McCarthy heads for Middle East

SHAUN McCarthy is leaving as general manager of Manchester's Crowne Plaza hotel in October after 14 years.

McCarthy told hotel owner Bass two years ago that he was interested in a new challenge overseas. Bass has offered three options to McCarthy, all of them in the Middle East, and he will make his choice in the next two weeks.

McCarthy was general manager of the Gresham Hotel in Dublin from 1981 to 1983 before moving to the Liverpool Holiday Inn in 1984. The following year, he moved to what was then the Midland Hotel in Manchester, which Bass now calls the Midland Crowne Plaza.

McCarthy's move will coincide with an internal restructuring of Bass hotels in the UK that will see Inter-Continental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Garden Courts move under the same management on 4 October, instead of separate brand management.

McCarthy will be replaced in Manchester by Robert Dodwell, regional manager for Bass in Benelux, based as general manager at the Crowne Plaza at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam.