Jim Murphy - PREM Group’s Managing Director

By Simon Binns Crain’s Manchester Business

www.crain.com

Manchester’s serviced apartment sector is growing and now boasts the biggest range in the UK outside of London, according to a new report from agents Savills.

The capital leads the way by some distance, with 5,200 units. However, Manchester currently has 338 units followed by Birmingham (258), Leeds (143), Bristol (125), Edinburgh (207) and Cardiff (42).

Serviced apartments in Manchester city centre include The Place, near Piccadilly Station, and Days Inn and Premier Apartments, both in the Northern Quarter, and new developments such as BSC Group’s Issa Quay on Dale Street are expected to come onto the market soon.

The Savills report claims that income returns for serviced apartments have outperformed the residential investment sector, averaging 4.4 per cent over the last three years, compared to 3.7 per cent for the private rented sector. The report predicts this trend will continue in 2008 with similar income returns of between five and 5.5 per cent.

Adrian Archer, director of Savills hotels division, said branding would be key to raising the profile and appeal of the sector. “This can open the sector up to new sources of demand, such as new international markets and the leisure sector. This could drive further expansion.” Further supply would also depend on developers coming into the sector, the report said.

“Past investment performance and its exclusion from affordable housing requirements makes this sector attractive to developers,” said Archer. “It also gives them the option of selling units back onto the private residential market at a later date realising any potential future uplift in values. This has become increasingly attractive in markets suffering an oversupply, combined with thinning demand for city centre flats.

“But if developers want to get maximum value from their scheme they should be looking to get an operator on board at an early stage”.

Mark Hiscock is general manager at Premier Apartments Manchester, on Shudehill. He said that some business travellers prefer the home-from-home feel of a serviced apartment when on business travel.

“A lot of our customers have stayed in hotels before but like the extra space and flexibility of serviced apartments,” he said. “People often like to have a bit of independence when they are travelling for business. We have a reception if people need to contact us, but some people like to be left alone and want a more hands-off approach.”

The room rate at Premier Apartments is £90 for a one-bedroom flat, but it can increase to £200 on a busy night. “Some times are busier than others — conferences season and Manchester United fixtures are the busiest time,” he said.

“During the week, our customers are predominantly corporate. We have quite a few regulars who will stay Sunday to Thursday or Monday to Friday. We also have long-stay relocations or assignments. Some stay for as long as three months.

Photo: Patrick de-Peuter PremGroup Benelux and france, Peter Crauwels Holiday INN Hasselt and Jim Murphy MD PremGroup.

We had a superb night last Thursday, 24th April, celebrating many talented people among the PREM Group team, and our most successful property performances in 2007. Our every day goal in PREM Group is to exceed our customers’ expectations by empowering a committed team of people to work creatively and ethically for the benefit of all our stakeholders.All our winners achieved this in 2007. The night began with a bang – actually, quite a lot of bangs, courtesy of two wonderful Macnas drummers, who, with the assistance of superstar Macnas Bono, led all 84 guests to the Galvia Suite in superbly festive fashion. All 29 ‘People of the Year’, representing properties from Ireland, UK, and Benelux & France, received their certificates to a standing ovation from their GMs, Directors and head office colleagues. Following a superb meal, a raffle took place for Beyond the Moon, raising €736. Eyebrows were raised when Patrick de Peuter, Managing Director for PREM Group Benelux France drew Betty Houben’s ticket – Betty being the Sales and Marketing Manager for PREM Group Benelux France!! The long, anxious wait for General Managers and their People of the Year, came to an end straight after the meal. Gareth O’Callaghan, well known national and local DJ, and our Master of Ceremonies for the night introduced the awards. The atmosphere was tense as Jim and our Regional heads each took their turn on the stage to announce the 7 popular award winners.

And the winners are……

PREM Group Person of the Year 2007 Benelux and France – Aline Malle from Holiday Inn Calais.

PREM Group Person of the Year 2007 Ireland – Viorica Sirbu from Days Inn Talbot Street.

PREM Group Person of the Year 2007 UK – Lucy Clarke from Premier Apartments Liverpool .

PREM Group Property of the Year 2007 for Benelux France - Holiday Inn Hasselt.

PREM Group Property of the Year 2007 for UK - Premier Apartments Birmingham

PREM Group Property of the Year 2007 for Ireland - Days Hotel Galway

Overall Property of the Year 2007 – Days Hotel Galway

Siobhan Burke, General Manager of Days Hotel Galway, accepted the beautifully engraved Dublin Crystal vase on behalf of her own team in the hotel, whom, she says, work so hard every day to make Days Hotel Galway the success it is. Not a person in the room could deny the true and genuine gratitude she expressed to her team. What was superb is that every one of us attending the award experienced an exceptionally high level of friendliness and service from the winning team on that night. Well done Siobhan and the Days Hotel Galway team!! It’s difficult to capture the atmosphere on the night in words, but the above mentioned Betty Houben, did come up with something that came close – the night was neither over the top, nor understated, it was warm – and she was right, one looking in on the night, who didn’t know us, might be surprised to learn we were a group of colleagues together on a company night, rather than a group of friends purposely sharing some time together – the atmosphere was warm. The celebrations continued until late into the night, supported by the fantastically talented ‘Manilla Strings’,a trio capable of constantly surprising the audience with their breadth of repertoire!!! Roll on next Year’s awards . Edited photos to follow shortly!

With just one week to go to the inaugural PREM Group awards ceremony in the Days Hotel Galway on the 24th April, plans are really beginning to take shape. On the night we will be celebrating the persons of the year from Ireland, England, Belgium and France. The person of the year winners from all of our 38 properties will be travelling to Galway with their GM’s to accept their award. On the night we will be picking one overall person of the year for each region . We will also be selecting the overall property of the year from across the portfolio. Needless to say we have a great night planned for all attendees and I have no doudt that the team in Galway will give us a night to remember.I will have a list of winners on this blog after the event along with a few photos. Expect a few sore heads on Friday morning !!

One of the best hotel blogs out there is Bill Marriott’s blog at www.blogs.marriott.com and I enjoyed reading this post . Hopefully he wont mind if I repeat it here .

“There’s an awful lot of conversation today about the difficulties we’re all having to understand what’s going on with our economy. None of us really know how long this downturn is going to take or how severe it’s going to be. The only thing we’re certain of is that we need to all learn to think outside the box. We need to be creative, we need to be innovative, we need to find ways to tackle our problems and really think about what we can do to do better.I was impressed with a story I heard a little while ago about an old man who lived alone in the country. He was worried about digging his tomato garden because it was such hard work and the ground was hard. His only son Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

Dear Vincent,

I’m really feeling bad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me.

Love,
Dad

A few days later, he received a letter from his son:

Dear Dad,

Don’t dig up that garden, that’s where I buried the bodies.

Love,
Vinny

At 4:00 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son:

Dear Dad,

Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances.

Let’s all work hard at thinking outside the box, being creative and solving problems.”

Enlarge

• Hotels.com Hotel Price Index (H.P.I.) is a regular survey of hotel prices in major destinations across the world.  The HPI tracks the real prices paid per room for a wide basket of hotels, weighted to represent hotels in every star category in major destinations. Approximately 60,000 hotels in over 6,500 locations make up the sample of hotels from which prices are taken.  The prices shown are those actually paid by customers (rather than advertised rates) and therefore give an accurate reflection of hotel prices for the period.

  As you would expect there are some interesting results for 2007.

• Average hotel rates were generally flat for the world as a whole in 2007.  Prices in Europe and Asia rose by 4.5% and 3.3% respectively, while prices in the US and the rest of the world fell.
• Room rates in Ireland remained the same last year as in 2006; probably reflecting increased capacity and competition.
• Within Europe, the UK tops the list of most expensive destinations ahead of Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, Greece, Finland and France, in that descending order.
• Next in 12th place is Ireland, just ahead of Spain, Belgium, Slovakia, Germany and Portugal.
• The UK posted year-on-year (2006 vs. 2007) price rises of 12%, according to Hotels.com.  This drove average room rates to £106 per night, making it the most expensive country to stay in for travellers in 2007, and the only one where the AVERAGE cost of a room is over £100 per night.
• At the other end of the scale, Orlando was the cheapest of the major cities used in the survey with room prices averaging £55 (the rate of exchange would have something to do with that).  Other “bargains” were Bangkok at £58, Shanghai at £61, Beijing at £66 and Buenos Aires at £70.
• The most expensive cities were Moscow at £194 followed by New York at £143, Dubai and Venice were next at £125, while London was the 5th most expensive at £115.
• Dublin came in 34th position at an attractive average room price of £78, behind such cities as Edinburgh, Rome, Paris, Boston, Sydney, Madrid, Hong Kong and many other.
• Coming closer to home the survey finds that while London was 5th highest of the major world cities, it was only in second place in the UK, coming in behind beautiful but expensive Bath at £117.  Oxford was in 3rd position at £113 while surprisingly (perhaps) next was Aberdeen at £109.
• Coventry became the cheapest city in the UK during 2007 at an average of just £57 per night.  Now do you think the Munster fans will get rates like that when they travel to the semi-final in the Ricoh Stadium to do the business with Saracens at the end of this month?  Dream on…..
• The report also finds that prices in Ireland in 2007 were flat year-on-year, and that Limerick saw the biggest drop, achieving an average room rate of £56, which was down 22% on 2006.  It suggests the reason being that the city has seen a number of new hotels open up creating opportunities for bargain hunters. 
• Galway on the other hand topped the Irish league at £94 per night on average, followed by Cork at £85.  You might find it surprising that both were ahead of Dublin at £79.
• Hotel.com looked at what different nationalities spend on their hotel rooms, and here you are in for a surprise.  Irish travellers were Europe’s biggest spenders, prepared to spend £99 on hotel rooms on average when travelling overseas.  They topped UK travellers who spent on average £93.
• The Irish also spent the highest amount in some of the most popular destinations – they were the biggest spenders when visiting Paris, Barcelona and Madrid.
• Germans are rather unsympathetically described as Europe’s cheapest visitors willing to part with just £82 per night on average when travelling abroad.  Of course what that proves is that they are better bargain hunters, something we could well learn from.
• On balance it seems fair to conclude that Irish hotels offer good value, something that has been correctly highlighted by the Irish Hotels Federation for some time.

April 10th 2008

Irish Tourist Industry Confederation

 Over the last three months we have been bombarded with information on the slowdown in the US economy and the impact that it would have on the economy’s around the world . I don’t know about you but I am beginning to find the information overload and analysis in the business pages a bit tedious . Who really knows what the next few months has in store ? In Ireland the American market is critical to the success of our tourist industry . After a pretty poor first quarter we are all hoping for a pick up in the coming months as the season gets into its stride . Given the weakness in the dollar ( and more recently sterling ) you would wonder why anyone in America would even consider venturing outside of the United States for there hard earned vacation . Yet you have to remain optimistic and try and search for some positives among all the doom and gloom . Therefore it was somewhat reassuring to get the following a opinion on the American situation from the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation . Lets hope this analysis is correct .

• This week the International Air Transport Association (IATA) downgraded its industry profit expectations for 2008 to $4.5 billion, based on global economic growth slowing to 2.6% and an average annualised oil price of $85 per barrel.  That’s the second downgrading since September last when IATA predicted $7.8 billion profit for this year, and that figure was revised downwards again in December to $5 billion.(IATA represents some 240 airlines comprising 94% of scheduled international air traffic).
• At an average annual price of $86 per barrel, fuel represents 32% of airline operating costs and a total bill of $156 billion, according to IATA
• Nonetheless passenger demand increased in February by 4 to 5%, though this was well down from the demand growth of 7.4% in February of last year.  Things are slowing down according to IATA boss Giovanni Bisignoni.
• The full introduction of Open Skies on March 31st complicates forecasting too.  For instance there are 25% more weekly flights scheduled to serve the US market out of Heathrow.  It is reasonable to assume that consumers will benefit from greater choice and lower fares due to intensified competition.
• Although there is only a marginal increase in capacity on Irish transatlantic routes, we should also benefit from greater choice and lower fares.  Aer Lingus have direct services from 3 new gateways, San Francisco, Washington DC and Orlando (these new routes were introduced last Autumn).
• The US credit crunch has clearly dented consumer confidence.
• According to a New York Times/CBS poll, Americans are more dissatisfied with the country’s direction than at any time since this poll started in the early 1990’s.
• 81% of respondents believe “things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track”, up from 69% a year ago and 35% in early 2002.  There is now, it appears, nearly a national consensus that the country faces significant problems.
• 78% of respondents said the country was worse off now than 5 years ago, just 4% said it was better off.  Only 21% of respondents said the overall economy was in good condition.
• Interestingly the poll found that Americans blame Government more than banks or borrowers, with 40% blaming the Regulators, 28% blaming the lenders and 14% blaming the borrowers.
• Also interestingly a clear majority favoured Government help for individuals but not for financial institutions, even if the measures would help limit the depth of a recession.
• Perhaps somewhat reassuringly, more than 70% said their financial situation was fairly good or very good, which is only slightly down on 2006.
• Curiously the poll found that 43% of those surveyed said they would prefer a larger Government that provided more services, while an identical 43% said they wanted a smaller Government that provided fewer services.
• As for the longer term, only 46% of parents said they expected their children to enjoy a better standard of living than they themselves do, down from 56% in 2005.  In more general terms about the next generation, only a third believe it would live better than people do today.  That suggests a current lack of confidence and natural parental concerns.  It is very probable that every generation of parents believed similarly from time to time, but the reality has always been different.
• The nationwide New York Times/CBS poll was carried out by phone between March 28th and April 2nd and the margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
• But consumers are resilient, none more so than US consumers, and many many millions will vacation as always this year.  Europe and Ireland will get their share thanks to competitive access costs, though we will probably see fewer than we would have predicted 6 months ago.  Lower fuel costs, a stronger dollar and a pick up in US consumer confidence are what is needed.
• And perhaps that’s on the way.  At a recent forum called A Wall Street Look at the Business of Business Travel, Ken McGill, Executive Vice-President and Managing Director, travel and tourism, for the economic analysis firm Global Insight, said that the US is currently in a recession.  He added it was “mild”, and that the negative growth will last only two consecutive quarters, which is generally described as the minimum time frame of a recession.”The global economy is both robust and broadly distributed, and the interplay between growing and slowing economies around the world will help the US economy recover quickly”, he added.

  He also predicted that both increases in fuel prices and decreases in the value of the dollar would moderate in the medium term, contributing to recovery.  “The global economy is a good-news story: slowing growth, then getting back on track.”

  Let’s hope Ken is right.

by Anne O’Regan

March 07th 2008 marked ‘Daffodil Day’ which is a fund raising day in aid of the ‘Irish Cancer Society’.In past years our company and employees have participated in fund raising events which included selling of daffodil pins and flowers and even a trip ‘back to the floor’ for our Managing Director, Jim Murphy. This involved Jim getting back in uniform and working a breakfast shift at our Days Hotel Galway. Great funds raised by his efforts and lots of very satisfied customers!This year, we decided to do something a little different. - As well as the usual sales of pins & flowers, one of our accounts team volunteered (was convinced!!) to have his leg hair waxed, if we managed to raise €1,000. I guess when you hear that the person is a guy (Colin Nolan) that will make you raise your eye brows a little more!! With this incentive dangling before us like a carrot, we eagerly set about reaching our target. Everyone was so generous and got busy rattling tins for spare cents, raffling an Easter hamper and selling daffodil pins & flowers. Even the beautician (Toni from Tonic Hair & Beauty) was kind enough to donate her services and time, without charge.As the day dawned, Colin received the news that, not only had we reached our target, we had exceeded it! Thanks to everyone who donated and helped to raise €1,225.00 for the Irish Cancer Society. – Particular thanks to Colin who not only donated some cash, but his leg hair as well!! Colin was very brave and didn’t shed a tear. In fact, the only tears shed, were tears of laughter, from Colin’s colleagues!

The University of Delaware recently teamed up with Courtyard by Marriott to develop a room concept for the hotel of the future . The following video is the result . A lot of the ideas are technology based as you would expect ,yet some make a lot of sense such as the water efficient shower . I wonder how long the alarm clock would last before it is slipped into someones suitcase . There is no talk of the most important item in any hotel bedroom and that is the bed . I recently stayed in a new 5 star hotel in Ireland and I have to say that it was the worst bed I have ever slept in . Surely when a hotel is being designed a top class bed should be  standard regardless whether it is a budget or 5 star hotel . When we are designing the hotel room of the future we should at least get the bed right . Click on the following link to see the video of the hotel room of the future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-LWSkZkjr8

newsletter-prem-group-270807.pdf

Every day is a struggle for children diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. For them, it is usually more difficult to experience the joy that should be part of their daily life. Therefore, the objective of BEYOND THE MOON is to give some days filled with laughter and joyful experiences to as many of these children as possible, together with their families. Our MOON brightens up the dark and painful days of those children and will shine forever. For more info, visit our website www.beyondthemoon.org In spite of its international outreach, BEYOND THE MOON can perfectly act as a local charity in every community or country, and thus make everyone’s support very tangible. Collected funds are used to offer these children and their families an all-in carefree vacation to a child-friendly destination, far away from the hospitals and the daily treatments. A sponsor can personally refer a sick child that he/she knows from his/her community or BEYOND THE MOON can nominate a sick child and family on behalf of the sponsor. That makes the sponsors support very tangible, transparent and gratifying.    How our partnership got started Our cooperation with PREM Group started in November 2005 with a pledge of €4,000 on behalf of the staff at the corporate office, to offer the family Mantle (the first Irish family!) a holiday of a lifetime at Disneyland ® Resort Paris. The staff decided to forfeit their annual Christmas party funding and instead donated it to BEYOND THE MOON. Soon thereafter, the hotels in Ireland and the United Kingdom partnered with our association and embraced our mission through our “Change for Children” programme. Next, as a result of the business expansion to Europe, also hotels in Belgium and the Premier Apartments in Ireland and the United Kingdom joined the BEYOND THE MOON family and displayed a “Change for Children” collection box a the reception with donation envelopes in each bedroom. PREM Group have, to date, sent 4 families on a BEYOND THE MOON vacation experience and we have raised sufficient funds for two more families to be nominated shortly. The following newsletter details some of the fundraising activities carried out by the PREM Group team as well as testimonials from some of the families.

Corporate Lesson 1
A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to
lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes
out. The Genie says, “I’ll give each of you just one wish.”
“Me first! Me first!” says the administration clerk.
“I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in
the world.” Poof! She’s gone.
“Me next! Me next!” says the sales rep.
“I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal
masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.”
Poof! He’s gone.“OK, you’re up,” the Genie says to the manager.

Corporate Lesson 2

A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day.
A rabbit asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?”
The crow answered: “Sure, why not.” So, the rabbit sat on the ground
below the crow, and rested.
A fox jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be
sitting very high up.

Corporate Lesson 3 A turkey was chatting with a bull. “I would love to be able to get to
the top of that tree,” the turkey sighed, but I haven’t got the energy.”“Well, why don’t you nibble on my droppings?” replied the bull.”
They’re packed with nutrients.”
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it gave him enough
strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.
The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree.He was soon spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.
Moral of the story: Bullsh*t might get you to the top, but it won’t
keep you there.