Caterer & Hotelkeeper 7 July 1
APART from signing a couple of management contracts with BAA, it has been many years since Ladbroke bought a hotel for its Hilton National brand in the UK.
That acquisition drought was quenched last week with the £8.675m purchase of the 149-bedroom Milton Keynes Hotel and Conference Centre from the receiver at KPMG Peat Marwick.
Tony Thompson was appointed receiver of the three-year old property in July 1993 following the sudden demise of its then owner, Cranfield Conference Services (CCS).
CCS was a joint venture between venture capital group 3i and CIT Holdings, which managed the commercial activities of Cranfield Institute of Technology.
Mr Thompson said the receivership became necessary when CIT terminated the lease held by CCS on the 49-bedroom Sudbury House Hotel and Conference Centre in Oxfordshire and the 112-bedroom Cranfield Conference Hotel on the institute's campus.
The sudden loss of the two contracts coupled with financial losses at the Milton Keynes Hotel forced 3i to call in the receiver. Sudbury House ceased trading and is now in liquidation while the Cranfield hotel was taken back by CIT Holdings.
"This receivership came about from very peculiar circumstances," Mr Thompson told Caterer earlier this week. "Cranfield was involved in a number of ways - shareholder, landlord and creditor to CCS."
Mr Thompson said that during its year in receivership the Milton Keynes Hotel had been transformed into a successful customer-focused operation, generating significant operating profits.
The location of the hotel, within easy access of junctions 13 and 14 of the M1, gives it strategic importance to the Hilton National brand.
John Bamsey, Hilton National's managing director, said the purchase would strengthen the company's presence in the Heart of England and provide customers with a new venue between its existing hotels in Watford and East Midlands Airport.
Hilton plans to spend £1m on the property, increasing the number of meeting rooms and upgrading the restaurant and leisure club.
The Milton Keynes acquisition, plus the opening of a new hotel in Swindon this autumn, will take the Hilton National brand up to 25 hotels.
