Activities
BDL is a hotel development and management company that operates in the budget, mid-market and deluxe sectors using brands licensed from the InterContinental Hotels Group and from Marriott.
It is owned by its four key directors: Louis Woodcock, Ewan Campbell, Stuart McCaffer and David Thompson.
Its portfolio comprises company-owned, limited service hotels; joint-venture properties; leased hotels; and third-party management contracts. The hotels are largely company-owned new-builds or new-builds owned by Mango Hotels, a joint venture between BDL and the Marcole property company, whose first project was the Crowne Plaza in Marlow.
BDL slimmed down to five hotels trading under four brands after selling 13 Express by Holiday Inn properties in November 2005.
The hotels operate under four franchised brands - Express by Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and Ramada Encore.
Timeline
- 1997: The group is set up to develop and operate new-build branded hotels.
- 2000: The group opens its first hotel, a Holiday Inn at Heathrow Airport, which it subsequently sells and leases back from Standard Life Investment Funds in January 2001.
- 2001: In September, BDL wins its first management contract, for the Howard Johnson hotel in Greenock, Renfrewshire. The hotel is converted into an Express by Holiday Inn in January 2002 under new owner Tritax. In December, BDL opens its first Crowne Plaza property, in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
- September 2003: In a departure from its usual approach, BDL buys five Express by Holiday Inn hotels from Eastlake Hospitality for £45m.
- 2004: BDL opens its first hotel bearing the Ramada Encore name in April, in west London. This was followed by a second in Swansea Bay in June, which is sold on the opening day to Pearl Hotels. BDL retains the management for an initial six months.
- June 2005: BDL puts eight Express by Holiday Inns on the market in a bid to raise £84m through a sale-and-leaseback deal. They included three Mango-owned hotels in Bedford, Hemel Hempstead and Newcastle.
- November 2005: BDL sells 13 Express by Holiday Inn hotels for £115m to private investor Somerston hotels, which becomes the UK's largest Express operator with 32 properties. The sale includes three Mango-owned properties in Bedford, Hemel Hempstead and Newcastle.
Operating data
Number of employees: about 400
Number of hotels: five
Express by Holiday Inn – one hotel
Greenock (managed for Tritax)
Holiday Inn – one hotel
London Heathrow (sale-and-leaseback)
Ramada Encore – one hotel
London West (Mango joint venture)
Crowne Plaza – two hotels
London-Docklands, Marlow (Mango joint ventures)
Strategy
“The company’s aim is to be one of the most respected hotel developers and management companies in the UK, providing an above-average return to its investors and driving budgeted profit to investors where the company operates a management contract.”
Source: BDL company website
Key directors
Managing director: Louis Woodcock
Sales and marketing director: Ewan Campbell
Finance director: Stuart McCaffer
Operations director: David Thompson
Clyde House
209 Govan Road
Glasgow
Lanarkshire
G51 1HG
Tel: 0141 419 3500
Fax: 0141 419 3501
E-mail:
Website: http://www.bdlmanagement.co.uk
BDL is a multi-brand franchisee whose properties are managed by BDL Management. They range from hotels owned by BDL Hotels and the Mango Hotels joint venture with Marcole, to leased and third-party properties.
Backing comes from institutions such as the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Allied Irish Bank, Anglo Irish and Irish Nationwide.
The group slimmed down its portfolio with the sale of 13 Express by Holiday Inns in December 2005. In 2006, BDL plans to open a new Ramada Encore in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, along with two new joint-venture Express hotels in Leeds and Doncaster.
