Fat Badger Group returns to BWH Hotels GB with seven Yorkshire properties

BWH Hotels GB has strengthened its premium portfolio with the return of all seven Fat Badger Group hotels to the portfolio, as it enters its next phase of growth following significant investment across the group’s hotel estate.

The partnership gives Fat Badger access to BWH Hotels GB’s global reach, commercial expertise and sales network, while its hotels retain their individual identities. 

The seven properties, due to launch imminently under BWH Hotels’ premium BW Premier Collection brand, are:

• Royal Whitby in Whitby, BW Premier Collection by Best Western

• The Yorkshire in Harrogate, BW Premier Collection by Best Western

• White Hart Hotel & Apartments in Harrogate, BW Premier Collection by Best Western

• Hotel Clementine in Harrogate, BW Premier Collection by Best Western

• The Fat Badger York, BW Signature Collection by Best Western

• Guy Fawkes Inn in York, BW Premier Collection by Best Western

• Black Horse Inn in Kirkby Fleetham, BW Premier Collection by Best Western

The Guy Fawkes Inn property, said to be the birthplace of the notorious gunpowder plotter Guido Fawkes, has recently benefitted from circa £3.5m investment, including the acquisition of a neighbouring Grade I listed building three years ago and a subsequent conversion. The building was already operating under the Guy Fawkes Inn name, with 27 stunning new bedrooms opening this summer, growing the group’s total keys count to 411.

On the Yorkshire coast, Royal Whitby has also seen significant growth following investment in the property. After a record-breaking summer the hotel’s average daily rate has more than tripled since Fat Badger took on the property in 2024.

Further investment is planned across the estate, including a major development at the Black Horse Inn, where the group is planning to incorporate a farmhouse, village farm shop and 24 luxury lodges set around the property's lakes.

Fat Badger Group is a fantastic addition to our premium portfolio as we continue to grow our presence in this market.

These are established properties with strong identities and local reputations. They don’t need us to tell them who they are. They need the reach, insight and commercial support to help more customers discover them and support their next phase of growth.

Fat Badger knows our model and has chosen to return at an important stage in its growth. That’s a strong endorsement of the value we offer independent hoteliers, putting the commercial engine behind great hotels while allowing them to retain what makes them unique.

Tim Rumney, CEO of BWH Hotels GB

We’ve never been a business that stands still. We’ve invested heavily over the last couple of years, honing in on the uniqueness of every property, creating new bedrooms and developing the F&B offer, because we believe in our people and product.

We’re now at a different stage in the evolution of the group and starting to see the benefit of that investment. Our food and beverage offering is performing strongly, with our restaurants across North Yorkshire, including The Pickled Sprout and our Fat Badger pubs, becoming destinations in their own right. The next opportunity is to bring that same profile to our hotels and take them to the next level. We don’t take that progress for granted, particularly given the challenges being felt across the industry.

Coming back to BWH Hotels GB is part of that next stage for us. We know the group and what it can bring to an independent operator, and the value of that distribution and commercial reach makes even more sense to us now. We want to keep our properties performing at the top of their respective comp sets, and BWH Hotels gives us another route to help achieve that.

There’s always something else we want to improve, build or create, and this partnership gives us another way to do that.

Simon Cotton, managing director at Fat Badger Group

The decision to return comes as the cost of reaching and acquiring hotel customers through online channels reaches new highs. 

Fat Badger Group’s ambition is to build on the momentum already established across its hotels from room rates to introducing the properties to new international audiences.

As part of the partnership, the group will access BWH Hotels GB’s global distribution and loyalty programme, alongside sales and marketing support, revenue expertise and industry insights. 

The group will also have access to BWH’s specialist venues desk to help drive corporate, meetings and events business.

The return forms part of BWH Hotels GB’s continued growth across its premium portfolio, with the group having added a further 411 bedrooms to its portfolio, taking the total number of new bedroom signings to 702 over the past 12 months.

For more information on BWH Hotels GB, visit joinbwhhotels.co.uk.