Interview with Adela Cristea, vice-president business development UK and Nordics, Radisson Hotel Group

- Tell us about Radisson Hotel Group’s UK & Ireland portfolio

- We have almost 80 properties in operation and under development across nine brands in the UK and Ireland, located in major cities and destinations.

Our main brands include: Radisson Collection, which consists of iconic luxury lifestyle properties; Radisson Blu, the largest upper-upscale brand in Europe for over a decade; Radisson RED, the fun, stylish design brand; and Radisson Individuals, a collection flag for independent hotels.

- 2024 was a record-breaking year for Radisson Hotel Group in the UK & Ireland – where are opportunities to continue that growth?

- Radisson Hotel Group opened a record eight hotels in the UK & Ireland in 2024. We also have three Radisson RED properties in the pipeline; Edinburgh Airport, Allianz Stadium Twickenham – the home of England Rugby – and renowned cricket ground Edgbaston Stadium.
We aim to expand with our lifestyle brands such as Radisson RED or Prize by Radisson, where they will complement the existing Radisson Blu offering, as well as continuing opportunities with Radisson Individuals, which offers existing hotels the opportunity to join our international network while maintaining their own unique identity.

- The UK’s first Prize by Radisson hotel is set to open in Glasgow next year. What can we expect?

- The hotel is on the doorstep of Glasgow’s world-famous SEC and OVO Hydro events venues, which have 2.5 million visitors annually, next to the Radisson RED property. Work has already commenced to completely transform and extend the property to create a stunning modern hotel with stylish design and décor. The hotel will include 163 guest rooms, a bar and all-day dining concept, offering a large, open space for guests to relax and socialise. It will be an ideal venue either pre- or post-event.

- Are conversions still part of your strategy?

- Yes, very much so. Conversions have kept us busy over the past few years and continue to do so. We support our owners by optimising the spaces and their localities, tailoring our offers in order to maximise their return on investment.

- How do you tackle development challenges?

- Our development and technical teams work closely with owners to ensure the construction of viable and efficient properties. We consider market trends, such as co-working spaces or using a rooftop to introduce a bar or restaurant. We have a flexible approach, judge each project on its own merit and appreciate that every owner is unique. Thus, we tailor our brands’ specifications to a given location and market. For secondary locations, we can offer compact versions of our brands, which retain their distinctive look and feel, but reduce development costs per square foot.

- What opportunities are you seeing with sports stadium developments?

- This is a new and exciting segment for us. Destinations such as sports venues, where the hotel component is being built to complement meetings and events and other facilities, are proving to be successful. Introducing a hotel adds value by making the venue a year-round destination as well as maximising investor return on capital. Hotels & leisure facilities at sports venues, leisure and entertainment destinations are a key success driver.

We have just announced a fantastic collaboration with Manchester City Football Club to open a 401-room hotel. Named The Medlock after the river that runs underneath the Etihad Campus, the brand-new Radisson Blu hotel will be connected to the Etihad Stadium and is due to open next year. It will be ideal for music & sports fans attending events, as well as the thousands of visitors who travel yearly to Manchester.

We also signed a 180-key new-build Radisson hotel, located at the new home of Oxford United Football Club within the UK’s first all-electric stadium. We will also introduce the Radisson RED brand to Allianz Stadium Twickenham later this year, with a 150-room property. And recently plans were approved for a new 146-room Radisson RED hotel at Edgbaston Stadium.

- How is RHG leveraging sustainability initiatives in the UK?

We have a long tradition of being a responsible business and are committed to becoming net zero by 2050. We make it easy for guests to travel and meet responsibly by offering sustainable value propositions, such as 100% carbon-compensated meetings.

We look beyond the boundaries of the company and are convening the industry in leading initiatives such as Hotel Sustainability Basics, a measurement of sustainability indicators in hotels. Many of our hotels in the UK and Ireland are eco-labelled and have Hotel Sustainability Basics verification.

Radisson Hotel Group