The Moran Hotel Group is no run-of-the-mill family business. Spanning ten strategic locations and employing approximately 1400 people across both Ireland and the UK, Ireland’s largest independently owned hotel group has 2596 rooms on the books, and a further 400 scheduled to be added by the end of 2010 when planned refurbishments and developments currently underway reach completion.
Headed up by the genial and down-to-earth Limerick man, Tom Moran, the business has expanded rapidly in recent years, most significantly following the acquisition of the 6 Bewley’s Hotels properties in 2006. Family plays an important role in the day-to-day running of the business, with six of Tom’s seven children holding management positions within the company. Tommy takes care of operations in the UK, Karen and Tracey look after sales, marketing and communications, Michael is project development manager and Stephen, who is a qualified barrister, works as the Group’s legal adviser. Brendan has just joined the group from university and currently works in the accounting section.
Originally hailing from a farming background in West Limerick, Tom Moran travelled to London to begin his career. In his own words: ‘It all began in 1970 in the pub business in London. I took over The Man of Kent pub as manager. And that’s how I started really. I bought my first house for around £3,000stg in 1971, which I converted into flats and let. I myself lived over the pub. I sold that house and bought more houses, converted them and let them, and continued like that, keeping the pub at the same time. It was common back then to manage a pub for a brewery, you didn’t own it."
By the end of the 70s, Tom and his wife, Sheila, came to the decision to return to Limerick to raise their children. Once there, they bought a pub called Stacks, followed by another called Jack Bourke’s for £217K, which they planned to develop into a ‘superpub’.
Entering the hotel trade was the farthest thing from Tom Moran’s mind until fate stepped into the picture, and a phone call from a friend changed the course of his business plan. He continues: "As things worked out, a friend of mine contacted me about a pub for sale in Dublin called the Red Cow Inn. I had no interest in this pub as after all, I had only just bought Jack Bourke’s, but I was persuaded to travel to Dublin with him, my wife Sheila and son Tommy to see it all the same."
"Arriving in Dublin at 5pm the day before the auction, we rang the auctioneers requesting a viewing, but not knowing us from Adam, they said we were too late. We came into the pub anyway to have a look around and to be very honest I wasn’t particularly impressed by it at all. The next morning we dithered over whether or not to bother going to the auction at all, but we went to the auction, and before I knew where I was, I had bid £1,000,010, and was to become the first man in Ireland to buy a pub for over a million! That all happened in June 1988 and we moved to Dublin that September."
Planning permission to build additional hotel rooms above the pub was already in place, however, following the acquisition of land beside the Inn, the decision was taken to develop a four star hotel on the premises.
Throughout the years, Moran continued to keep a weather eye on developments in the UK market, and in 1998, he saw the potential of the famous though run-down Crown pub in Cricklewood, London, and its adjoining lands. After buying the site, he built a new 116 room hotel alongside the listed pub, and followed this deal with the purchase of the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork in 2000. In 2006, the Chiswick Moran opened its doors to the public following the construction of a new hotel on a site bought for the purpose in 2004, not fifteen minutes from Heathrow Airport.
Successful though these transactions proved to be, the Group wished to embark on a programme of accelerated expansion. Moran’s son, Michael, explained: "Developing hotels one at a time is a lengthy business. It’s very time consuming and expensive, so we were looking for other groups to buy". The jewel in the Moran Hotel Group crown was added when the family successfully negotiated the purchase of the 6 Bewley’s Hotel properties (4 in Dublin, one in Manchester and one in Leeds) at the end of 2007. The transaction was described in the Irish media as the ‘commercial property deal of the year’ and cost in excess of €700 million.
2009 has brought with it a changed and challenging economic environment for the hotel industry, with tourists and domestic customers alike seeking to travel on reduced budgets, actively hunting out the best bargains available. The Morans, however, are firm believers that the public still reward those businesses that consistently provide excellent service and good value.
Tom Moran concludes: "The hotel industry is facing a tough couple of years, but there’s no doubt our Group is well-positioned to handle the downturn. Our four star Moran hotels will continue to offer luxury accommodation at a reasonable price, while those in search of a good deal that doesn’t compromise on quality need look no further than our 6 three star Bewley’s Hotel properties."
"Working with family at times like this brings its own advantages. We can take decisions quickly and react to market conditions in a more flexible manner than some of our competitors. There’s also a clear sense that we’re working together to build something for all of us – thankfully, all the kids have inherited my work ethic! We’ll come through these tough times stronger and wiser than ever."
