An independent Liverpool hotel has been chosen as the first North West venue to become part of a new partnership from accommodation giants Best Western Great Britain.

The Richmond Hotel Liverpool, which is situated on Hatton Garden in the city centre, has been specially selected as one of the first three hotels to join the new BW Premier Collection – just three months after the new brand was launched in the UK.

The BW Premier Collection is the first new brand from Best Western in almost 70 years. It allows high quality hotels in city centre or destination locations to retain their identities through a soft-branded relationship.

Since opening in May 2013, The Richmond Hotel Liverpool has firmly established itself within the City Region’s thriving hospitality sector and Visitor Economy. The Grade II Listed building is the former headquarters of Merseytravel.

The Richmond will continue to remain independent and retain its own identity and branding. The move is expected to further boost mid-week trade through Best Western’s overarching global branding, reputation and networks.

The partnership comes into effect on 15 July and Richmond customers can look forward to a number of benefits as part of a new rewards programme.

This is the latest development for the hotel, which recently announced a new management company – Know Hotels Liverpool Limited (KHLL) – as it marked its second year anniversary.

The Richmond Hotel Liverpool has also recently been awarded a prestigious Certificate of Excellence from industry watchdog TripAdvisor.

Steven Hesketh is the Managing Director of KHLL at The Richmond Hotel Liverpool. He has played a key role in the development of the hotel prior to opening and then beyond. He is also Treasurer of Liverpool Hoteliers Association.

Steven Hesketh, Managing Director of The Richmond Hotel Liverpool, commented:

“The BW Premier Collection allows us, as an independent city centre hotel, to access the power of a global brand which had not been an option before without us losing our identity to full branding. With the BW Premier Collection we have the freedom to be independent and at the same time leverage off of the huge global reach of Best Western to take our own unique local identity, worldwide.

“We are very much looking forward to being part of the Best Western team and are excited to see how we can further grow and develop in what is a very competitive hotel industry, both locally and nationally.”

Christine Jones, Director of Hotel Development for Best Western Great Britain, said:

“The BW Premier Collection is proving incredibly popular. I have a list of really exciting properties all keen to have conversations with me about joining because they can see it makes business sense for high quality, independent hotels to soft brand with a global powerhouse like Best Western. The calibre of the first three shows the direction Best Western is moving in. We are very much focused on quality, raising standards and improving experiences across the board for our guests and the BW Premier Collection does all of those things.”

The Richmond Hotel Liverpool joins Winchester Royal Hotel and Bank House Hotel, Golf and Spa in Worcester as the first trio in the BW Premier Collection.