Activities

Radisson Edwardian Hotels is one of London’s largest privately-owned hotel group, operating a collection of luxury four- and five-star hotels in central London, Heathrow and Manchester.

It is owned by the Edwardian Group but has operated its hotels under the Radisson Edwardian banner since signing a marketing alliance with US-based Radisson Hotels Worldwide in 1992.

Timeline

• 1977: Jasminder Singh founds Edwardian Hotels with the acquisition of the Edwardian hotel in London (which is later sold). Further purchases include the Vanderbilt hotel in 1978 and the Savoy Court Hotel in 1979.
• 1982-5: In 1982, the group buys the Milton Court hotel (which is merged with the Vanderbilt), the Stratford Court hotel (which becomes the Berkshire hotel) and the Grafton hotel. It is followed by the Kenilworth hotel in 1983 and the Shaftesbury Court hotel (relaunched as the Mountbatten) in 1985.
• 1988-9: The group buys its first five-star property – the Hampshire hotel – in 1988. In 1989 it buys the Skyway hotel at Heathrow and renames it the Edwardian International.
• 1990: The Marlborough hotel joins the portfolio.
• 1992: The group forges a 20-year marketing partnership with Radisson Hotels Worldwide (part of USA-based Carlson Hospitality Group) in which the company and the hotels take on the Radisson Edwardian name. Under the deal, Radisson Edwardian retains total control over pricing and strategy.
• 1994: Radisson Edwardian buys the Pastoria hotel, which is next door to the Hampshire hotel.
• 1999: The Vanderbilt hotel reopens after a major refurbishment that boosts its rating from three to four stars. 
• January 2003: Radisson Edwardian becomes a founding member of the Westminster CCTV Trust, linking its CCTV cameras with those of the police to make the West End and Camden safer for guests, staff and locals. 
• May 2003: The three-star Savoy Court is relaunched as the four-star Sussex hotel in May after a £6m refurbishment.
• August 2003: The group buys the May Fair InterContinetal for £115m and announces a £40m refurbishment.
• 2004: The group renews and extends its franchise agreement with Radisson by 10 years.
• June 2004: The £43m Radisson Edwardian Manchester opens Free Trade Hall. The property, which is managed by Radisson Edwardian, is arguably the city’s first five-star hotel and the group’s first beyond London.
• May 2006: Radisson Edwardian and developer Oakmoor Deeley announce plans to create a £40m, 184-bedroom within the £130m Belgrade Plaza development in Coventry. The five-star hotel, which will house 12,000 sq ft of conference and banqueting space, is scheduled to open in 2009 to become the company's second hotel outside London.
• September 2007: Property developer Ballymore opens a four-star, 169-bedroom luxury hotel in London's New Providence Wharf under the management of Radisson Edwardian, which announced the contract win in April 2005.

Operating data

The company operates 13 hotels, 12 in London and one in Manchester.

Nine of the hotels have a four-star rating, while four (the Hampshire, the Heathrow, the May Fair and Manchester hotels) have five stars.

All hotels are owned, apart from the Manchester and New Providence Wharf properties, which are managed. The group has the leasehold on three hotels (the Grafton, the Sussex and the Vandebilt) and holds the freeholds for the remainder.

London hotels
Radisson Edwardian Berkshire  
Radisson Edwardian Grafton
Radisson Edwardian Hampshire
Radisson Edwardian at Heathrow
Radisson Edwardian Kenilworth
Radisson Edwardian Marlborough
Radisson Edwardian May Fair
Radisson Edwardian Mountbatten
Radisson Edwardian Pastoria
Radisson Edwardian New Providence Wharf hotel (managed)
Radisson Edwardian Sussex
Radisson Edwardian Vanderbilt hotels 

Regional hotels
Radisson Edwardian Hotel Manchester (managed)

Number of employees: 1,500

Strategy

“When, in 1992, Edwardian formed the partnership with Radisson to become Radisson Edwardian Hotels, we still kept our own individuality as a privately-owned company, offering a unique guest experience and attitude, and at the same time accessed the global marketing strengths of the Radisson group.”

Source: company statement

Key directors

Chairman: Jasminder Singh
Executive director: Herinder Singh
Director of finance: Shashi Shah
Commercial development director: Iype Abraham
Operations director:s: Paul Mansi, Mike O'Connor
Commercial director: David Tilley
Marketing director: Linda Plant
Director: Robert Morley

Contact

140 Bath Road
Hayes
Middlesex
UB3 5AW

Tel: 020 8759 6311

Website: http://www.radissonedwardian.com

Commentary

As the company name suggests, Radisson Edwardian hotels are inspired by the art, culture and innovation of the Edwardian period and they aim to provide luxury combined with comfort rather than stuffy formality.

The opening of the Manchester hotel in late 2004 marked the group’s first move outside the M25 and the property remained its only managed property until 2007 -  although it was not its first. In the early days, it sold the Vandebilt and Savoy Court (now the Sussex) to international bank BCCI. It continued to manage them for BCCI until the bank collapsed in the early 1990s and the group subsequently bought the leaseholds on the properties.

It took on its second management contract in 2007 when developer Ballymore opened a new four-star hotel in London’s Canary Wharf. A third managed property is due to open in Coventry in 2009 to become the group's second property outside London.

Founder Jasminder Singh’s £350m fortune assures him regular appearances in both the Sunday Times Rich List and the Asian Rich List.

In the pipeline

• A partnership with the 7th Duke of Northumberland to build a 154-bedroom deluxe hotel with extensive conference facilities on the Syon Estate in West London.
• The group is also seeking planning permission for a 145-bedroom hotel on a site it owns in Guildford, Surrey.