The Jurys Hotels Group is to carry out a major expansion of its operations in Britain and, over the next 18 months, will invest almost £20 million sterling in two new "inn" hotels in Edinburgh and Manchester.
When the two new hotels open, it will expand the Jurys chain to 18 hotels, half of which will be the lower-cost "inns"; the remainder will be three, four, or five-star hotels. When the expansion is complete, it will bring total room numbers at Jurys hotels to more than 3,000.
Jurys chief executive, Mr Peter Malone, said Jurys wanted to extend its chain in Britain even further. "We would like another hotel in London and also look at good business cities like Leeds and Birmingham," he said. Financing the expansion presents no problem as Jurys had a gearing of less than 33 per cent at the end of its financial year last April.
The "inn" development in Edinburgh is in the heart of the Scottish capital and will involve the £4 million conversion of an office building on Jeffrey Street - between the Royal Mile and Princes Street - to a 190-bedroom hotel.
Planning permission has already been given for the conversion, for which Jurys will pay £3 million and its partners, Capital Land Holdings, will pay £1 million. When completed and open for business next June, Jurys will lease the hotel from Capital Land on a 25-year lease which carries a pre-determined rental schedule. The room rate will be in the region of £65.
"We are getting into Edinburgh at a very reasonable price and we know that the potential for a Jurys Inn in the location is tremendous," said Mr Malone, adding that the Edinburgh inn would generate "healthy" profits from year one.
Mr Malone said Edinburgh was a very attractive location for Jurys, as it was a commercial, sporting and tourist centre, with 14 festivals a year, substantial conference business and frequent rugby, soccer and athletic events.
"The tour operators with which we do business through our existing network of hotels will be particularly pleased that we can now do business in Edinburgh. It will enhance our cross-selling opportunities in Ireland and in our British-based properties. It will also complement our hotel in Glasgow," he said.
The Manchester development is substantially different, as it will involve Jurys building a 250-bedroom inn on a site in the city centre, close to the concert hall and exhibition centre. Jurys will not have any partner in this development and the hotel, including the site, will cost in the order of £16 million - about £56,000 a room.
The acquisition of the site depends on planning permission and Jurys hopes to get the go-ahead from the planners early next year and have the hotel open for business in May 1999.
Jurys currently has five three-star, four-star or five-star hotels in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford and four hotels in Britain in London, Glasgow, Bristol and Cardiff. The group has six low-cost inns in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Belfast and Limerick and plans to open another inn in London in May next year.
