The Bridges have been running Birchover for the past two and a half years, with revenues trebling over that time. The business comprises 70 apartments, spread between two sites in Derby.
And, following a successful festive period, Carl revealed the pair are already in talks with landowners in other cities to begin a gradual expansion.
“It was our busiest Christmas period ever,” he told BigHospitality. “We were almost full most of the time, which was previously unheard of.
“Now, we definitely want to grow. There isn’t a national hotel apartment brand out there but there’s potential for there to be one and we’d like to think we have a fairly good chance of doing that.
Avoiding London
“We’re financially able to do it. It won’t be rapid but we think we can do it at a fair pace. The expansion will definitely be outside of London – the capital’s very competitive for this industry, let alone for hotels generally.
“We haven’t got a defined aim but I’d like to think that in five years’ time we’d be anywhere between five and fifteen other towns and cities in the UK.”
Birchover Hotel Apartments includes 30 apartments at Allestree - its budget offering with apartments starting from £69 a night – and 40 apartments at the higher end Darley Abbey, with prices ranging from £99 to £189 and every property including its own sauna.
The business, which was previously owned by John Gould since its inception 20 years ago, has risen from 26th to 1st on TripAdvisor for hotels in Derby under the stewardship of the new owners.
Wow factor
Carl attributes the success to “a really great value offering. We offer a competitive rate for the apartments, given their size and the fact that they have saunas, free parking and free Wifi.
“This gives a real wow factor when guests arrive for the first time and much of our success has been built on long-term bookings and regular business from corporate guests who stay every week, in addition to leisure guests who return time after time. The reviews on independent websites do the job for us really.”
The new company will be called Birchover Hotel Apartments Limited, with David Nelson of Smith Cooper leading the negotiations.
Carl and Lisa Bridge, who previously had no experience working in hospitality, also have there hand in Birchover’s sister company, Bay Tree Apartments, which includes another 11 boutique properties in Derby city centre.