Britannia's pre-tax profits slump

Britannia Hotels' pre-tax profits have slumped to £19m, a 43% decrease on the previous year's £33.3m.

That is according to the company's financial results filed with Companies House for the year ended 31 March 2017.

However, the group saw an 11% increase in turnover to £93.4m, up from £84.1m the previous year, largely as a result of a number of hotel acquisitions. .

A statement by finance director Robert Ferrari said: "The environment of increased competition in the UK hotel industry has placed additional demands on the business."

The company came out fighting against a Which? hotel chain survey last week, having come bottom of a list of 22 hotels for the fifth year running and receiving "poor" scores for cleanliness, customer service and value for money.

The hotel group's owner, entrepreneur Alex Langsam, told The Caterer that an analysis of the 2016 survey conducted by the Manchester Business School (MBS) which Britannia Hotels commissioned, showed that the methodology used by Which? was "beset with biases at all levels" and was "considered to be flawed in virtually every statistical sense".

The group's 402-bedroom Adelphi hotel (pictured) was fined £265,000 for breaches of food safety and hygiene regulations earlier this year.

Britannia Hotels refutes results of Which? hotel survey >>

Britannia ranked worst hotel chain for fifth year running >>

Britannia Hotels hit with £265,000 fine for breaching food safety regulations >>

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