Activities
Folio Hotels is a privately-owned operator of a collection of individual and eclectic three- and four-star hotels throughout the UK.
The group was founded in November 2004 by Nicholas Crawley, the former managing director of Regal/Corus Hotels and the Scotsman Hotel Group, together with Martyn Levitt, the former finance director of Firmdale Hotels. Charles Holmes, currently managing director of Four Pillars Hotels and previously with Regal/Corus hotels and Malmaison, became a non-executive director in February 2005.
The three directors own 100% of the company’s equity.
The group’s initial strategy has been to lease hotels which, to date, have largely been acquired by companies set up by property magnates Alan and Gary Landesberg and David and Elliott Rosenberg (who also own Admiral Taverns) and by Galliard Homes owner Simon Conway.
The hotels cater for both the leisure and the business market and the portfolio includes the 1,800-member Cedars health and fitness club in Richmond, Surrey.
The hotels are ‘lightly’ branded as the directors see good mileage in individually named and managed hotels which take on their own ‘hospitable personae’.
Timeline
- November 2004: Folio Hotels is founded by Nicholas Crawley and Martyn Levitt.
- February 2005: Folio Hotels leases five former Corus Hotels which were acquired for £50m by Leverguide, a company created by the Landesberg and Rosenberg families with Galliard Homes. The line-up includes the Richmond Hill and Richmond Gate hotels in Surrey, the nearby Cedars Health and Fitness Club, Makeney Hall hotel near Derby, Buckerell Lodge hotel in Exeter, and the Castle Inn hotel near Keswick in Cumbria.
- June 2005: Folio takes on the management contract of the St James’s Club in central London, following its £20m acquisition from owner Cyril Stein by the Rosenberg and Landesberg families through their purchasing vehicle Elanway. The club was originally set up in 1980 by Peter de Savary in partnership with Sean Connery and Michael Caine and became a full-service hotel in 2004. The plan is to renovate the property and transform it into one of London’s premier boutique hotels.
- July 2005: Folio takes on the management contract for the Harte & Garter hotel in Windsor, Berkshire, following its £9m acquisition from the Spirit Group by Leverguide. The plan is to re-develop the hotel into a first-rate four star hotel.
- November 2005: Folio acquires the lease of Highfield House hotel in Southampton, from Galliard Homes. It plans to work with Galliard to restore the former Queens Moat Houses property back to its four-star status.
- February 2006: Folio disposes of its lease on the Castle Inn hotel to Ivy House (Cumbria).
- February 2006: Crawley facilitates the £116m acquisition of 19 hotels from Corus Hotels by Washington Hotels, a company set up by the Landesberg and Rosenberg families in conjunction with Galliard Homes. Folio intends to lease 17 of these hotels from August 2006.
- March 2006: Folio takes on the management of the De La Bere hotel in Cheltenham, following its acquisition by Galliard Homes. Folio and Galliard plan to renovate the hotel and develop some apartments in the hotel grounds.
Financial snapshot
14 February 2005 to 31 December 2005
Turnover (excluding managed hotels): £13 million
Year ending 31 December 2006
Forecasted turnover (excluding managed hotels): £15 million
Operating data
Total number of properties: 9
Number of owned hotels: 5 (22 from August 2006)
Number of owned leisure clubs: 1
Number of managed hotels: 3
Number of owned bedrooms: 377
Number of managed bedrooms: 171
Number of employees: around 245 (excluding managed properties)
Leased hotels
Buckerell Lodge hotel, Exeter (54 bedrooms)
Makeney Hall hotel, near Derby (46 bedrooms)
Richmond Gate hotel, Richmond, Surrey (68 bedrooms)
Richmond Hill hotel, Richmond, Surrey (137 bedrooms)
Highfield House hotel, Southampton (72 bedrooms)
Managed hotels
Harte & Garter hotel, Windsor, Berkshire (58 bedrooms)
St James’s Club, London (43 bedrooms, 13 suites)
Hotel de la Bere, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (57 bedrooms)
Other properties
Cedars Health and Fitness Club, Richmond, Surrey
Strategy
“To create a group of generally four-star hotels which epitomise heartfelt hospitality.”
Source: company statement, May 2006
Chief executive
Nicholas Crawley
Key directors
Chairman: Nicholas Crawley
Managing director: Martyn Levitt
Non-executive director: Charles Holmes
Richmond Hill Hotel
Richmond Hill
Richmond upon Thames
Surrey
TW10 6RP
Tel: 020 8939 0266
Fax: 020 8939 0268
E-mail: martyn.levitt@foliohotels.com
Website: http://www.foliohotels.com
