Britannia nets huge profits despite 'wholly inadequate' use of Blackpool hotel
PLUS: What we learned from Britannia's annual accounts
Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.
Today we focus on the annual accounts from Britannia Hotels which have show significant profits - broadly bucking the trend seen in the industry in general.
But the company was controversial even before one of its’ Blackpool sites became the ‘temporary’ home for asylum seekers.
Britannia Hotels has come out as the worst hotel chain in the country for 11 years running, as decided by Which? Magazine. The flipside of that is that staying in one of their hotels tends to be very affordable.
For those new subscribers who have joined us due to our coverage of the landfill in Fleetwood, please rest assured I intend to return to this topic soon.
Britannia told to switch focus back to tourism after netting £22m profit
By Jamie Lopez
Britannia Hotels has again been urged to switch its focus back to tourism after profits dropped in the last year.
The hotel firm posted a profit of £22m for the 2023-24 financial year having recorded a 5% increase in sales. While that represented a reduced profit from the previous 12 months, the figures are still the envy of many in a hospitality sector which is facing huge challenges.
But they also come on the back of another year of negative headlines for the company. For the 11th year in a row, it was voted the country’s worst hotel chain in a survey by Which? Magazine. It also closed down various Pontins sites without notice.
In Blackpool, Britannia owns four hotels - The Metropole, Norbreck Castle, The Savoy and The Grand Hotel.
Here, a different issue persists with The Metropole - a listed building and one of the town’s best known hotels being used not to host tourists but instead to house asylum seekers awaiting application decisions.
The Metropole Hotel has been closed to the public and used this way since September 2021 and repeated pleas have been made for this use to end amid concerns about both the loss of the tourism facility and the conditions for those staying inside.
Blackpool South MP Chris Webb, whose mum worked at the hotel when it was owned by Butlins, described the location as “wholly inadequate for this purpose” and last month launched a petition calling on Britannia to restore it to its traditional use. His petition argues that doing so would revitalise local tourism, preserve local heritage and support local employment.
He has also spoken of concerns for those being held at the hotel. In January, he said: “I am hearing directly from asylum seekers in the hotel about the alleged mistreatment they are suffering including a lack of access to food, poor hygiene standards, a lack of fire procedure, alleged verbal abuse, and the psychological torment of being housed in such an unstable and unsuitable environment.
“I have heard heartbreaking accounts of people in dangerous and potentially life-threatening conditions and I’m extremely concerned that the situation is a tragedy waiting to happen.”
Serco, the private firm which manages accommodation on behalf of the Home Office, disputed the claims entirely, saying staff treat people with respect and dignity and that “heir safety and wellbeing is our top priority”.
Cllr Paul Galley, the Conservative group leader on Blackpool Council, shares the opinion that the hotel should be reopened to the public as soon as possible.
He told The Blackpool Lead: “Blackpool needs the Britannia chain to focus on bringing tourists to Blackpool and at the same time invest in its hotels. If the Britannia group gets this right it can be a key part of supporting Blackpool’s economic growth especially as the town rebuilds its business and conference centre tourism base.
“As a town and a country we need it and other hoteliers to move away from using hotels to house immigrants and focus on supporting tourism.”
Britannia’s accounts make no reference to the use of hotels as holding centres for those seeking asylum. It does however give an insight into the strategy which has allowed it to keep thriving despite its negative perception.
A director’s report submitted with the figures explains the company policy is to “focus on increasing profitability via tightly controlled management of costs”.
According to the most recent Which Survey, guests are ten times more likely to award it a poor rating for cleanliness than any other hotel and its overall rating was one-star rating in nearly all categories – including bathrooms, bed comfort, facilities and value for money. As a result, it received an overall customer satisfaction score of 39%, little over half of the next worst.
The director’s report adds: “We ensure we retain the necessary flexibility not only on our prices in order to respond to market conditions but also to allow us to adapt and overcome the ever evolving challenges of operating hotels in the current socio-economic environment.
In addition, we employ tight controls on our costs, particularly labour costs, in order to ensure that the company maintains its competitive position.”
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How Britannia bucks the hospitality trend
Analysis by Jamie Lopez
Britannia’s latest year of eight-figure profits came on the back of a simple philosophy.
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