Activities

Marston Hotels - the operator of a group of four-star hotels that started life as an offshoot of builder JW Marston in the 1940s - was acquired by Qhotels in November 2006..

Timeline

• 1940s: Stade Court hotel in Hythe, Kent, becomes the first Marston hotel. It evolves out of four derelict cottages converted into flats by builder WJ Marston in 1938, and is sold in February 2004.
• 1982: Current chairman and managing director Chris Scragg comes on board as general manager of the Hythe Imperial to improve the poor performance of the fledgling group of three hotels.
• 1990: After the opening of Bridgewood Manor, Marston Hotels Limited is set up to bring together the four hotels (Stade Court, The Hogarth, the Hythe Imperial and Bridgewood Manor). Scragg becomes managing director of the new company.
• April 2000: Marston Hotels demerges from WJ Marston Holdings to become a fully independent company.
• September 2004: Marston Hotels is put on the market for an estimated £175m following an earlier approach by Dawnay Shore Hotels, that fell through.
• November 2004: Despite interest from more than 50 finance houses and hotel operators, the majority of shareholders decide that a sale is not the right route to follow.
• March 2005: Marston sells the Chester Crabwall Manor, Coulsdon Manor and Lansdown Grove hotels to Swallow Hotels after deciding to focus on larger, four-star hotels with conference and leisure facilities.
• April 2005: Marston sells its three-star Winchester Royal hotel to Forestdale Hotels for around £3m.
• November 2005: A £30m refinancing and share buy-back package secured with Barclays Bank and the Allied Irish Bank buys in 45% of the company's shares. As a result the Marston family, the hotel management team and the remaining shareholders boost their stake from 55% to 100%.  The deal provides £17m for refurbishment and expansion.
• February 2006: The group opens its 12th hotel, the £16m new-build Nottingham Belfry.
• November 2006: Marston's hotels and its Reflections health and leisure brand is acquired for £180m by the nine-strong Qhotels group that was set up in 2003 by Michael Purtill, Ian Goulding and David Taylor in partnership with investment company Alchemy Partners.  
  

Operating data

Number of hotels: 12

The hotels

Aldwark Manor, York
Bridgewood Manor, Chatham, Kent
Cambridge Belfry, Cambridgeshire
Crewe Hall, Cheshire
Hampshire Centrecourt, Basingstoke, Hampshire
Hellidon Lakes, Daventry, Northampton
Hythe Imperial, Kent
Nottingham Belfry, Nottinghamshire
Oxford Belfry, Oxfordshire
Stratford Manor, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
Stratford Victoria, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
Tankersley Manor, Barnsley, South Yorkshire

All hotels are company-owned except the Stratford Victoria, Cambridge Belfry and Nottingham Belfry, which are leased under varying arrangements.