Adam Bateman joins the Grand hotel Birmingham ahead of reopening

Adam Bateman has announced he will leave InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to join the Grand hotel in Birmingham as culinary director ahead of its opening.

Bateman had been group operations and development chef of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), having joined the company with its acquisition of the Principal hotel group, where he had held the same role, in 2018.

The Principal group was previously owned by US-based Starwood Capital Group, which, along with family-owned property company Hortons' Estate, is behind the extensive, multimillion-pound renovation and reopening of the Grade-II*-listed Grand hotel. In his previous role Bateman had been involved in the initial planning stages of its culinary offering.

He told The Caterer: “Lo and behold it has come full circle and I’ve been able to come and pick up the project again. I’m a Birmingham guy born and bred, so to be able to do something like this in the city will be amazing.

“We’re looking to create something cool and not too formal in a really nice space. It will be something the city has not seen before and something deserving of it.”

The 185-bedroom hotel had been due to open this summer, however the coronavirus outbreak has delayed works with a new opening date yet to be announced. When the property, in Birmingham’s city centre, is able to welcome guests, Bateman will oversee its restaurant and culinary offering in the bar area as well as banqueting and in-room dining.

The Grand was originally developed by the Horton family between 1879 and 1895 and was run by them as a hotel until 1969. It was then managed by a number of operators until it closed in 2002.