UK & IRELAND UPDATE Q1 - 2014

UK & IRELANDUPDATEQ1 - 2014

Hello again,It seems a while since the last issue but I think that’s more to do with the fact we’ve had such a busy start to the year. It’s hard to believe we’ve said goodbye to the first quarter already.

On a positive note, we start Q2 in pretty good shape. The figures for the first quarter look strong against last year and the trends are very encouraging. The markets in both the UK & Ireland are performing well and the longer term outlook is good. That said, we are working to some challenging budgets so we can’t afford to become complacent and need to stay on top of our game.

This newsletter focuses on the recent Shining Star Awards, our first ever area-wide awards programme. As a people business, you - our team members are what matters most and you set us apart from our competitors in a highly competitive marketplace. You have the ability to create positive memories for our guests and to provide an emotional attachment that hopefully makes them want to return again and again. For these reasons, I feel strongly that we should take the time to recognise your efforts and say thank you for making the difference, and I hope the Shining Star Awards goes someway in doing this. Many congratulations again to all of our finalists and winners and lets use this year as the platform to make next year’s event even bigger and better!

In other news, we continue to invest in our hotels to create a portfolio that we can be genuinely proud of. Work is ongoing at the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre, London Heathrow and the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel, Jersey is now proudly sporting a stunning new Waterfront Bar & Restaurant.Wishing you all a pleasant and successful Spring!

Best regards

Richard MooreArea Vice President, UK & Ireland

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UK & Ireland Update Q1 - 2014 1

02 News update

04 The Carlson Rezidor UK & Ireland

Shining Star Awards

08 Meet our Shining Stars – the Winners!

10 Variety, the Children’s Charity

11 Awards and achievements

12 Next time

CONTENTS

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SMART MEETINGS LAUNCHESPark Inn by Radisson hotels in the UK & Ireland have launched the new global Smart Meeting & Events hospitality concept, offering consistent Connection, Choice and Community to modern business get-togethers. Smart Meetings & Events are designed to deliver the right type of smart food, drinks, event spaces and technology to support varying guests’ life and work styles. The Smart Meetings & Events concept focuses on core elements including Connectivity; providing guests with Surf4Free Internet access throughout all hotels, on smartphone, PC or tablet. Anytime. Anywhere.Park Inn by Radisson is passionate about Choice, offering a great selection of global destinations, flexible spaces, a valuable selection of packages, plus, a uniquely delicious and nutritious Smart Food menu.Smart Food is created with love for delegates who are used to great tastes. The self-service features a selection of modern dishes reflecting locality, seasonality and healthy options that guests want. The lean cuisine is light but truly satisfying, with a low fat, high protein content, featuring Omega 3 rich fish and healthy fruit & vegetables, all smartly designed to ensure optimum, ideas, energy and creativity. Park Inn by Radisson is also a truly Responsible Business focused on making a difference. Through the Think Planet energy saving strategy, all carbon emissions associated with meetings can now be automatically offset through the Club Carlson for Planners program.

NEW LOOK RESTAURANT AND BAR AT THE RADISSON BLU WATERFRONT HOTEL, JERSEYThe Waterfront at the Radisson Blu Jersey is the Island’s newest destination Restaurant and Bar. Located on the Marina with some of the Island’s most stunning views, The Waterfront’s stylish new look and feel is the result of a recent transformation, costing close to £1 million.The new space is a cosy yet contemporary environment that works for different occasions. Whether it’s a lazy Sunday lunch in the Restaurant, a quick after work drink, business lunch in the bar, or an afternoon on the terrace sipping cocktails in the sun; The Waterfront should hit the spot.The modern yet classic decor is created with a neutral pallet and the occasional colour splash. The eclectic mix of materials and fabrics used are rich and warm, and subtle elements throughout hint at the hotel’s nautical setting. Natural daylight floods in through the floor to ceiling windows and at night, ambience is created through candle and mood lighting. Food lovers can enjoy a bold menu of signature dishes, complemented with fresh and quirky daily specials. The style of cooking reflects the Island’s French heritage and the ingredients are fresh, seasonal and wherever possible; locally produced.

ENHANCEMENT WORKS CONTINUE AT THE PARK INN BY RADISSON HOTEL & CONFERENCE CENTRE, LONDON HEATHROWAt Heathrow, our flagship 895-room Park Inn by Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre, is now looking a lot different to what people may remember. We’re investing in the region of £13 million over a four-year period (2012-2015) to transform the hotel. Areas covered already include: a restyled lobby, the transformation of the café and bar area into The Lounge, a contemporary space with a mix of modern, eclectic furniture, serving food and drink 24 hours a day. Other work undertaken includes bedroom refurbishment across six wings, the restyle of 12 crew lounges, a new dedicated crew reception, public areas, exterior cladding and the car park and grounds. Work continues this year with a further refurbishment of 320 guest bedrooms. For added convenience for guests and travellers, the hotel is also now serving Costa Coffee and offers free wifi throughout.

A SUCCESSFUL QUARTER FOR THE GSO UK & IRELAND TEAMThere were a number of big successes from the team, including: • Kate Muscroft and Lauren Vincent, Senior

Sales Manager Park Inn by Radisson London Heathrow, secured an Apple contract for long stay business at the Park Inn Heathrow worth circa £1m. This was following Richard Moore’s meeting with Apple in the Sales Wave.

• Nancy Mills won a piece of business for Park Inn by Radisson Bedford for 1Direction filming in March worth 200k from ET Travel

• Andrew Mitchell had a recent big corporate win for Radisson Blu Birmingham, accepted on the HSBC 2014/15 Hotel programme – value £177k

• Claudia Franklin, worked relentlessly on the RBS training programme worth £491k across 8 hotels and received excellent feedback from client

NEWSUPDATE


The competition was tough with over 200 nominations received, and that’s after hotels had gone through their own shortlisting process! Overall, the standard and quality was incredibly high, there’s a wealth of talent in the business and we were spoilt for choice when it came

to the shortlists. Difficult decisions were necessary but after a little bit of blood, sweat and tears, we got it down to our 37 finalists.

As the evening arrived, guests were escorted into the Hollywood-themed room for a night of

celebration. In between a delicious showcase of food by chef’s from hotels across the Area, the awards were introduced, and the winners announced (turn over to find out more about our first ever Shining Star winners).

THE CARLSON REZIDOR UK & IRELAND

SHINING STAR AWARDSHollywood came to Manchester on Friday 21st March 2014 as the UK and Ireland’s first ever area-wide awards evening was held. Almost 200 people from the Area’s hotels were in attendance at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Manchester Airport to see who would be crowned as our first ever Shining Stars.

I’m incredibly proud to say, we have some of the best people in the business working for us, a real strength in depth of quality and talent. The first Shining Star Awards is a real milestone for me and it was an absolute honour to spend the evening with so many special, talented and dedicated individuals – our Shining Stars

I’m incredibly proud to say, we have some of the best people

Richard Moore Area Vice President, UK & Ireland

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celebration. In between a delicious showcase of food by chef’s from hotels across the Area, the awards were introduced, and the winners announced (turn over to find out more about our first ever Shining Star winners).

Entertainment came in the form of the singing waiters and local band, The Revs, with winners and finalists dancing until the wee hours with their team members and colleagues. Rumour has it there were one or two sore heads the next day!

THE CARLSON REZIDOR UK & IRELAND

SHINING STAR AWARDSHollywood came to Manchester on Friday 21st March 2014 as the UK and Ireland’s first ever area-wide awards evening was held. Almost 200 people from the Area’s hotels were in attendance at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Manchester Airport to see who would be crowned as our first ever Shining Stars.

I know how hard everyone is working and how busy we all are, and it’s absolutely crucial to take a step back and acknowledge those doing exceptional things on a daily basis – and that’s our Shining Stars. The whole process has been a real eye-opener – we know we’ve got some super stars in the business but seeing it all evidenced in black and white takes it to another level

Lisa Wade Area Director Human Resources

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THE 2013 CARLSON REZIDOR

SHINING STARS – FINALISTS

HOST OF THE YEAR (FRONT OF HOUSE)

★ Shana Wells, Receptionist, Radisson Blu Hotel, Durham.

★ Ali Kirsan, Business Class Manager, Radisson Blu Hotel, Manchester Airport.

★ Chris Knapman, Receptionist, Radisson Blu Hotel, Liverpool.

HOST OF THE YEAR (BACK OF HOUSE)

★ Lazlo Feher, Gardener, Radisson Blu Dublin St Helens

★ Ewa Ziemska, Housekeeping Assistant, Radisson Blu Dublin Royal

★ James Daly, Accounts Assistant, Park Inn by Radisson Manchester

SUPERVISOR/SHIFT LEADER OF THE YEAR

★ Tomek Hawrylko, Restaurant Supervisor, Radisson Blu Farnham Estate Cavan

★ Charlotte Simpson, Restaurant Supervisor, Park Inn by Radisson Northampton

★ Daniela Lehner, Assistant Front Office Manager, Radisson Blu Portman

RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS/FUNDRAISER OF THE YEAR.

★ Michelle McElvogue, Human Resources Manager, Radisson Blu Farnham Estate Cavan

★ Sephora Cutajar, Assistant HR Manager/Executive PA, Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, London

★ Lisa Wilson, Human Resources Assistant, Radisson Blu Hotel, Edinburgh

AREA TEAM MEMBER OF THE YEAR

★ Niall Kelly, Regional Procurement Manager, Ireland

★ Lisa Wade, Area Director HR, UK & Ireland★ Simon Pearson, Area Chief Engineer,

UK & Ireland

BRIGHT SPOT MOMENT OF THE YEAR

★ Marius Bute, Guest Service Manager, Radisson Blu Hotel, Manchester Airport

★ Mohammad Rabbi, Front Office Service Manager, Radisson Blu Hotel, Cardiff

★ Claire, Andre, Joe & Kevin from the Park Inn by Radisson Northampton

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

★ Emma Ryan, Spa Manager, Radisson Blu Farnham Estate, Cavan

★ Susan McIlveen, City HR Manager, Park Inn by Radisson and Radisson Blu Belfast

★ Anthony Cleckner, Director Association Sales, Carlson Rezidor UK & Ireland

UK & Ireland Update Q1 - 2014

THE 2013 CARLSON REZIDOR

SHINING STARS – FINALISTS

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SUPERVISOR/SHIFT LEADER OF THE YEAR

★ Tomek Hawrylko, Restaurant Supervisor, Radisson Blu Farnham Estate Cavan

★ Charlotte Simpson, Restaurant Supervisor, Park Inn by Radisson Northampton

★ Daniela Lehner, Assistant Front Office Manager, Radisson Blu Portman

MANAGER OF THE YEAR

★ Mattias Wenngren, Executive Chef, Radisson Blu Hotel, Cardiff

★ Ciaran O’Donnell, Operations Manager, Radisson Blu Hotel, Letterkenny

★ Miroslaw Swiadeck, Bar Manager, Radisson Blu Farnham Estate Cavan

SALES TEAM MEMBER OF THE YEAR

★ Gary Devlin, M&E Sales Manager, Radisson Blu Stansted

★ Jennifer Singleton, Assistant Director of Sales, Radisson Blu Manchester Airport

★ Sapna Karia, Sales Manager (Airlines), Park Inn by Radisson Heathrow

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

★ Emma Ryan, Spa Manager, Radisson Blu Farnham Estate, Cavan

★ Susan McIlveen, City HR Manager, Park Inn by Radisson and Radisson Blu Belfast

★ Anthony Cleckner, Director Association Sales, Carlson Rezidor UK & Ireland

HOTEL OF THE YEAR

★ The Radisson Blu Hotel, Cardiff★ The Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, London★ The Park Inn by Radisson Telford★ The Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow★ The Radisson Blu Hotel, Dublin St Helens

GENERAL MANAGER OF THE YEAR

★ Andrew Drysdale, Radisson Blu Farnham Estate Cavan

★ Jens Hallman, Radisson Blu Hotel, Cardiff★ Neal Holloway, Radisson Blu Hotel, Durham★ Jacqueline Struik, Park Inn by Radisson

Northampton★ Guido Bayley, Radisson Blu Portman Hotel London

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MEET OUR 2013 SHINING STARS…

ALI KIRSAN – Winner – Host of the Year (Front of House)“Ali is just phenomenal with guests, it really is Yes I Can! attitude at its absolute best”

JAMES DALY – Winner – Host of the Year (Back of House)“James is a vibrant personality, well known & respected throughout the hotel, always helpful & fully represents our brand values”

CHARLOTTE SIMPSON – Winner – Supervisor/Shiftleader of the Year“Charlotte is hardworking, reliable, flexible, shows true Yes I Can! spirit & builds confidence in team members to develop their talent”

CIARAN O’DONNELL – WINNER – MANAGER OF THE YEAR“Ciaran is a true Yes I Can! ambassador who consistently promotes the values of Being Host & Living Trust from the grass roots”

JENNIFER SINGLETON – Winner – Sales Team Member of the Year“Jennifer goes that extra mile to deliver exceptional service, constantly supports others, is the ultimate professional, always helpful, smiling & happy, a credit to the brand - pure brilliance!”

SEPHORA CUTAJAR – Winner – Responsible Business/Fundraiser of the Year“Sephora shows passion & commitment for all things green & her charitable efforts know no bounds, she coordinates all activities within the hotel; generating awareness & enthusiasm”

LISA WADE – Winner – Area Team Member of the Year“Lisa demonstrates the support and Yes I Can! attitude you expect from an Area support function. Lisa is a true Rezidorian that inspires and is very much appreciated by the people around her”

THE WINNERS!


MEET OUR 2013 SHINING STARS…

MOHAMMAD RABBI – Winner – Brightspot Moment of the Year“Rabbi’s Brightspot Moment was really heartening, he showed great empathy and committed a tremendous amount of time and energy in developing a trusting relationship with the guest”

SUSAN MCILVEEN – Winner – Outstanding Achievement Award“As well as being the consummate professional and living and breathing Yes I Can, Susan is a really warm and caring person, a friend to everyone and the human face of the hotel”

RADISSON BLU HOTEL, CARDIFF – Winner – Hotel of the Year“The hotel achieved an RGI of +11.2, 15.5% growth in Total Revenue, 37.8% growth in M&E Revenue and 23.7% growth in Gross Operating Profit”

GUIDO BAYLEY – Winner – General Manager of the Year“Guido is without question one of the best General Manager’s I've ever worked with. He's a true leader and genuinely supports his team but at the same time, pushes everyone to go that extra mile, not just get things done, but do them well!”

Under Guido, the Radisson Blu Portman had a very successful 2013, achieving an RGI +8 points, QPR improved by nearly 3.0 points, Medallia NPS was up 10.8 points, Climate Analysis was 91.2%, exceeded budget on both turnover & profit, a record occupancy of 92.5%

THE WINNERS!

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HOTEL TOTAL RAISED # OF GUEST ROOMS

Radisson Blu Portman £11,550.54 272

Park Inn by Radisson Watford £3002.72 100

Radisson Blu Belfast £3498.70 120

Park Inn by Radisson Peterborough £2846.06 11

Radisson Blu Edinburgh £5454.44 238

Top 5 performing hotels by guest room numbers

HOTEL TOTAL RAISED

Radisson Blu Portman £11,550.54

Radisson Blu Manchester Airport £6766.35

Park Inn By Radisson Heathrow £6443.00

Radisson Blu Edinburgh £5454.44

Radisson Blu Durham £4279.05

Top 5 performing hotels by funds raised:

“Quids for Kids” is one of the ways we can support this partnership. The scheme supports Carlson Rezidor’s worldwide commitment to children by adding an optional £1 charge to guests’ bills, which is then shared equally between Variety, the Children’s Charity, and Carlson Rezidor’s corporate charity, the World Childhood Foundation.

We launched Quids for Kids in mid-Feb-ruary 2013 and as of the end of February 2014, we have raised a total of £78,114.53! This is a really great effort but we have noticed the numbers in several hotels have dropped in recent months and we ask you all to pick up the good work and help us smash our target for 2014.We’d like to celebrate our hero hotels for the first year of Quids for Kids:

QUIDS FOR KIDSHITS £78,000In February 2013, Carlson Rezidor announced a partnership with Variety, the Children’s Charity in the UK. Through our 34 UK properties, we help raise funds to improve the lives of sick, disabled and disadvantaged children throughout the UK.

Well done to all involved, this is a fantastic achievement!


In addition to Quids for Kids, our hotels are actively involved in a whole host of fundraising activities for Variety – with team members generously giving their time to support this wonderful cause. One of the signature support elements Variety work on providing is Sunshine coaches to schools and community groups to provide opportunities for the sick, disabled and disadvantaged children to get out and about. When we launched our partnership with Variety, we had one clear goal in mind – to buy our first Sunshine coach – and thanks to all of your hard work, dedication and fundraising efforts, we’ve done it!

The coach was presented to staff and pupils of the North Ridge High School in Manchester recently. North Ridge High School, a short drive away from the Radisson Blu Hotel, Manchester Airport, is a specialist school for children with severe disabilities and learning difficulties. They had first requested a coach three years ago and had been waiting so long, they were beginning to think they would never get one. After researching the incredible work that the school does and the progress that it has made, we couldn't think of a better school for our first Sunshine coach. We also felt synergies with their slogan of "do your best!" and our own "yes I can!"

The staff and pupils were understandably delighted with the donation and said there’s no questioning the value that the coach will add to the lives of the pupils at North Ridge High School. To find out more about the school, visit the website (http://nrhs.

mancd.com/). It’s a really special school that does incredible work for children with very severe special needs.

Thanks again for your help and support – we couldn’t have done it without you! We’d love to build on this momentum and make 2014 an even bigger year so please keep Variety in your mind and hearts and let’s work towards our next Sunshine coach!

MAKING A DIFFERENCE TO YOUNG PEOPLE’S LIVES – WE’VE BOUGHT OUR FIRST SUNSHINE COACH!

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RADISSON BLU UK HOTELS NOW 100% ECO-LABELLED!The Radisson Blu Hotel Cardiff was recently awarded the Silver rating by the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS). GTBS is the UK’s leading sustainable tourism certification scheme which recognizes and rates hotels and tourism businesses demonstrating high levels of commitment in protecting the environment and promoting sustainable tourism with bronze, silver and gold awards.In achieving its newly acquired eco-label, the hotel completed the list for Radisson Blu in the UK, making the brand 100% eco-labelled across the 14 hotels. To further strengthen the performance of Radisson Blu, the Radisson Blu Portman secured its green credentials, achieving the Gold level GTBS award for the third time in succession.

PARK INN BY RADISSON YORK AWARDED SILVER ECO-LABEL BY THE GREEN TOURISM BUSINESS SCHEME (GTBS)It’s not just the Radisson’s that are on the green trail. The Park Inn by Radisson York hotel has been awarded the Silver rating by the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS).In order to get the Silver rating, the hotel had to demonstrate the efforts it has made to be environmentally aware. Judges visited the hotel to assess the ways in which the hotel is responsible and agreed to pass the prominent Silver level of the GTBS. “We are delighted to win this award. This is fantastic recognition for the hard work our team puts in to being a responsible and green business”, remarks Sally Hughes, General Manager.

3 UK & IRELAND HOTELS FEATURE IN THE LATEROOMS.COM “SIMPLY THE GUEST” AWARDSWe were delighted to heat that three of our hotels were recently recognised in the laterooms.com “Simply the Guest” awards. The annual awards recognise those hotels that receive the most positive guest reviews on the site over the year. With over 70,000 accommodation providers listed on the site, being recognised as one of the best is a tough task! Congratulations to the following hotels:

Radisson Blu Hotel Durham came 2nd in the Resort category

Radisson Blu Hotel, Edinburgh is runner up of the Spa category.

Radisson Blu Hotel Cardiff is runner of the Large Hotel category.

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTSOutside of the Shining Star awards, it’s been another busy quarter full of awards and successes for our hotels and team members. Here are some of the achievements we want to shout about:


In the next UK & Ireland update, we hope to share more news updates, good news stories and successes from the region.

Please share your stories on awards and achievements, responsible business and shining starts of Yes I Can!

Find out more and send information through to:[email protected]

NEXT TIME...

35 YEARS’ SERVICE AND STILL GOING STRONG FOR THE PORTMAN’S PERLA!Congratulations to Perla Hake, Food & Beverage Assistant at the Radisson Blu Portman Hotel in London, who recently celebrated an incredible 35 years’ service at the hotel! Perla says that she really enjoys working in the Portman Corner Restaurant and meeting and serving customers and with the support she receives from her colleagues, it’s a really pleasurable place to work.

Perla is a real superstar She is dedicated and full of Yes I Can! Spirit and for anyone to achieve 35 years’ service shows how committed they are. Perla has a smile for everyone and the guests

really love her.

Perla is

Guido BayleyGeneral Manager, Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, London

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UK & IRELAND UPDATE Q1 - 2014