Peel lifts turnover and profit

Peel Hotels increased both turnover and pre-tax profits in the six months to 2 September. Turnover at the group's owned and managed hotels was up by 5.4% to £4.6m from £4.39m in 2000. Pre-tax profit rose by 43.1% to £734,028 from £512,887 in 2000.

Robert Peel, chairman and founder of the group, said that Peel had been able to achieve the strong results because of the locations of its hotels.

"We've been quite fortunate because the four hotels we own are in city centres," he said, "so we've not been hurt by foot-and-mouth and we don't really rely on tourism."

But Peel added that a domestic recession was a worry. Even before 11 September, things were looking gloomy for the industry, he added. "There was a demand dip," he said, "but it has been dipping for 11 or 12 months."

For now, however, business is good. Turnover at the group's four owned hotels saw an increase of 7.9%, with occupancy rising by 1.7% and average room rates up by 2.6%. This led to an increase in revenue per available room of 4.3% on the previous year.