A NEW hotel marketing and reservations services company has been launched by two men in Clifton Moor - a few roads away from the hotels consortium group that axed them as directors last year.

David Sankey and Mike Davies whose jobs went when Consort merged into Best Western Hotels, have now launched Your Hotel at Carr House, Lysander Close.

That is a short walk from the Best Western HQ in Amy Johnson Way, where Mr Sankey worked as Consort's marketing and sales director and Mr Davies was director of Consort's reservations services. But Mr Sankey, who says that their new company is set to challenge traditional hotel consortia in York , insists that they have "a cordial relationship" with Best Western.

Your Hotel is a joint venture with Your Hotel Worldwide based in Stockholm, Sweden.

In January the two men will launch a technology-led distribution and marketing system, offering independent hotels the chance to compete with the large hotel chains by providing links to the major hotel reservations networks both in the UK and worldwide.

This includes access to a voice reservations centre open seven days a week; an Internet booking site; connections via the Global Distribution Systems to more than 450,000 travel agents worldwide, and a system administered customer loyalty scheme. The hotel is able to retain control of the rooms that they have to sell and the prices at which they sell them.

Mr Sankey claims that the new concept has already proved successful in Sweden, where it was launched just one year ago. At the end of the first year of operation, 67 hotels in 50 cities had been contracted in, making it the second largest hotel company in Sweden.

Already, he says, 20 contracts have been prepared for UK independent hoteliers' signatures and the brand will be launched formally in January.

"The main difference between us and the old Consort is that where they were membership led and decisions had to be by consensus, we are influenced by the market and can take quick action where necessary," he said.