Four-star rating for hotel chain

Shire Hotels, which is based at The Oaks at Reedley, won the AA Hotel Group of the Year in 2003 and is the first company to have received the coveted awards in successive years.

Shire Hotels, runner-up in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's Business of the Year Awards 2003, has built up a portfolio of quality, mainly four-star hotels throughout the UK. In East Lancashire, in addition to The Oaks, it owns the Millstone Hotel at Mellor.

The RAC award recognises consistent levels of quality in the hospitality industry and confirms Shire Hotels' positioning as a company which succeeds in meeting the high standards of its customers.

Antony Spencer, deputy managing director of Shire Hotels, said: "We are delighted for all the staff whose efforts have been so deservedly recognised with this award. We are particularly proud to be associated with an accolade that reflects our Company's commitment to continually exceeding the expectations of our guests."

It was the group's consistent standards of service and customer care at each of its properties that impressed RAC's expert inspectors. "The standards being set by the leading hotel groups in the UK and Ireland are increasingly high, making it difficult to judge between them for our Hotel Group of the Year award", said RAC Hotels business manager Linda Astbury. "But, in the end, Shire Hotels was the clear winner for its consistency in service standards."

Ian Harkness is the managing director who has built up the £100 million a year business since he joined Thwaites from the former Crest Hotel group in 1980.

Today, even though the group employs more than 1,000 people at its eight hotels, Ian believes that the traditional Lancashire hospitality he found when he arrived in Blackburn has been the key to success. The Millstone at Mellor was one of the first in the group and he has tried to recreate its friendly approach at all its hotels.