SERVICED APARTMENTS BY CATHERINE CHETWYND
past few years,” says Emanuel. “And because new supply continues to come in, we won’t see dramatic occupancy growth, that will still come from average rates, as in 2015.” And activity among travel buyers re- flects this. Business Travel Show’s research elicited that 19 per cent of 182 European travel managers polled booked 4 per cent more serviced apartment accommodation in 2015 than in 2014, and 48 per cent of those questioned insist travellers stay in serviced apartments when their trip exceeds a certain duration. With this robust backdrop, Association
of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP) membership continues to grow, cur- rently standing at 133, with five more in the offing. “We are looking to have 150 in three months’ time,” says ASAP manag- ing director James Foice. The association is forging ahead with its plan to have an international presence, and the accredita- tion scheme was launched to the close on 300 members of the Corporate Housing Providers Association (CHPA) at the end of January. “In just a few days, we have already received applications to obtain the accreditation for companies representing nearly 1,000 units,” says CHPA chief execu- tive Mary Ann Passi. ASAP aims to do more to spread the
word, with some kind of activity every six weeks in the form of networking events, press meetings and opportunities to educate corporate buyers. The association has a new relationship with recruitment charity Springboard. “They will run re- cruitment fairs, which will be promoted through the Big Hospitality Conversation,” says Foice. “We are excited about ASAP’s new partnership with Springboard, and we’re investigating the possibility of including them in our recruitment process,” says Marlin managing director Susan Cully.
AIMING HIGH According to research undertaken by Savills on behalf of ASAP, over the next two years, the sector will be the fastest growing segment of the UK hospitality market. Staycity is tripling its number of units to 3,000 in the next 24 months and is opening in Birmingham, Heathrow, York and Marseille. Go Native is doubling in size to just over 3,000 apartments, includ- ing new properties in Manchester, Bristol,
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
According to research, this will be the fastest growing segment of UK hospitality over the next two years
Newcastle and Reading. SACO is also going for 100 per cent growth and will be launching a corporate booking portal this year.
Smaller operators are also expanding. Lamington plans to increase ten-fold to 1,000 units by 2020, with 100 new apart- ments in London and Southampton this year; Prem Group opened in Glasgow’s George Square in January and aims to open its extended-stay brand in 12 new locations in the next three years, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Ghent; and Apple Apartments is branching out by a further 170 units. Internationally, The Ascott’s plan to double in size to 80,000 units by 2020 is well documented; Frasers is adding 9,000 to make 30,000 by 2020, including in Istanbul, Doha and Riyadh; Oakwood aims to triple the number of its branded properties worldwide; and Belgian
company BBF is adding some 50 units in Anderlecht.
EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION “There is no national, well-recognised serviced apartment brand,” says Piers Brown, CEO of International Hospitality Media and founder of the Serviced Apart- ment Summit. A straw poll undertaken on the street by Brown underlined the point: those interviewed could name only one brand, Airbnb. “It highlighted some of the opportunities and challenges the sector has,” he says.
Go Native has recognised this: “We are
working on our brand in a very committed way,” says managing director Shaun Prime. Symptomatic of this is the large-scale blocks the company is building in Bear Gardens on London’s South Bank and Carolyn House in Croydon, with more in the pipeline – those comprising more than 100 units. “We refer to those as ‘communi- ties’ and they will house guests staying from two nights to one year.” As the sector evolves, so does the offer-
ing. Go Native’s Croydon property will have a light food and beverage (F&B) service, flexible work spaces and what Prime de- scribes as, “fun places to hang out”. Other Go Native buildings will have a rooftop yoga studio and a running track. Staycity’s new Birmingham property is
providing its first F&B service with tea, freshly ground coffee, Continental breakfast
Citystay, Cambridge
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