Channel 4 to go behind the scenes at Best Western in new docu-series

Channel 4 is delving into the world of hotel marketing consortium Best Western in a three-part series following the team at its Yorkshire headquarters and their “quirky collection of hoteliers” as they battle to win over customers from rival hotel chains.

Produced by Plum Pictures, under the working title Best Western the show will also follow chief executive Rob Paterson, who joined the group two years ago, who is on a mission to make the membership organisation more competitive and successful and “tries to win over the group’s diverse mix of hoteliers with his youthful, disruptive energy and new ideas”.

Best Western’s 260 member hotels in Great Britain are run by independent owners.

Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western Great Britain, said: “Best Western hotels have always delivered hospitality differently – packed with personality and proudly independent – but in uncertain times, sometimes that isn’t enough. I’m proud to partner with Plum Pictures and Channel 4 to take viewers behind closed doors of our brand and our quirky collection of hotels as we work on delivering an exciting new future for one of the oldest brands in the business.”

Gilly Greenslade, factual entertainment commissioning editor at Channel 4, said: “This brand-new series revels in the day to day eccentricities that take place within a hospitality environment. We expect viewers to be charmed by the access-all-areas look at this hotel group’s unconventional and enjoyable ‘family-like’ employee set-up.”

Stuart Cabb, managing director for Plum Pictures, added: “What I love so much about this series is that we have the rare opportunity to be able to tell a story of what it is like to work in one of Britain’s most competitive and important industries through joyous good humour alongside strong journalism. Viewers will hopefully love these spirited hotels owners and their staff fighting the good fight against the corporate bed factories.”