Four quit Minotel over consortium's direction

Four key staff, including two directors, have resigned from Minotel amid rumblings of dissatisfaction over the marketing consortium's performance.

It is understood the consortium lost between 35 and 38 hotel members last year. Members are unhappy that the guides appear later in the year than other guides, and that an alleged one-third of last year's guides have not been distributed. They are also concerned at the long time it is taking to set up a UK members' Web site.

The board defectors, who have also taken their hotels out of the consortium, are Robin Twigge, who owns the Park hotel at Diss, Norfolk, and deputy chairman and company secretary Carl Les, owner of the Lodge at Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire. Marketing executive Catherine Swarbrick and client services manager Steve Groom have also resigned.

Both directors said they were unhappy at the direction the consortium was taking. Les added that he was concerned about the speed of reforming its management culture, which he felt was too "top-down", and also the service to members.

John Searancke, managing director at Minotel, said the number of hotels which had left was significantly fewer than claimed, but he was unwilling to specify numbers without talking to the board.

Searancke did not know how many of last year's guide were in storage.

By Angela Frewin