BEACON Commercial, the new division of York-based hospitality purchasing specialist Beacon, has appointed John Booth as its new business development manager.

As the purchasing division of Clifton Moor-based Best Western Hotels - the largest group of independently-owned hotels in Britain - Beacon serves the group's 320 individual hotels, as well as 2,000 other UK leisure outlet members including golf clubs, leisure complexes, pubs, inns and restaurants.

Beacon Commercial, set up earlier this year, extends the offer of collective negotiation and group purchasing power to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs).

Mr Booth will bring to the new division an extensive knowledge and experience of commercial activities, account management, marketing and business development.

He has previously worked in various sectors including capital equipment, construction materials and IT training and also ran his own training consultancy for ten years.

He said: "My remit will be to spread the word to SMEs that they can now benefit from the same advantages of group negotiation and collective purchasing as our customers in the hospitality industry.

"This is a great opportunity for smaller businesses to enjoy the same terms of supply as bigger organisations which can really help to give them a competitive edge."

Updated: 09:32 Tuesday, November 23, 2004