Taylor grows portfolio as airport hotel cleared for take-off

By GARETH MACKIE
Published on 29/07/2012 00:00

HOTELIER Maurice Taylor is adding to his portfolio after ­securing planning permission to build a £15 million hotel at Edinburgh Airport.

The founder and chief executive of Glasgow-based Chardon Management, which manages 35 hotels and seven health and fitness clubs across the UK, said he was confident about the future of the hospitality sector in the city, despite the “challenging economic ­climate”.

Taylor said: “Planning approval for this hotel represents more good news for Edinburgh, marking a further stage in the development of the Edinburgh International project’s aim to enhance, via Edinburgh Airport, the city’s global connectivity by developing the area as an international gateway into Scotland.”

The Edinburgh International initiative is a partnership between the airport and a range of other bodies, including Edinburgh City Council and Scottish Enterprise, which aims to create a “global hub” to the west of the city in a bid to attract more investment into Scotland.

Global Infrastructure Partners bought the airport for £807m from BAA last month and has committed itself to creating more direct links with global destinations after welcoming the inaugural flight from the capital to Istanbul earlier this month.

The Turkish Airlines service will run four times a week and the carrier’s chief executive, Temel Kotil, said he was confident that it could soon start providing daily flights to Istanbul, which offers onward links to China, Japan, Singapore and South Africa.

Taylor said the 125-bedroom hotel will be aimed at the “deluxe budget” market and operated by Chardon’s Ingliston Hotels division under franchise from a “major international” hotel group, although the identity of that brand is yet to be announced. Ingliston Hotels also runs the 95-bedroom Quality Hotel Edinburgh Airport, which opened in 1998.

Around 60 jobs could be created at the new hotel, but timescales for construction have not been determined yet.

Taylor added: “We are delighted to secure planning approval for this exciting new hotel, which expresses our confidence in the future of the hospitality sector in Edinburgh and our determination to continue to commit to significant investment in growth, despite the challenging economic climate within which we all operate.”

Marketing director Nicola Taylor said the company was due to open three more hotels in Kent, Southend and Windsor over the coming month.