A NORTH Yorkshire property entrepreneur has secured £33 million to fund an ambitious expansion of his hotel franchise.

Peter Roberts, who has been awarded the master franchise in the UK and Ireland for Ripon-based Golden Tulip hotels, now plans to open at least 30 hotels - some of them in Yorkshire - over the next three years.

The equity funding is being provided by Graphite Capital, the venture capital fund manager, as well as the management team of Golden Tulip UK.

Barclays Bank plc's hospitality and leisure team is providing the debt funding. Mr Roberts' hotel management company, Countrywide Leisure Management at Grewelthorpe, near Ripon, was awarded the master franchise for Golden Tulip following its success in establishing the brand, as well as Tulip Inn hotels in Manchester.

Golden Tulip UK, the hotel development and franchise company launched earlier this year, has now taken over the franchise rights from CLM.

The franchise agreement, which is with Golden Tulip Worldwide, gives it the rights to exploit the four-star Golden Tulip and superior budget Tulip Inn brands in the UK and Ireland for the next ten years. Golden Tulip Worldwide is among the top 20 largest hotel chains in the world, with 45,000 bedrooms in 450 hotels across 50 countries.

Mr Roberts, managing director of Golden Tulip UK, said that of the 30-plus new hotels, 17 will be newly developed, the balance comprising existing hotels wishing to join either of the two Tulip brands.

He said: "The successful fundraising allows us to start developing the business in earnest and to exploit immediately a number of the exciting opportunities we have identified over recent months."

Updated: 09:30 Tuesday, September 24, 2002