The Brightstar Hospitality team has the experience of being able to navigate through the complexities of a hotel group in administration, whilst keeping the hotels trading profitably and also ensuring that these are legally compliant.
Trading hotels in administration can be complicated. The Brightstar Hospitality team has the experience of being able navigate through the complexities of a hotel or a hotel group in administration, whilst keeping the hotels trading profitably and also ensuring that these are legally compliant.
Brightstar has a wide range of services to both monitor and support hotels in administration. These services include:
• Sales
• Marketing
• Revenue Management
• Finance
• Food and Beverage
• Health & Safety
• Procurement
• Facilities Management
• IT
• HR
• Housekeeping
The Brightstar team has experience of the issues encountered when hotels are put into administration.
Staffing
Brightstar understands how keeping overheads at a minimum is an administrator’s focus, but as hoteliers we also appreciate what motivates staff. This allows us to play a key role as intermediary. We can quickly identify areas of inefficiency and overstaffing and make corrections as required.
An operational manager manages each hotel team, and this clear, operational focussed structure gives stability and leadership. This is also important so that the hotel staff can allay any fears of customers making forward bookings with hotels in administration
Being present at the hotels right from the start allows our takeover team to assist hotels during the transition period and to ensure business is as usual as far as possible.
In required terms of central support staff, we can take over operational functions in a timely manner which delivers fast cost savings.
If there are staff shortages, we can second people in from our other hotels.
Developing the Hotel Business
Typically, hotels going into administration have not had time to focus on developing the business. Brightstar Hospitality has a strong central team covering core areas of business development - sales, marketing and revenue management. We believe that by good management and aggressive sales we would not only be able to consolidate trading, but also develop the business.
Budgeting and Forecasting
Brightstar Hospitality has a strong discipline of annual budget setting and monthly forecasting. This also gets implemented with hotels under administration, giving a clear cashflow position so the administrator can assess any future funding requirements or issues.
This gives performance targets for the hotel, which can then be measured and managed.
Fire and Health & Safety
Often the hotels have been starved of essential maintenance and capital expenditure. Brightstar Hospitality will ensure that the hotels are legal and identify any areas of statutory non-compliance. We have an experienced property team that can survey the hotels, identify and price essential works, and once approved, monitor the projects.
Accounting
We have experience of both starting fresh accounting records using our system or maintaining the hotel’s existing system.
Management Information
It is essential to obtain good quality management information. A key measure is the performance of the hotel in their competitive set. STR and Hotstats publish this information for participating hotels and we would strongly recommend this . The hotel’s property management system will be able to give historical occupancy, rate and business mix information if it has not been captured in the management accounts. This is important to make sure the hotel has the most appropriate revenue strategy.
Minor Capital Works
Brightstar Hospitality can advise, and project manage “quick win” capex with our property team. This would allow small revenue generating projects with a quick payback to proceed.
Our Ethos PRESTON
This derelict three star hotel was purchased by our clients in 2011 on the basis of a business plan formulated prior to acquisition, which provided for a 10 month construction programme to provide a 103 bedroom Holiday Inn Express at a cost in the region of £2.6m.
Brightstar Hospitality project managed the construction works, which were completed on programme and within budget with the rebranded hotel opening in September 2012, under our management. Some three years later the hotel is trading successfully with occupancy rates in excess of 70% and profits continuing to rise in-line with trading forecasts.