BHA's new chairman vows to uphold the interests of smaller businesses

ALAN Parker, managing director of the Whitbread Hotel Company, has promised not to overlook small private businesses in his new role as chairman of the British Hospitality Association (BHA).

He succeeds Trevor Forecast, owner of Congham Hall Country House Hotel in Norfolk, who has retired after two years as chairman.

Last year the BHA upset small hoteliers when it formed its lobby group the BHA Council, in which Forecast was the only independent operator among 15 members (Caterer, 11 June 1998, page 9).

Parker, who started his career in the hospitality industry in his family's restaurant in London, said: "The interests of the private hotelier and caterer are very dear to my heart and will in no way be diminished."

The association's new vice-chairman is Peter Taylor, managing director of the Town House Company in Edinburgh.