Shire Hotels - The changing face of a leading hotel chain.
Formerly Shire Inns, was founded in 1980 by
Thwaites PLC, the famous Blackburn based brewer and pub operator, who felt that the traditional hospitality for which it was renowned would prove to be a solid foundation for the development of a leading hotel chain.
The first hotel to open under the name Shire Inns was
The Millstone in Mellor, followed by the
Cottons Hotel & Spa in Knutsford, the
North Lakes Hotel & Spa in Penrith, the
Solent Hotel & Spa in Fareham, the
Aztec Hotel & Spa in Bristol, the
Kettering Park Hotel & Spa in Kettering and finally the
Thorpe Park Hotel & Spa in Leeds.
Since the first hotel opened in 1980, Shire Hotels is now a £100 million business with eight hotels across the UK yet still retains the core values of teamwork, exceptional service and family. Thanks to a progressive management approach, which has championed old-fashioned personal service and combined it with the very latest thinking in the hotel industry. Further new developments are planned in major UK cities over the next five years and these will be situated close to centres of business as well as playing an active role in their local community.
Shire Hotels was recognised for its high standards of service and customer care by winning the AA Hotel Group of the Year Award 03-04 and then the RAC Hotel Group of the Year Award 04-05 which gave us our place in the history books as the only hotel group to achieve these two prestigious awards in successive years. Shire Hotels also celebrated its 25 years anniversary in 2005.
Whatever the future holds, the key differentiator between Shire Hotels and other leading hotel chains will remain the dedication of its 1,100 members of staff, each of whom is prepared to go that extra mile in order to make a guest's stay a memorable one.