BET adds to training division with Style

BET's conference and training arm Style Conferences is going from strength to strength with the purchase of two more centres.

The services conglomerate, which also owns BET Catering Services, acquired Style Conferences for £70m two months ago. The business has now bought the 40-bedroom Theobalds Park Adult Residential and Training Centre at Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, from the London Borough of Enfield.

The site, which becomes Style's 19th training venue, will reopen after a two-year closure on 4 September.

Building society Abbey National has signed a deal for exclusive use on weekdays. The site has planning permission to add 78 bedrooms.

In the second deal, Style, together with training provider Peritas, is the preferred bidder to acquire and operate Eastwood Park NHS training and conference centre at Falfield, Gloucestershire.

It is understood Style would hold the freehold of the centre, while Peritas would be the lead training provider. The transfer of the tender is expected to be completed by November.

The 69-bedroom centre is currently owned by the regional health authority and has recently undergone a £100,000 refurbishment.

Style's marketing director Alastair Stewart told Caterer: "The new sites signal that Style is powering on even faster under its new ownership."

Style's next move may well be to expand overseas. BET owns a resorts management business in the USA and it is understood the company could fund expansion there as well as into Europe.

In February, the company paid £2.5m for the Minster Lovell Mill Conference Centre and Old Swan Hotel, at Minster Lovell, Oxfordshire.