BDL Management founder Louis Woodcock dies
Louis Woodcock, the founder and chairman of BDL Management, has died suddenly following a two-year battle with cancer.
Despite his illness, Woodcock continued to work in the business - launched in 1997 - which today owns and manages 47 hotels in the UK across several brands including Ramada Encore, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza.
A fellow of the Hotel and Catering Institutional Management Association, now the Institute of Hospitality, Woodcock worked in his earlier career with Forte, Grand Metropolitan and Queens Moat. In 1995 he founded Adams Hotels to develop hotels in Scotland, before co-founding BDL.
From 1999 to 2009, Woodcock developed 24 new-build hotels under brands belonging to InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Wyndham Hotels, including the Crowne Plaza Marlow, Holiday Inn London Heathrow, Staybridge Suites Liverpool and Crowne Plaza London Docklands. Since then BDL has concentrated on third-party management contracts.
Last year the company took over the management of nine Ramada hotels from Jarvis Hotels.
Woodcock was a past chairman of IHG's IAHI board for Europe, and was also a past chairman of both the Holiday Inn and the Crowne Plaza owners' committees.
He leaves a wife, Carol, and two sons, Daniel and Anthony. The funeral service is open to everyone who ever knew Louis Woodcock and will take place on Monday 17 September. Further details are available from Shona Watters at shona.watters@bdlhotels.co.uk.
The family have requested no flowers, but instead would prefer to hear stories and memories about Woodcock, which should be e-mailed to marketing.admin@bdlhotels.co.uk,
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By Janet Harmer
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