Ramada signs for Neptune’s Southport hotel

Ramada Plaza has signed to take the hotel in Neptune Developments' £30m Waterfront in Southport.

The staged deal will see New World Group operate the four-star hotel under the Ramada Plaza brand on behalf of investor Even Group.

Ramada Plaza Hotels is part of Wyndham, one of the world's largest hotel groups, and recently signed a similar agreement with Vermont for The Quarter in Liverpool.

The 133-bed Southport hotel is currently under construction and will feature bars and restaurants, together with extensive meeting facilities to complement the newly extended and refurbished Floral Hall conference centre.

Steve Parry, managing director of Neptune Developments, said: "The Waterfront development has already had a major impact on the Southport waterfront as it heads towards completion and so we are particularly pleased to secure Ramada Plaza as a premium four star operator backed by Even Group whose directors have a proven track record.

"The hotel will be a major boost to Southport as a leisure and tourism destination and the quality of the Waterfront scheme and the facilities that it offers will help to re-establish Southport as a high quality destination.

"The impact of the Waterfront, together with the extension and refurbishment of the Floral Hall Theatre and Conference Centre will enable Southport to appeal to a much broader market for conferences and events and this will have significant impact on the Southport economy as a whole."

The scheme has been on site since January 2007 and first handovers to leisure operators will start in May with the handover of the hotel for final fit out taking place in the autumn.