Hotel group outlines UK expansion - graduate jobs

Graduate jobs in the hospitality sector are due to receive a big lift with hotel group InterContinental announcing plans to expand its presence in the UK.

As many as 3,000 jobs are expected to be created by the company's move to add 28 new hotels under its InterContinental, Holiday Inn and Stalybridge brands.

London, which is hosting the Olympic Games next year, is a key location identified by the group, with a flagship InterContinental coming up in Westminster. It also plans to open a Holiday Inn and Stalybridge near the Games venues.

New hotels are also planned in York, Newcastle, Manchester, Blackpool, Birmingham, Colchester, Southend, Walsall, Bristol and Edinburgh.

The company is planning to expand its Hotel Indigo chain, which consists of smaller establishments typically with around 50 rooms.

InterContinental Hotels Group, which currently owns 269 hotels under its various brands, including Crowne Plaza, unveiled the growth plans as it announced profits for the first half of 2011 had risen by a quarter.

The improvement was driven largely by the successful relaunch of the Holiday Inn brand.

Copyright Press Association 2011