The JurysDoyle hotel group plans to expand its chain of inns around Britain, locating in city centres and satellite towns. It also wants to expand along the east coast of the US and into eastern Europe, its chairman, Mr Walter Beatty, told the group's a.g.m. in Dublin yesterday.
He also said the group's performance in the first three months of the year was up to expectations and ahead of the same period last year. Barring unforeseen circumstances, he expected another year of good growth. The group had undoubtedly benefited from the scale and critical mass which had been achieved following the successful integration of the enlarged group, he said.
Mr Patrick McCann, group chief executive, said it was unlikely there would be further expansion in the Republic. He believed the mix of hotels and inns and locations had given sufficient coverage. But he said there was no sign of any slowing down of trade. While delighted with the performance of the Belfast inn, now open for 3 1/2 years, at the moment there were no plans for further development but the group was "keeping an open mind" on it.
Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary were the countries the group was investigating for new locations in Europe. Mr Stan Cooney, who had retired as a director of the group, would continue his association with JurysDoyle on a consultancy basis, advising on further acquisitions.
The chairman, in response to shareholders' questions, said the 240-bed inn in Croydon, south London, was being developed and he said the group hoped to concentrate on city areas, not suburbs. Contacts had already been made in eastern Europe and continued development on the east coast of the US was being pursued.
Asked about the valuations of the group's properties, he said valuations had been done on the Jurys hotels in 1999 and on Doyle hotels in 1998. "Obviously even since then, the value probably has gone up. We do value every three years so I think one might expect an increase at the time of the next valuation," he said.
He confirmed there had been a 100 per cent increase in the auditor's remuneration for the year under review. This had been in keeping with the expansion of the group following the acquisition of the Doyle hotel group, he said.
