Graham Grose, managing director of the Thurlestone Hotel in Devon, has been elected chairman of the National Executive of the British Hospitality Association (BHA).

Grose, previously vice chairman, succeeds David Williams, the managing director of the Ambassador Hotel in Llandudno.

Dudley Osborn, proprietor of the Weston Manor Hotel, Oxford, takes over as vice chairman.

Grose, who has been a member of the National Executive for five years, said: "The hospitality industry faces challenges which the BHA must continue to address, among them rising energy costs, the rising tide of regulations, and the possible introduction of a bed tax.

"We need to continue to argue the industry's case forcefully on behalf of both major groups and independent proprietors in Whitehall and elsewhere, in order to ensure ongoing investment, which is critical to the industry's future success."

Grose, who previously chairman of the BHA’s South Western Regional Committee, took over the Thurlestone Hotel in 1980, with his brother David, when his father died.

The hotel was opened in 1896 by his great grandfather and has been in the family ever since.

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