Owners of Peterborough hotel expect Brexit to entice more to holiday in UK

Group chairman Robert Peel says the low pound in the wake of the referendum may encourage more residents to holiday in the UK.

His comments came as the group, which owns seven other UK hotels, posted a 1.8 per cent rise in sales - up to £9,115,526 - for the six months to August 14 this year.

Pretax profits soared by 19 per cent to £592,807.

The industry’s crucial indicator - revpar - the revenue per available room - was up 2.9 per cent.

Occupancy was down 2.3 per cent but average room rate was up 5.3 per cent.

Mr Peel said: “Our challenge is to control our overall costs of doing business in line with modest overall turnover growth.

“Revpar growth is key to increasing our profits and we have made solid progress in this area albeit at the expense of volume.

“It is difficult to be certain post Brexit but a low pound certainly should encourage incoming volume as well as serving as an incentive for British residents to spend more of their leisure time at home.”

He said net debt at £9.4 million continues to fall with the reduction of finance costs on an ongoing basis.

Mr Peel added: “We look forward to another year of progress.”