Catesby joins Friendly

Former Swallow Hotels chief executive Peter Catesby has joined the board of Friendly Hotels as a non-executive director after his contract with Whitbread expired last month.

Catesby, who had been on gardening leave following the £578m takeover of the Swallow chain by Whitbread in November 1999, said his role would be advisory.

He did not rule out taking more similar positions in the catering and hotel industry in future.

Meanwhile, Whitbread is still trying to sell off 12 former Swallow properties it inherited as part of its takeover of the 38-strong chain.

According to Insignia Hotel Partners, the company handling the sale, negotiations are continuing with a number of interested parties.

The hotels are being offered for sale as a group, with a value more than £70m.

Insignia's managing director, Derek Gammage, was hopeful there would be an announcement shortly.

Catesby himself put in a bid to buy the hotels at an early stage of the auction, but it was rejected as too low.