£100m boost for Queens Moat Houses

Salvaged hotel group QMH is planning a £100m refurbishment programme to reignite the company's fortunes.

The 20-strong former Queens Moat Houses group will discontinue the Moat House brand, but will spend more than £50m upgrading its portfolio.

Richard Moore, managing director of QMH, said: "It's great to have the money to put in and overcome the perception of underinvestment. We will end up with one of the strongest portfolios in the UK."

Plans are under way to add 28 rooms to the Reading property in 2006-07 and a further 50 in Solihull and Stratford in 2007.

Since the company was rescued from insolvency two years ago by Whitehall 2001, a takeover vehicle for investment bank Goldman Sachs, QMH has changed its structure from owner-operator to franchisee.

Currently, 18 sites have been converted or are in the process of being converted to Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Best Western brands. Only two properties, Cambridge Garden House and Oakley Court hotel in Windsor, will remain independent QMH properties.