RBH hails ‘strong’ FY21 as occupancy tops 75%

RBH Management has reported a “strong” performance in FY21 with an upwards of 75% occupancy across its portfolio.

The surge in occupancy includes sites such as the Crowne Plaza Reading, Holiday Inn Express Middlesbrough,ho Holiday Inn Express Cheltenham, Holiday Inn Express Southampton, Holiday Inn Express Dunstable, Holiday Inn Express St Albans and Hotel Indigo Cardiff.

RBH said its success is supported by its sales channels which has seen a 35% growth in new business since Q3, including in cities such as Liverpool and Glasgow.

Meanwhile, the company reported annual savings of £3.5m for long-term hotel gas and electric contracts, with savings made on behalf of hotel owners materialising to 300-400%.

RBH said this follows deals made by its procurement team to “lock in lower prices” ahead of the increase in energy costs.

Additionally, RBH’s further expansion into the luxury hotel market has ended 2021 with almost 10% more hotels under management than it did at the end of 2020. 

Further openings are reportedly in the pipeline for 2022.

David Hart, RBH CEO, said: “In a time of continued adversity, the brave and innovative thinking of all departments has been exceptional. To see commercial successes this quarter not only outperforming 2020, but 2019 too is remarkable.”

Stuart Houston, finance director, added: “Our core target in recent months has been to continually deliver value to our partners and hotel owners despite this challenging year. The significant utilities savings have certainly proved invaluable at a time when many are suffering from staggering rises in supplier costs.”

Andrew Farrow, group director of marketing, said: “It’s key that we continue to build upon the strong commercial performance of 2021, utilising all channels available to us. This includes continuing to increase our portfolio’s social media engagement which grew by 150% in 2021 from an already strong base.”