Activities

Barceló Hotels and Resorts started life in 1994 as Paramount Hotels. It gained its current name in January 2008 after privately-owned Spanish hotel group Barceló signed a 45-year agreement to lease and manage the UK properties.

The group owns 20 four-star hotels in the UK with more than 2,700 bedroom, 220 conference and meeting rooms and 18 health and leisure clubs under the Bodysense brand. They include historic houses, grand city hotels and coastal properties.

The hotels are 49.9% owned by Dawnay Shore Hotels via its AIM-listed investment company Hotel Corporation. Dawnay Shore Hotels was set up in July 2004 to buy the then 13-strong chain by investment firms Shore Capital and Dawnay, Day.

Paramount was founded by Michael Purtill, the former managing director of Principal Hotels, following the failure of a £65m management buy-out bid when Principal went into receivership.

Barceló of Spain owns or operates more than 182 hotels across 15 countries in Europe, Latin America and the USA.

Timeline

• 1994: Paramount is founded in 1994 by Michael Purtill with the purchase of four hotels for around £16m – the Angel in Cardiff, Shrigley Hall in Cheshire, the Palace at Buxton and the Prince of Wales in Southport. Schroders Ventures, which takes a 75% stake in Paramount, provides 45% (or £7.35m) of the funding.
• 1995:  Paramount buys the Cheltenham Park hotel for around £5m.
• 1997: Malaysian-owned Advanced Synergy Berhad buys out Schroders’ 87% stake.
• June 1998: UK venture capitalist Alchemy Partners invests £27m in a £77m buy-out of Advanced Synergy’s stake and the acquisition of three former Forte hotels – the five-star Imperial in Torquay, the Blackpool Imperial and the Majestic in Harrogate.
• 1999: Paramount buys the Old Ship in Brighton for around £5.5m in March. In August, Alchemy provides £14m for the £57m takeover of Scottish Highland Hotels, which adds six two- and three-star hotels to the group.
• July 2000: Alchemy puts £6m in the pot towards the £12m acquisition of the Oxford Moat House hotel.
• 2001: Paramount sells its four-star, 52-bedroom Hellaby Hall hotel in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, for around £4m. It also offloads the Prince of Wales in Southport for around £5.75m.
• 2003:  In March, Paramount’s directors set up Quintessential Hotels (now Qhotels) which is also backed by Alchemy. Paramount manages the hotels in the Quintessential portfolio. In October, Alchemy puts its Paramount stake on the market for £250m.
• July 2004:  Dawnay Shaw Hotels, a vehicle set up by investment firms Shore Capital and Dawnay, Day, buys the 13-strong Paramount group for £215m. It acquires both Alchemy’s 87% stake and the remaining 13% held by Paramount management. Alchemy makes a £67m profit from its investment.
• January 2005: Paramount completes the takeover of three Hanover International hotels in Basingstoke, Hinckley and Daventry for £57m.
• June 2005: Dawnay Shore Hotels buys Walton Hall near Stratford upon Avon for £15.2m. The property, which has 132 timeshare units and leisure facilities, is to undergo a £10m conversion into a 200-bedroom hotel, conference centre and spa.
• December 2005: Dawnay Shore Hotels buys the four- and five-star Furlong Hotels group for £41m. The purchase includes the renowned Lygon Arms hotel in Worcestershire, Billesley Manor hotel near Stratford-upon-Avon, and Combe Grove Manor near Bath. It puts these hotels into a top-tier group - Paramount Signature hotels - and adds the Paramount name to its other hotels.
• February 2006: The group announces plans to add 200 new bedrooms to its 20 hotels, while the Lygon Arms hires celebrity chef Phil Vickery as consultant chef.
• September 2006: Paramount announces plans to triple the number of top-end Signature branded hotels to nine. Shrigley Hall, Walton Hall and Redworth Hall hotels are all earmarked for promotion after refurbishment. The group aims to expand to 4,000 bedrooms within five years.
• November 2006: Dawnay Shore Hotels hires financial advisers NM Rothschild & Sons and Shore Capital and Corporate to carry out a strategic review of the business that could see the hotels transferred into a REIT or sold.
• January 2007: A number of hotel groups and private equity firms are reportedly preparing offers of between £550m and £600m for Dawnay Shore Hotels. 
• April  2007: The group signs a three-year marketing deal with conservation body English Heritage, starting in May. It involves special events and short-break offers and discounts to English Heritage’s 270,000 members. 
• August 2007: Spanish hotel group Barceló signs a 45-year lease to manage the Paramount chain in a move that marks the conclusion of the nine-month strategic review and transforms Dawnay Shore Hotels into a hotel investment company. Privately-owned Barceló, which was founded in 1931, currently operates some 130 hotels with more than 35,000 bedrooms in 14 countries. The deal completes in September.
• January 2008: The UK hotels are rebranded as Barceló or Barceló Premium properties. The group also announces plans to revive its food and beverage operation with a new Mediterranean-themed menu devised in partnership with chef Phil Vickery.

Operating data

Number of UK hotels: 20 four-star hotels. Seven fall under the Barceló Premium banner.
Number of UK employees: more than 2,500
Number of UK bedrooms: 2,700
Number of UK conference and meeting rooms: 220
Number of UK Bodysense health and leisure clubs: 18

South
Barceló Basingstoke Country Hotel, Hampshire
Barceló Brighton Old Ship Hotel, Brighton
Barceló Combe Grove Manor,near Bath  Premium
Barceló Torquay Imperial Hotel

Central
Barceló Billesley Manor Hotel, Nr. Stratford-upon-Avon Premium
Barceló Cheltenham Park Hotel, Gloucestershire
Barceló Daventry Hotel, Northamptonshire
Barceló Hinckley Island Hotel, Leicestershire
Barceló Oxford Hotel
Barceló The Lygon Arms, Broadway, Worcestershire  Premium
Barceló Walton Hall, Wellesbourne, Warwickshire Premium

North
Barceló Blackpool Imperial Hotel
Barceló Buxton Palace Hotel, Derbyshire
Barceló Harrogate Majestic Hotel
Barceló Redworth Hall Hotel, Co. Durham Premium
Barceló Shrigley Hall Hotel, Cheshire Premium

Scotland
Barceló Edinburgh Carlton Hotel
Barceló Stirling Highland Hotel
Barceló Troon Marine Hotel Premium

Wales
Barceló Cardiff Angel Hotel

Strategy

The introduction of the Barceló brand in the UK is part of the company’s broader strategic plans to establish its position as a global hospitality company and gain increased recognition.Current refurbishment plans are proceeding under Barceló management and the  group aims to manage a total of 40 hotels in the UK within three years.

Source: company press release, February 2008

Chief executive

Charles Prew

Key directors

Chief operating director: Heiko Figge
Chief finance officer: Peter Procopis
Commercial director: Manju Goel

Dawnay Shore Hotels directors: Colin Campbell, Peter Klimt, Massimo Marcovecchio, Guy Naggar, Paul Rogers, Howard Shore

Contact

PO Box 8510
Hinckley
LE10 9AY

Tel: 0870 1688 833

Website: http://www.barcelo-hotels.co.uk