Marriott International opens first UK dual-branded property
February 1, 2021
Slough’s first double-decker hotel opened its doors today three months ahead of schedule, becoming the first time Marriott International has combined two hotel brands under one roof in the UK.
Developed and owned by Slough Borough Council, both hotels are operated by specialist hotel management company Cycas Hospitality, who in 2018 opened Marriott’s first dual-branded property in Europe under the Moxy and Residence Inn brands in Amsterdam. The development was built via Slough Urban Renewal (SUR) – a joint venture between the council and Morgan Sindall Investments Ltd.
The 244-room hotel complex forms part of a major development transforming the town’s former library site, which also include 64 new apartments and 4,000 sq.ft of restaurant and retail space.
Welcome donation will help Thames Valley Adventure Playground through pandemic A family company that has been part of Slough s social fabric for more than 90 years has teamed up with the Thames Valley Adventure Playground, to help it continue providing a haven for children and adults with disabilities. The sugar manufacturers Ragus have been on Slough Trading Estate since 1928. The company has just donated over £1,000 to the Taplow based Playground. Corporate social responsibility manager Henry Eastick said: We are and always have been a family and community orientated business. The idea of donating the funds to continue helping our local community came from Ragus’ previous Managing Director, my Grandfather Ronald Eastick.
The re-ordering of the retail hierarchy continues. Boohoo, the online fast fashion business, is to acquire Debenhams, and perhaps also Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis, while Asos – the other big name in sexy street style – is set to snap up Topshop.
The stores bearing these traditional High Street names will close forever, although the Topshop Oxford Circus flagship may become a showroom for Asos.
It is yet another sign that attention is turning to a less glamorous type of retail premises – warehouses and sheds.
They may be utilitarian, but many investors now see this type of building as an ideal home for some of their money.
CITROEN TRACTION AVANT - £18,995
On March 3rd 1934 the Citroen Type 7 was presented to dealers and it created an absolute sensation. Created in just 13 months by genius designer Andre Lefebvre who had been recruited from Renault early in 1933 to work on the Traction Avant project, the new car had a unibody (without separate chassis), front-wheel drive, independently sprung front wheels, torsion bar suspension, hydraulic brakes and rubber motor mounts for the engine. The car was so advanced for its time, introducing design elements which only became standard on other makes decades later. It was much lower on the roads than its contemporaries, had no running boards and provided superb passenger comfort. The road-holding and the way the power was transferred to the road via the front wheels was revolutionary at the time. An iconic car of the 20th Century, the Traction Avant remained in production for 23 years.The model began as a short bodied 1303cc 7HP car, later enlarged to 16