Best Western GB
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| Marketing cooperative | |
| Industry | Hotels |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Headquarters | York, Yorkshire, United Kingdom |
Area served | Great Britain and The Channel Islands |
Key people | Keith Pope, Marketing Director |
| Members | 280 approximately |
Number of employees | 150 approx (excluding member employees) |
| Website | bestwestern.co.uk |
Best Western GB claims to be the largest independently owned and managed hotel chain in Great Britain and the Channel Islands with over 280 two, three and four star properties. Best Western GB provides sales, revenue and marketing services to all of its member hotels. Best Western Hotels GB is the international trading name of Interchange and Consort Hotels Limited.
Best Western Hotels GB has a wide variety of hotels ranging from castles such as the Best Western Walworth Castle Hotel in Darlington to small hotels such as the Best Western Cliffe Hotel in Bath. They attract a roughly equal mix of corporate and leisure customers through a portfolio of city centre and countryside hotel locations.
Best Western Hotels GB offers free high speed internet access in all public areas and bedrooms. Best Western Hotels GB as a brand also includes 8 Best Western Premier hotels.
Business model
Best Western Hotels GB has been an affiliate member of Best Western International in the US since 1978.
Best Western International charges an initial cost to the member hotel and an annual fee for each bedroom. Best Western International also publishes a list of quality standards that each hotel needs to maintain. On joining Best Western Hotels GB, each hotel commits to an initial 3 years of membership with the group, after which membership rolls over on an annual basis.
The hotels are encouraged to keep their independent identity however they must use Best Western’s branding and signage and identify themselves as a Best Western hotel. The hotels can also use their own independent name as part of their identity.[1][2]
History
Best Western GB began in 1967 when five independent hoteliers from Cambridge, Chester, Kenilworth, Ripon and Torquay sought to work together to generate referrals, maximise their marketing budgets and increase sales as a result. Together they formed Interchange Hotels of Great Britain. Within weeks of this formation, a further six independent hotels joined the group.
In 1978 the group elected to trade under the brand name Best Western Great Britain, effectively an affiliate of Best Western International in the US.
Interchange merged with Consort Hotels in 1999. Interchange and Consort Hotels has since diversified into Beacon and InnFutures and is now the umbrella brand for all 3 companies. Launched in 2000, Beacon claims to be the largest purchasing consortium in the UK hospitality sector, helping over 2000 independent businesses (including Best Western hotels GB members) get exclusive deals on hospitality services and suppliers. InnFutures was launched in 2008 and introduces hotel owners, including Best Western hotels, and management contract companies to manage their hotels. The hotel owners decide InnFutures’ level of involvement.