Richard Lewis appointed chief executive at Best Western

Interchange and Consort Hotels, the parent brand of Best Western Great Britain, Beacon Purchasing and Innfutures, has appointed Richard Lewis as chief executive.

Lewis takes on his new role, based at the company's central office in York, with over 35 years' experience in the hospitality and travel industries.

Previous senior roles have included being managing director of the Preferred Hotel Group, Europe, Middle East and Africa; chief operating office of WorldRes; vice-president hotel distribution, Turner Broadcasting CNN International; and international marketing operations director, Forte and Le Meridien Hotels.

After completing a four-year management training course with the Savoy Hotel Group, London, Lewis worked in a number of operational roles in the UK, Libya, Egypt and Malta.

Lewis said he was delighted to be joining Interchange & Consort Hotels and was looking forward to driving forward Best Western's "hotels with personality" strategy and enhancing the online capability of Beacon.

"The achievements of Best Western over the past two years have been particularly encouraging with hotel revenue increasing by 20% in the first half of this year alone," he said.

"We are determined to invest in our people and our businesses for the benefit of our hotels, their guests and all our customers and business partners."

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By Janet Harmer

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