Ireland's largest hotel group, Jurys Doyle, opened its fourth London hotel yesterday in a move to focus on the corporate British market. The 170-bedroom Jurys Great Russell Street is a new four-star hotel with multimedia and conference facilities and will soon be joined by the 240-bedroom Jurys Inn in Croydon.
The hotel group hopes these new properties will gain the Jurys Doyle brand a firm foothold in the UK.
The other hotels in its portfolio are the long established Jurys Kensington Hotel, Jurys Clifton Ford off Oxford Street and Jurys Inn in Islington.
Right in the heart of London's Oxford Street shopping district, Jurys Great Russell Street is a period building that has been extensively refurbished. A former hostel and central club for the Young Women's Christian Association, this grade II listed building was originally designed by Sir Edward Lutyens.
The Lutyens design has been retained in the interior, with the lobby, lounge and library presented as design showpieces. The number of hotels in the Jurys Doyle portfolio is now 29, with a total of nine properties in the UK, four in London and one each in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Cardiff and Bristol. The Jurys Inn under construction in Croydon will cost £15 million sterling, or £62,5000 per room.
With 20 hotels and nine inns in Ireland, Britain and the US, the group is now looking to expand in the UK. The British market accounted for 30 per cent of turnover and 43 per cent of operating profits last year.
"We plan to focus on the UK market and concentrate on developing the Jurys brand there. The new inn in Croydon will enhance the effect of marketing and adds scale to our portfolio. London has huge potential for growth especially in the corporate market sector," said Niall Geoghegan, Director of Sales and Marketing. "Jurys Great Russell Street is the most recent of a series of strategic purchases and underlines the Group's commitment to growth through acquisition in the UK market."
"Business friendly" is the catchphrase at Jurys Great Russell Street: workdesks, voicemail, modems and other corporate amenities are standard features of the rooms, and there is also an in-house business centre providing all facilities required by business travellers. The US and Scandinavian corporate markets are the prime focus of the Jurys Russell Street marketing campaign, according to Niall Geoghegan.
Jurys Doyles has no plans to further develop its Irish property portfolio. "Future acquisitions and properties have to meet a certain criteria - making money for shareholders. The biggest factor underpinning acquisition policy is the need for enhanced earnings within a short period," explains Geoghegan. Industry sources claim the Dublin hotel market has reached a point of saturation, with 17 per cent of the country's hotels and 28 per cent of hotel bedrooms.
To date, Jurys Doyle has avoided seasonal tourist destinations. Killarney and other such locations have no appeal, and the group has no plans to build on the success of their Galway property. "We have an Inn there, and that is sufficient, as there is no great corporate demand there, just mostly leisure," said Geoghegan.
Jurys Doyle produced impressive financial results for 1999, the first full year of trading under the enlarged merged group, with turnover up 106 percent to £220 million and pre-tax profits jumping up 70 per cent to £50 million.
In the US, the three Jurys Doyle Washington hotels contributed 10 per cent of group revenue and 12 per cent of profits. The group plans further expansion in the US, especially along the eastern seaboard. Eastern Europe is also seen as another likely target area.
