Celtic investor Chris Trainer plans £30m Glasgow hotel

Chris Trainer, the Glasgow entrepreneur behind advertising group Forrest Media, is investing £30 million to develop a Radisson Red hotel next to the SSE Hydro on the banks of the Clyde.

An artist's impression of the Radisson Red hotel planned for Glasgow. Picture: Contributed

The Celtic shareholder’s company has owned the site – formerly home to the Royal Automobile Club – since 2007, and he said the firm was looking for further opportunities to expand in the hotels sector.

“We are naturally looking at other areas the business can grow into and hotels is an obvious sector, especially when we can link it nicely with our media business, which is something other hotel operators can’t do,” said Trainer.

The 176-bedroom hotel will be run by Carlson Rezidor but owned by Forrest Hotels, a subsidiary of Glasgow-based Forrest Group. Scheduled to open in early 2018, it is set to be the first new-build hotel under the Radisson Red brand in Europe.