David Hayes has resigned after 12 years as chief executive of the Best Western Hotels GB consortium. 

Hayes, who has opted for semi-retirement, has served as chief executive of Best Western since 1999, when it merged with rival consortium Consort Hotels. Hayes was chief executive at Consort from 1993. 

Chairman Russell Imrie and deputy chairman Rhys Roberts will oversee the six-strong senior management team while a replacement for Hayes is sought. During this search, Best Western will appoint an interim general manager. 

A spokeswoman denied rumours that Hayes’s departure was linked to an external strategic review of the business that could see the departure of other senior managers. “There was nothing in the review to suggest that anybody else is to go,” she told Caterer.

Best Western is a group of more than 300 independently-owned and managed hotels in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands.

By Angela Frewin

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