“Jobs Boost For Midlands With New Eco Hotel Opening”
[Embargo 17 September 2016]
International hotel operator Ecotek Group plc announces the launch of its UK flagship green hotel, the Ecotek Midlands, in Birmingham. Circa 70 new jobs are to be created in advance of the official hotel opening in December 2016.
The 153-room hotel is located five miles from Birmingham City Centre and 1.5 miles from Birmingham Airport at Bickenhill.
New positions are to be filled in the housekeeping, front of house and catering departments. “We will be bringing a major jobs boost to the Birmingham area,” says Ecotek Midlands General Manager Marcus Forsyth, former Assistant Manager of the five-star London Park Elite Hotel, Mayfair. “We will begin recruiting at the end of September, with a view to quickly appointing a range of roles, including those of receptionists, night managers, cleaners and housekeepers. I’m looking forward to bringing the best team together to make this hotel an asset to the region.”
Qualified applicants for a range of kitchen and restaurant staff roles are also sought. Erica Forsyth, currently Function Manager at the Ecotek Heathrow, will oversee this recruitment drive.
The target clientele of Ecotek’s new UK flagship hotel is business travellers arriving from the 110 destinations that Birmingham Airport serves.
This is the seventh new hotel in two years to be added to the Ecotek Group’s fast-growing UK portfolio and its largest yet. The Group has six other branded properties nationwide, all situated at close proximity to major road networks and airports. Two further Ecotek hotels will open in the UK by summer 2017.
Ecotek Group makes sustainability a priority. Every hotel is built green up. Approximately 80% of the energy required by the Ecotek Midlands will be generated by solar panels and other renewable energy sources. Further energy-saving initiatives will include ground source heat pumps for hotel heating and triple-glazed windows for thermal insulation. Guests will be able to make use of electric vehicle charging stations and two chlorine-free swimming pools.
Carole Evans, Head of Communications, Ecotek Group, says: “Ecotek Group brings to Birmingham a degree of social and environmental responsibility not seen before in the hotels offering in the region. Ecotek Midlands encompasses a broad scope of issues ranging from the energy performance of the hotel to its impact on local communities and those of its supply chain. Rather than detracting from guests’ experience, green initiatives have been proven to increase levels of customer satisfaction.”
The Ecotek Midlands, like its sister hotels, will offer competitively priced quality accommodation suited to the business traveller. It features amenities unique to the needs of the business traveller, including hotel-wide wireless internet access. The hotel also offers a range of meeting rooms fitted with full AV equipment, a gym, sauna and swimming pools. Its Down to Business coffee shop has a selection of private meeting booths. Business centre facilities will remain open 24 hours a day. [ends]
Notes to Editors
Ecotek Group Plc (www.ecotekgroup.com) is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland and was established in 2013. The Group employs 630 staff. Corporate commitment to waste, water, and energy reduction in all its properties resulted in an 11.5% reduction in energy use, 14.8% reduction in water use, and an 11.6% reduction in carbon emissions in hotels across the board in 2015. In March 2016, Ecotek Group became the first UK hotel group to win a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) award – the Michelin star of sustainability. The Group also has business traveller hotels located at Redhill; Southampton; Plymouth; Dublin; Glasgow and Liverpool. Ecotek Group’s first carbon-neutral hotel is expected to open in Edinburgh in Autumn 2017.
For further information, please contact:
Ecotek Midlands: Mr Marcus Forsyth, General Manager, tel: 0121 788999, mob: 0789088888, email: m.forsyth@ecotekgroup.com
Ecotek Group: Ms Carole Evans, Head of Communications, tel: +353 1 445 678, mob: +353 7905916612, email: c.evans@ecotekgroup.com
To download high-res images of the Ecotek Midlands and other Ecotek properties, please visit www.ecotekgroup.com/media-centre and use the password carbon-neutral.
Other Potential Press Release Stories
Eco-press: focus on sustainability issues, group’s leadership in LEED awards and this hotel being the precursor to Ecotek’s first carbon-neutral hotel.
Hotel trade press: focus on staff moves: Husband and wife team Marcus and Erica Forsyth join Ecotek Group and why/hotel group expansion and sustainability progress.
Business traveller press: focus on new hotel opening and business-friendly traveller innovations and LEED award-status/sustainability green hotel measures.
Architectural/building press: focus on details of sustainability design features/green hotel building/environmental architectural measures.
