Thistle Hotels

Thistle Hotels

Infobox Company
company_name = Thistle Hotels
company_
company_type = Private
foundation = 1965
location = Uxbridge, England
key_people = Tim Scoble CEO
Quek Leng Chan Chairman
Steve Bailey CFO
area_served = United Kingdom
industry = Hospitality
products =
revenue = £287m (2004)
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
parent = [http://www.bilgroup.com BIL International Ltd]
subsid =
homepage = http://www.thistlehotels.com
footnotes =

Thistle Hotels is a UK-based hotel company with a portfolio of forty one hotels, operating in the three and four star sector. It is the sixth largest hotel chain in the UK by bedroom numbers (10,000), but the largest hotel chain in London. It has six hotels in Scotland (three in Aberdeen, and one each in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness) and one in Wales (Cardiff).

It has hotels at the airports of East Midlands, Heathrow, and Aberdeen.

History

It was set up by Scottish & Newcastle in 1965, to combine its own traditional legacy hotels with purpose built hotels. Mount Charlotte Investments bought thirty four Thistle hotels from S&N, and acquired the Thistle brand name for £645m in November 1989. Debt acquired from the transaction surrogated Mount Charlotte Investments with no choice but to be taken over by Brierley Investments of New Zealand for £664m in 1990.

In 1997, the company floated on the Stock Exchange, to become Thistle Hotels plc, valued at £620m. In September 1998, it sold 30 provincial hotels to Grace Hotels (owned by the Lehman Brothers investment bank) for £62.7m, becoming managed by Peel Hotels. In July 1999, it sold the Charles Dickens Hotel in London to the [http://www.gresham-hotels.com Ryan Hotel Group] for £20m. In June 2002, it initially sold 37 of its hotels to Orb Estates of Jersey for £598m, continuing to manage the propeties, but the hotels are eventually sold to Atlantic Hotels for £700m and being operated under the Thistle name. In June 2003, the company was bought for £627m by BIL International, a private equity company based in Singapore owned by the Hong Leong Group and the majority shareholder since 1990. BIL is actually, for accountancy purposes, registered in Bermuda. Thistle Hotels was delisted from the London Stock Exchange. In 2004, it opened its Cumberland Hotel in London after a £95 million renovation, which operated under the [http://www.guoman.com Guoman] deluxe brand. In May 2005, it sold six hotels to the [http://www.topland.co.uk Topland Group] under a leaseback deal for £185m.

It used to be based on "The Calls" in Leeds, then moved to Uxbridge.

In 2004, budget hotel company Travelodge bought two Thistle Hotels in London.

Thistle Hotels is currently under going a re-branding in order to maintain consistency across the group.

Thistle Cardiff The Parc has now re-opened after being closed for 17 months due to fire and has been refurbished throughout

Management

The CEO, Tim Scoble, was the CEO of Little Chef for two years from 2004-6.

Guoman brand

It operates three luxury hotels in London under this brand, namely the Thistle Tower Hotel and the [http://www.guoman.com/guoman/hotels/hotelFinder/viewHotel.do?hotelID=gu-cumberland Cumberland Hotel] in Marble Arch and the Thistle Charing Cross. The Royal Horseguards, Thistle Victoria and the Thistle Marble Arch hotels are planned to be converted to the exclusive brand.

External links

* [http://www.thistle.com Thistle Hotels]
* [http://www.guoman.com Guoman Hotels]
* [http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/hotels-national/thistle-hotels-in-general/reviews Review at DooYoo]
* [http://travel.ciao.co.uk/Thistle_Euston_London__6267335 Two reviews of the Thistle Euston at Ciao!]

News items

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/6216937.stm Thistle Cardiff damaged by an arson attack in December 2006]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1854123.stm Tourism downturn hits Thistle Hotels in 2002]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Thistle Hotel Middlesbrough (Middlesbrough) — Thistle Hotel Middlesbrough country: United Kingdom, city: Middlesbrough (Town Centre) Thistle Hotel Middlesbrough Location Thistle Middlesbrough is located in the centre of Middlesbrough and is also close to the historic towns of Whitby and… …   International hotels

  • Thistle Brands Hatch Hotel Dartford (Dartford) — Thistle Brands Hatch Hotel Dartford country: United Kingdom, city: Dartford (West Kingsdown) Thistle Brands Hatch Hotel Dartford Location Thistle Brands Hatch is uniquely located in the 500 acre parkland of the world famous Grand Prix Circuit and …   International hotels

  • Thistle Hotel Edinburgh (Edinburgh) — Thistle Hotel Edinburgh country: United Kingdom, city: Edinburgh (City: Princes Street) Thistle Hotel Edinburgh Location Ideally positioned in the heart of the city, the Thistle Hotel Edinburgh is located just off Princes Street and is also only… …   International hotels

  • Thistle Hotel Liverpool (Liverpool) — Thistle Hotel Liverpool country: United Kingdom, city: Liverpool (City Centre) Thistle Hotel Liverpool Location Located on Liverpool s famous waterfront, the Thistle Hotel is adjacent to the magnificent Liver Buildings and close to the Albert… …   International hotels

  • Thistle Victoria Hotel London (London) — Thistle Victoria Hotel London country: United Kingdom, city: London (Victoria) Thistle Victoria Hotel London A classical property dating from 1854, Thistle Victoria Hotel London, situated in midtown adjacent to Victoria Station, is elegant and… …   International hotels

  • Thistle Hotel Birmingham Edgbaston (Birmingham) — Thistle Hotel Birmingham Edgbaston country: United Kingdom, city: Birmingham (Edgbaston) Thistle Hotel Birmingham Edgbaston Location Thistle Birmingham Edgbaston hotel is just a short distance from the city centre and offers easy access to the… …   International hotels

  • Thistle Court Hotel Edinburgh (Edinburgh) — Thistle Court Hotel Edinburgh country: United Kingdom, city: Edinburgh (City Centre) Thistle Court Hotel Edinburgh Built in the 1850s, the Thistle Court Hotel Edinburgh is an elegant Victorian town house situated just a short walk from Edinburgh… …   International hotels

  • Thistle Hotel Exeter (Exeter) — Thistle Hotel Exeter country: United Kingdom, city: Exeter (Centre) Thistle Hotel Exeter Thistle Hotel is situated in the heart of historic Exeter, easily reached from the M5 motorway and the the central train station. Close by are beautiful… …   International hotels

  • Thistle Hotel Inverness (Inverness) — Thistle Hotel Inverness country: United Kingdom, city: Inverness (Suburban) Thistle Hotel Inverness Location Situated only 1 mile from Inverness the capital of the Highlands, the Thistle Hotel is placed within easy reach of Loch Ness. The hotel… …   International hotels

  • Thistle Hotel Irvine (Irvine) — Thistle Hotel Irvine country: United Kingdom, city: Irvine (Outskirts) Thistle Hotel Irvine Location Located just outside the town, the Thistle Hotel Irvine is a great place to stay and discover the area. Whilst in Irvine you can visit The Big… …   International hotels

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”