Page 93 - Stakis Consolidated Teaching Note

Andros himself. The culture of the board completely
changed, this left a bitter taste in some of the old guard,

with some moving on, with the notable inclusion of the

chief executive of twelve years John Loughray.
Andros embarked on an aggressive £500 million

expansion plan, not just in city centre hotels, casinos,

property or finance, but wanted to enter the market of

health care and country court hotels, which were
modelled on a style of hotel he had seen in his time in

America.

Andros was advised, by the newly appointed finance

director Neil Chisman, that Stakis must prepare for such
an expansion and therefore prepared Stakis’ first

Corporate Business Plan. The plan stated that within five

years there would be thirty Country Court Hotels built
near main motorways, for business travellers. These

hotels would be mid-ranged, with decent restaurants and

conference facilities. This sounds very like the successful

modern-day Premier Lodges or Holiday Inn Express, a
sound market strategy!

The plan also announced that within the same time span,

Stakis would enter a new market with a new product

“diversification” and would build 30 nursing homes, but
not just normal nursing homes. Andros obviously caught

some of his father’s search for quality service and decides

that the homes would be more like “four star hotels”. This
also sounded like a good, potentially profitable market to

enter, but Andros wanted to start with homes in the more

working-class West of Scotland, rather in the wealthier

south east of England. Right product, wrong place!