grand Burstin Hotel in Folkestone.[46]
Coylumbridge Hotel, Aviemore
In March 2020, the Britannia-owned Coylumbridge Aviemore Hotel earned widespread criticism for their response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This consisted of firing approximately 30 staff without notice or redundancy pay; additionally, those employees who lived in hotel accommodation as part of their jobs were evicted with immediate effect, with several made homeless
Britannia Hotels was founded in 1976 with the purchase of the Britannia Country House Hotel in Didsbury, Manchester. Its Chief Executive, founder, and largest shareholder remains Alex Langsam. Langsam is a non-domiciled taxpayer, registered as living in Austria for tax-purposes since 1999.[5] His net personal worth was valued at £90 million in 2013 by The Sunday Times.[6]
Its head office is based in the old town hall in Hale, Manchester. A large cluster of the company's hotels are located in and around Manchester.
Soon after its foundation Britannia began making a number of further acquisitions.
The second purchase in 1981 was a derelict listed building in central Manchester (the former Watts Warehouse standing on Portland Street, Manchester). After redeveloping the unit it opened in May 1982 as the Britannia Hotel Manchester. At the end of 1982 British Rail sold off its hotel division - British Transport Hotels. From this sale, in 1983 Britannia bought the Britannia Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool.
In 1987 Britannia Hotels converted an unused building in Manchester that had been the city's C&A department store - this became the Sachas Hotel.[7][8] Later in the same year Bosworth Hall, a country house style hotel in Market Bosworth Leicestershire, was purchased. Bosworth Hall was being converted from a hospital/nursing home into a hotel and Britannia took over the development from the builders who went bankrupt. In 1988 the company purchased and began development of the International Hotel adjacent to Canary Wharf in the London's Docklands. The hotel opened on 9 June 1992. A year later, Britannia took over a 187-bedroom hotel in Stockport. After a period of refurbishment the Britannia Stockport Hotel opened in 1993. In the summer of the same year the group also purchased the Europa Hotel situated close to Gatwick Airport.
In the following 10 years the group acquired 16 more hotels in locations such as Birmingham, Aberdeen and Newcastle. In November 2004 it acquired four hotels from the Grand Leisure Group: the Grand Hotel in Scarborough, the Grand Hotel in Llandudno, the Grand Burstin Hotel in Folkestone and the Grand Metropole in Blackpool. In January 2011, the company bought North West holiday camp business Pontins out of administration in a £18.5m deal which safeguarded about 1,000 jobs. Following the acquisition Britannia had to deal with a series of complaints.
From 2005 to 2015 the Group enjoyed its most rapid period of expansion acquiring 23 hotels - including the Palace Hotel in Buxton and the Basingstoke Country Hotel acquired from the Hotel Collection[17][18] and the Trecarn Hotel Torquay[19] and Cavendish Hotel in Eastbourne. In 2016, Britannia Hotels also purchased The Bromsgrove Hotel & Spa which was previously owned and operated by Hilton. Later in 2017, Britannia Hotels also acquired the Royal Hotel in Hull from the Mercure Hotel Group expanding the empire to 53 Hotels
Events
The 1988 Philip Saville film The Fruit Machine featured interior and main entrance scenes of the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, including a vertical pan shot past the lit marquee at night.
In 2008 as part of the Capital of Culture celebrations, a musical based on the Adelphi Hotel, written and directed by Phil Willmott, Once Upon A Time At The Adelphi, ran at the Liverpool Playhouse from 30 June until 2 August.[22]
Industry reception
In 2011, the Group Travel Awards declared Britannia to be the "Most Group-Friendly Hotel Chain or Group".[23] Two years later, The Institute of Customer Service recognised Pontins (one of Britannia's subsidiaries) as the Most Improved Organisation at the 2013 UK Customer Satisfaction Awards.[24]
Controversies
Britannia Hotels has been a subject of widespread criticism on many areas, such as hygiene and maintenance. In October 2019, consumer group Which? declared Britannia Hotels to be the worst hotel chain in the United Kingdom for the seventh consecutive year, despite a slight increase in the overall score (39%, compared to 35% in 2018).[2] Britannia Hotels had been at the bottom of the Which? hotel chain rankings since October 2013, when then-editor Richard Headland warned that other chains (such as Premier Inn) were undercutting Britannia with better service at similar prices.[3]
Hygiene and maintenance issues
In 2005 and 2006 the Grand Hotel in Scarborough and the Britannia Adelphi were investigated by the BBC over theft and hygiene.[25][26] In November 2014, an undercover investigation by the Liverpool Echo also found issues with the upkeep of both the exterior and interior of the Adelphi, warning that the ageing interiors and basic service placed Britannia Hotels at a disadvantage in the fast-evolving "cut-throat" tourism industry.[27] However, Which? journalists found the Britannia Lodge (near Gatwick airport) to be in a worse condition, reporting smells of damp because of a clogged ventilation fan, a bathroom affected by mould, and stains that only show up under ultraviolet light.[2]
Oyster.com, a hotel research and booking site, has also reviewed a number of Britannia Hotels. The website commended most of the reviewed locations for their proximity to city centres or public transport hubs,[28] as well as efforts to renovate some rooms in the Manchester location,[29] but also raised concerns about outdated interiors, inconsistent maintenance, and Wi-Fi access fees,[30] the latter generally considered to be inappropriate in a country where the internet access is a major part of daily life.
Planning issues
In the mid-1980s, Alex Langsam, owner of the Britannia Hotel Group, acquired the Grade II* listed London Road Fire Station in Manchester. Proposals were made to redevelop it into a hotel and offices, however the plans were delayed and in 2006 it was placed on English Heritage's register of "at risk" historical buildings.[31] The city council attempted to compulsorily purchase the building[32] but on 29 November 2011, their proposal was rejected.[33] In 2015 Britannia announced their intention to sell the building. It was sold to Allied London in 2015 and renovation commenced in 2018 with the building to be redeveloped as a mixed-use comprising leisure and hotel facilities.[34]
Social issues
Amid increasing pressure against Britannia Hotels over poor cleanliness, The Independent reported in October 2014 that the Home Office temporarily rented rooms in three Britannia locations (two in Bournemouth and one in Folkestone) to house asylum seekers, because of overcrowding at the detention centres in London.[35] The Daily Telegraph reported that the Home Office also rented rooms for new refugees who were waiting for long-term housing.[4]
In December 2018, the Britannia Royal at Kingston upon Hull cancelled a charity reservation for rough sleepers on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, without giving a reason. The incident led to a significant escalation of general criticism against Britannia Hotels, who were then forced to temporarily remove their presence on social media.[36] Britannia Hotels currently uses Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for social media.
Legal issues
In September 2007, Manchester Crown Court fined Britannia Hotels £39,486 for food hygiene offences at the Britannia Hotel in Stockport, shortly after TripAdvisor rated it as one of Britain's dirtiest hotels.[37] In December 2014, the Nuneaton Justice Centre also fined Britannia Hotels £25,400 for food hygiene offences, at the Royal Court Hotel in Coventry.[38]
Britannia Hotels was also prosecuted for breaking health and safety laws, after a student drowned at the Adelphi.[39] In November 2015, the Liverpool Echo investigated a guest's complaints about the Adelphi[40] In June 2017, the Adelphi was prosecuted for breaches of food safety and hygiene regulations.[41] Further issues with the Adelphi have been reported since.[42][43][44] The Liverpool Echo visited the Company's headquarters in June 2019, in order to interview a spokesperson about the complaints, but no-one would see them.[45]
In 2013 the chain was successfully prosecuted for putting guests and construction workers at risk of asbestos fibre exposure at the Grand Burstin Hotel in Folkestone.[46]
Coylumbridge Hotel, Aviemore
In March 2020, the Britannia-owned Coylumbridge Aviemore Hotel earned widespread criticism for their response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This consisted of firing approximately 30 staff without notice or redundancy pay; additionally, those employees who lived in hotel accommodation as part of their jobs were evicted with immediate effect, with several made homeless
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