Leading Gatwick hotel rewards local heroes at a special anniversary event
The ibis London Gatwick welcomed charity groups, civic and business leaders to sample the delights of the newly refurbished hotel on Sunday at a special charity event to mark the 50th anniversary of Accor, owners of the Ibis brand’s 4,200 strong global hotel portfolio.
Hotel general manager Marnix Teeken and his team launched Accor’s unique #Welcome Heroes campaign, marking this epic milestone by donating pledges of 50 overnight stays at the hotel to local charities as a gesture of support to community groups including Carers Support, Friends of Crawley Hospital and the Alzheimer’s Society,
“We are thrilled to be able to mark this special ‘birthday by extending our hospitality to such worthwhile causes,” explained Marnix. “The hotel is very much part of the Crawley community and we wanted to acknowledge this by offering the hotel overnight stays to the charities.”
Amongst those attending the launch party were the Mayor and Mayoress of Crawley, Councillor Brian and Mrs Sue Quinn, along with Paul Callingham, Managing Director of Starboard Hotels who own the Ibis Gatwick, plus representatives from local charities and businesses including Steve Sawyer Executive Director of Manor Royal Business Improvement District.
Guests were shown around the hotel which has just completed a comprehensive refurbishment programme and were able to enjoy hospitality in the hotel’s new look restaurant.
“It was a really special event and marked another important landmark as the Mayor, Councillor Quinn, explained to our guests that Crawley is in fact celebrating its 70th anniversary this year after being designated a new town in 1947,” said Marnix.
“I recently joined the Manor Royal Business Improvement District conference with 130 delegates from local businesses and was very impressed with their achievements since 2013,” added Marnix. “One of the projects of the BID which helps the local community is their conservation partnership with Sussex Wildlife Trust. We are also keen to progress our community work with local groups and hope to build on our #Welcome Heroes project in the future.”
Starboard Hotels also supports the UK wide charity, Room To Reward whereby hidden heroes within registered charities are offered a deserving short break in order to acknowledge their dedication and allow them to recharge their batteries. The Ibis London Gatwick will be welcoming a young volunteer, Hannah to the hotel very soon as part of this programme.
Ends
For further information please contact Flex Media info@flex-media.co.uk or Nicolette Webster 07798 628429
About Starboard Hotels.
Starboard Hotels is an award winning owner and operator of franchised hotels under the world’s leading brands such as Holiday Inn Express (IHG), Days Inn (Wyndham), Best Western and ibis/Accor hotels.
With 13 hotels in key UK locations and over 1,200 bedrooms Starboard is a specialist in small and medium size UK based hotels ranging from limited service hotels to full service properties. Hotels in Starboard’s operating portfolio include the Best Western Carlton Hotel Blackpool and Best Western Plus Epping Forest Hotel, Days Inn Wetherby, Holiday Inn Express Greenock, the multi award-winning Holiday Inn Express Burnley, the Holiday Inn Express Leeds Armouries, Holiday Inn Express Tamworth, Holiday Inn Express Ramsgate and a number of Ibis Hotels in key UK cities such as Birmingham, Sheffield, Leicester, Plymouth and London Gatwick.
Starboard Hotels has been recognised with a number of industry awards. In 2014 the Holiday Inn Express Burnley was presented with the IHG’s Developing People award for its outstanding achievements in encouraging people to pursue a career in the hospitality industry. The hotel also won the category of Best Small Group Hotel Employer in Hospitality in 2013 and placed fourth in the Top 50 Best Employers in Hospitality at the Best Employers in Hospitality Awards the same year. In 2010 the Holiday Inn Express Burnley has been awarded with the IHG Torchbearer EMEA Hotel award.
Starboard Hotels is accredited with Investors In People (IIP) and ISO 9001 and 1400 and has a number of ongoing active business projects in key UK locations.