Staff jobs are in doubt at Consort andBest Western

Staff working at the head offices of the Consort and Best Western hotel consortia are this week facing interviews to see if they are to keep their jobs.

The two consortia have already announced that there will be job losses if the two groups merge as planned (Caterer, 11 February, page 9).

The new headquarters will be based in York, at Consort's head office, while Best Western's Kingston upon Thames sitewill close.

An outside recruitment specialist has been brought in to interview staff to decide if they will be reappointed to the new merged group. The result of the vote on whether the merger will go ahead will be known on1 March.

Although it is still unclear how many jobs will lost, the posts most at risk are those where both groups have someone doing the same job.