Hotel chain Jurys Inn has become part of a newly formed hotel investment and hospitality group, Amaris Hospitality.
Amaris Hospitality, which is owned by private equity firm Lone Star, comprises 89 hotels, from four separate portfolios acquired by Lone Star over the last two years, trading under brands such as Jurys Inn, Mercure, MGallery, DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn.
The Group currently has 29 Jurys Inn hotels, 21 Mercure hotels, 17 Hotel Collection hotels, 3 Hilton hotels. Later this month, on 30 July, 19 provincial hotels currently operating under the Thistle hotel brand will join the group.
Earlier this year the Jurys Inn chain was bought by Lone Star for approximately €910m.
Jurys Inn CEO John Brennan has been appointed CEO of the group.
Mr Brennan said he was pleased by the announcement and that the group was “in a unique position to leverage and capitalise on the economic recovery and the considerable opportunities emerging in the UK mid and upper market hotel sector.
“I very much look forward to working with our owners and the people across our hotels to realise the significant ambition we have for Amaris Hospitality,” Mr Brennan said.
“We will provide active strategic leadership and a common philosophy to the hotel assets and brands in our portfolio, centred around smart investment, active management, nurturing talent and delivering exceptional customer experiences to drive superior performance and growth.”
Jurys Inn CFO Cormac Ó Tighearnaigh has been appointed CFO and Deputy CEO of Amaris, with specific responsibility for integration and development. Jennifer Lee has been appointed Chief People Officer and Darren Guy, Group Director of Finance.
Amaris has over 15,000 rooms, employs over 8,000 people and its business divisions have combined sales totalling more than £450m.
Lone Star said it intended to commit over £100m of capital investment in the refurbishment, rebranding and transformation of the group’s portfolio.
As part of a new strategy being developed for the group, a number of hotels will be rebranded, and the number of Jurys Inn-branded hotels is expected to increase.
Rothschild has been appointed to advise on the structure of Amaris Hospitality, the strategic review of its portfolio and the roll out of its business plan over the coming years.
The remaining hotels will be retained by Lone Star and operate as a portfolio of individual UK provincial hotels trading as The Hotel Collection, led by current Managing Director Peter Manby, and will not form part of Amaris Hospitality in the long term.
