Buchanan to join Scotsman group
ANDREW Buchanan, former general manager of the St David's Hotel and Spa in Cardiff Bay, is joining the Scotsman Hotel Group.
Buchanan left Rocco Forte's five-star, 136-bedroom hotel in November, less than a year after it opened (Caterer, 18 November 1999, page 5).
He has been appointed director of operations for the Scotsman Hotel group and general manager of the Scotsman hotel in Edinburgh, and will join the company on 1 April.
In September last year, Charles Vere Nicoll, former chairman of Regal Hotel Group, joined forces with Jonathan Wix, owner of townhouse hotel 42 The Call in Leeds, to form the Scotsman Hotel group.
Wix bought Edinburgh's Scotsman building, long-time headquarters of the national newspaper, in early 1998 from the Barclay brothers. The building is empty and work will begin next month on converting it into a 68-bedroom luxury hotel. It will be the group's flagship property and is expected to open in spring 2001.
The company will use an initial £90m secured from venture capitalist Botts & Company and the Bank of Scotland. It has plans to open about 12 hotels in key cities in the UK and Europe. Buchanan will be responsible for all the UK hotels.
Cities where the group says it wants hotels include Glasgow, London, Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham, Milan, Barcelona, Prague and Paris.
Managing director Nicholas Crawley said: "We are not going to rush into anything. We will only buy things if they are the right price."
by Louise Bozec
