InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced the signing of four more Holiday Inn hotels in the UK: Holiday Inn Cardiff - North M4 J32, Holiday Inn London - West, Holiday Inn London - Heathrow T5 and Holiday Inn Birmingham North - Cannock.

The first to open will be Holiday Inn Cardiff - North M4 J32 - opening in a few weeks’ time (pictured left). The 95-bedroom hotel will feature a restaurant and bar, board room, four meeting rooms and a newly designed lobby. Leisure facilities include a pool, spa, sauna and gym. Holiday Inn Cardiff - North M4 J32 is just over three miles from Cardiff city centre.

Holiday Inn London - West opens in August 2014 with 225-bedrooms including 75 new rooms and 150 refurbished rooms. It features a completely renovated ground floor with an open lobby, restaurant and coffee bar. Holiday Inn London - West has a number of meeting rooms, a rooftop open air terrace as well as a fitness studio. Holiday Inn London - West is situated in Western Avenue a two-minute walk from North Acton tube station on the Central line.

Further west of London and also opening this summer is Holiday Inn London - Heathrow T5. This converted 119-bedroom hotel will operate under a franchise agreement with existing owner Arora Hotels. It is located to the west of the M25 motorway with easy access to Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.

Finally Holiday Inn Birmingham North – Cannock will be opening in early 2015 with 95-bedrooms, meeting and conference facilities and a sky bar on the top floor of the hotel. It is located close to the M6 and M6 Toll motorways, with good transport links to Birmingham city centre and Birmingham International Airport.
There are currently 278 Holiday Inn hotels in Europe with a further 36 in the development pipeline.

Details: www.ihgplc.com

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Published: 15 July 2014

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The University of Manchester has signed an agreement to build a 326-bedroom hotel and a teaching centre at its Manchester Business School. There will be a new two-storey Executive Education Centre alongside the hotel, which will provide a home for the business school’s corporate management programmes.

The development is part of the University of Manchester's £1bn campus master-plan along its Oxford Road corridor.

The hotel, the only one on the university grounds, will comprise 16 storeys of bedrooms above three levels of hotel facilities including a bar, restaurant and conference space.

As well as providing accommodation for the business school and university the new hotel will also service nearby facilities such as the Manchester Science Park and the Central Manchester University Hospitals.

Details:  www.mbs.ac.uk

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Published: 15 July 2014

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JCB’s plans to create a golf course within putting distance of their headquarters in Rocester, Staffordshire have been given the green-light. The £30million golf course is intended to boost JCB’s sales and build global brand awareness.

The proposals are for an 18-hole, par 72 championship golf course to the south of the digger maker's headquarters. Building work is set to start this autumn with the course being ready to play in 2018.
Woodseat Hall, an 18th-century mansion, stands at the heart of the 240 acre site. The hall is currently derelict but it will be converted into the course clubhouse with a spa, leisure facilities plus hotel-style accommodation for visiting JCB guests.

Details:  www.jcb.co.uk

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Published: 15 July 2014

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Developers of a planned £2billion theme park in Kent have published an informal timetable for its construction with a 2016 start date anticipated. Full details of the scheme are expected to be unveiled in October to coincide with the first stage of the public consultation.

The development, which will be known as the London Paramount Entertainment Resort, is expected to transform a derelict stretch of land on the Swanscombe Peninsula in Kent creating a rival to Disneyland and featuring a water park, a theme park, sporting facilities, an entertainment street, a staff training academy and about 5,000 hotel rooms.

Details:     www.kentonline.co.uk

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Published: 14 July 2014

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