Intercontinental Hotel Group

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), marketed as IHG Hotels & Resorts, is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. It is also a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

As of February 2025, the group employs 375,000 people and operates, franchises and leases more than 6,600 hotels globally.

History

Bass Hotels

The origins of the business may be traced to 1777 when William Bass established the Bass Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent. The company later changed its name to Bass Charrington. Its first entry into the lodging sector came with acquisition of tied public houses. In 1969, it launched the Crest Hotels chain.

In 1988, after the British government limited the number of pubs that brewers could directly own, Bass further invested in the expansion of its hotel business with the purchase of Holiday Inn International from shareholders. Bass sold off the bulk of Crest Hotels in 1990, and the few remaining properties were absorbed into the Holiday Inn chain. Bass expanded its hotel business again in 1998, acquiring the luxury Inter-Continental hotel chain, which had been founded by Juan Trippe, from the Saison Group. The hotel division was then renamed from Holiday Hospitality to Bass Hotels & Resorts, to reflect its expansion beyond the Holiday Inn brand.

Bass changed its name to Six Continents in 2001, after having sold its brewing assets and the Bass name, and Bass Hotels & Resorts became Six Continents Hotels.

InterContinental Hotels Group

Six Continents announced in October 2002 that it would split itself in two, with one company holding its pubs and restaurants, and the other holding its hotel and soft drink businesses. The split was completed on 15 April 2003, establishing InterContinental Hotels Group (named after the de-hyphenated InterContinental brand) as an independent company, alongside the pub company, Mitchells & Butlers. IHG's hotel portfolio at the time comprised 3,325 properties, primarily under the Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and InterContinental brands. Of those, 190 were owned or leased by the company, with the remainder under management or franchise agreements.

After the separation from Six Continents, IHG began an asset disposal program, selling off hotels to move towards an "asset-light" model focused on franchising and management. From 2003 to 2015, the company sold around 200 hotels for a total of almost $8 billion, leaving only 7 owned or leased properties in the portfolio.

In 2004, IHG acquired the Candlewood Suites brand, a midscale extended stay hotel brand with 108 franchised properties in the United States, for $15 million. IHG divested its soft drink holdings in 2005, selling its 48 percent stake in Britvic for £371 million through an initial public offering.

In 2015, IHG acquired Kimpton Hotels, a boutique hotel brand with 62 managed properties, for $430 million. In February 2021, IHG announced an annual loss of $153 million caused by restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the company expected that the Holiday Inn Express brand would help in the recovery process.

In 2024, IHG signed an expansive cooperation and franchise agreement with German hotel operator Novum Hospitality, rebranding and partially refurbishing all of their current properties (namely ''the niu'', ''Yggotel'', ''Novum Hotels'', ''Select Hotels'' and ''acora living the city'') into IHG brands Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Candlewood Suites and Garner in the upcoming years. This will increase IHG's portfolio in Germany by over 100 hotels.

In 2024, the group reported revenues of $2.3 billion with a $1.1 billion operating profit. Across the same year, it opened 371 new hotels.

Corporate Affairs

Headquarters

The company's worldwide headquarters and European offices are located in Windsor, Berkshire, England. IHG maintains regional offices in Atlanta, Singapore and Shanghai.

List of CEOs

# Richard North (2003–2005)
# Andy Cosslett (2005–2011)
# Richard Solomons (2011–2017)
# Keith Barr (2017–2023)
# Elie W. Maalouf (since July 2023)

Operations

As of February 2025, the group has more than 6,600 hotels across more than 100 countries under 19 brands marketed across five segments:

The Group is reported to have more than 2,200 hotels in development.

IHG Hotels & Resorts has a loyalty program. IHG One Rewards average a value of 0.68 ¢ per point.

Criticism

In July 2012, the Office of Fair Trading alleged that IHG had broken competition law by preventing online travel agents from discounting the price of room-only hotel accommodations. In February 2014, IHG agreed to end the practice of price fixing.

In May 2012, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) warned IHG that it must include VAT in its advertised prices. In August 2012, a report by ''Which?'' magazine showed that IHG was continuing to violate VAT rules.

In November 2017, London mayor Sadiq Khan accused IHG of failing to fulfil a commitment to pay a living wage.

References

External links

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Companies based in Buckinghamshire
Companies in the FTSE 100 Index
Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Franchises
Drink companies of the United Kingdom
Hospitality companies
Hospitality companies established in 2003
Hospitality companies of the United Kingdom
Multinational companies headquartered in England