Following on from a year littered with major national events, the hotel group has brought in new sales director Lynn Anderson to help drive business in the meetings and events sector .
“Twenty-twelve was a great year for celebrating British hospitality and we want to see the same continue into 2013,” said Anderson. “Whilst there has been increased interest in the UK from overseas visitors, there is also a greater sense of pride in our own homegrown talent across the nation.
“Staying in the UK is no longer the ‘second’ choice for business travellers and we see a great opportunity in this market. We are upgrading our facilities to a world-class standard and have a dedicated team of experts, who have the skills and knowledge to tailor-makegreat events for every client’s needs.”
Hotel refurbishments
De Vere Hotels has invested over £12m on a number of major renovations for iconic hotels Mottram Hall, The Grand Brighton, as well as lower-scale refurbishments to facilities in other properties including Oulton Hall in Leeds.
Cheshire country house Mottram Hall completes its 12-month refurbishment in March 2013, which includes a revamp of all 120 rooms, a set of new dedicated meeting and syndicate rooms and the restaurant and dining areas. A new leisure and spa club also opened in November 2012.
The Grand Brighton will complete a £5m makeover of the entire hotel, which includes the launch of new seafood restaurant GB1, which opened in February 2013 and a new luxury spa, due to open in March 2013. This follows the recent introduction of brand new conference and meeting rooms, accommodating up to 800 people, with dedicated breakout areas.
Positive change
Meanwhile, De Vere has brought in managing director Lynn Hood to oversee a multi-million-pound refurbishment of The Belfry hotelin the heart of the West Midlands.
Tony Dangerfield, the chief executive of sister brand De Vere Venues, recently told BigHospitality he expects a positive change next year in the economy to lead to growth of the corporate events and meetings markets for hotels and venues.
At the opening of the RHWL Architects-designed Orchard Hotel in Nottingham, Dangerfield revealed the company would be using the hotel and conference centre as a model for future new builds for De Vere Venues.