Increased profits at hotel chain which owns Blackpool landmarks

The Grand Hotel Blackpool owned by Britannia

A hotel group which runs some of Blackpool's most prominent venues has seen its pre-tax profits rise.

Britannia Hotel’s latest figures, for the year ending March 31, 2018, showed the firm, which owns the former North Shore Hilton, now The Grand Hotel, The Britannia and the Norbreck Castle, boosted profits from £18.9m to £20.5m.

Its turnover too rose, from £93.4m to £96.8m in the 12 month period.

The Manchester-based firm which employs more than 2,000 across 61 hotel sites nationally.

During the year it said it had bought six more hotels to add to its collection at a cost of £43m.

The firm took over the North Shore site in June.

Late last year Britannia was blasted in a Which? consumer report which branded it the worst hotel group in the UK with many hotels in need of a revamp.

The directors' statement said: “The hotel industry in the UK is becoming increasingly more competitive and this brings an increasing risk of losing major sales accounts to competitors.”

Britannia was founded by Alex Langsam, 80, more than 40 years ago.