Tavistock planning to double its hotels estate

Jan 10 2008 by Graeme King and Sue Scott, The Journal

AMBITIOUS Tavistock Leisure has unveiled multi-million pound plans to double its hotel estate from three to six this year, as well as expanding its restaurant business.

The South Tyneside company, probably best known for its Tavistock Italia restaurants, currently trades from three hotel outlets in Sunderland, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough.

But now the management team has announced it is close to revealing a £1m hotel project in Whitley Bay, and is seeking two more sites during the next 12 months.In the longer term the company is aiming to operate a total of 10 hotels.

Meanwhile, accountants at Deloitte's Newcastle office warned that, while the rest of the UK had seen double digit growth in the hotel industry, the North-East had remained static.

As travellers cold-shouldered the region, the average room rate fell by £4 compared to 2006, it said.

Tavistock, part of entrepreneur Russell Foster’s Durham Estates business, will spend £1m this year on refurbishing the former Dougies Tavern at Blackett Street in Hebburn into another Tavistock Italia restaurant and bar, after the building has been unused for some five years.

Tavistock already owns the Best Western Roker Hotel in Sunderland, The Tavistock Grand Hotel at Hartlepool and the Best Western Highfield Hotel in Middlesbrough which the company says are all proving successful.

Managing director Mark Hird said: “Last year we purchased the Grand in Hartlepool and The Highfield in Middlesbrough, both of which have proven to be excellent choices for us and which are rewarding our investment in them.

“We are always looking out for new sites and are currently looking at a number across the region, including developing our brand into North Tyneside initially. We would certainly hope to have six hotels in the North-East by the end of 2008.

Mr Hird added: “Tavistock Leisure had a fantastic year last year and we can see no reason that this won’t continue into 2008.”

However Paul Williamson, senior partner at Deloitte Newcastle, said: "It would be a brave man to predict that 2008 will be as good as 2007."

The Tavistock Italia chain operates both within the company’s hotels and independently.

Last year the company opened an outlet at the site of the former Marsden Rattler in South Shields and also runs Tavistock Italia and Pearl Bar on Newcastle Quayside.

Mr Hird said the refurbishment of the Hebburn site would add to the company’s appeal, and would work along similar lines to the business’s South Shields operation.

He said: “The idea is to make it very much along the lines of our highly successful Tavistock bar and restaurant at South Shields, with a 120-cover restaurant and a family-orientated bar and terrace.”

As well as its smaller Tavistock branded hotels and restaurants, the company has also put forward high-profile plans to open a £15m purpose-built hotel and conference centre – the biggest of its kind in the region – at South Shields’ Gypsies Green Stadium site, which will be its most ambitious project to date.

Besides Tavistock Leisure, and Durham Estates, Mr Foster is also known for his Tyne Tubes business and Angel of the North builder Hartlepool Fabrications.

Tavistock's announcement follows news last week of further investment in the sector from Darlington-based Bannatyne Group.