Virgin Limited Edition intends to add urban hotels to its portfolio as part of an ambitious growth plan from parent company Virgin Hotels Collection.
James Bermingham, who became chief executive of Virgin Hotels Collection in January following a merger of the Virgin Hotels and Virgin Limited Edition brands, said he was “excited about developing an urban equivalent for Virgin Limited Edition”.
The portfolio currently includes two private islands in the British Virgin Islands, a tented safari camp in Kenya and exclusive resorts in Morocco, Verbier and South Africa.
“I think [the brand] will translate beautifully into an urban environment as long as we remain very careful about that growth,” he said.
Bermingham said he would “love” to have a Virgin Limited Edition property in Italy and said the company was also looking at destinations including Portugal, France and Ireland.
Bermingham said Virgin Hotels Collection could “absolutely” have Virgin Hotels and Virgin Limited Edition properties in the same destination.
Virgin Hotels is currently concentrated in cities across North America and Europe, with a Glasgow property due to open next month and projects in Miami, Denver and Philadelphia breaking ground at the end of this year. Bermingham said the brand also had potential to move into resort hotels.
“Palma [in Majorca] would be fantastic for Virgin Hotels and a great complement [to Son Bunyola, which opened earlier this month],” he said.
“And in Cape Town to complement [Virgin Limited Edition properties] Mont Michelle and Ulusaba in South Africa, and in Nairobi potentially to complement Mahali Mzuri [in Kenya].
“I think a Virgin Limited Edition property in New York would really complement [new property] Virgin Hotels New York and of course getting both brands in London would be really important.”
He added that the ultimate goal remained to have a hotel in every Virgin Atlantic destination, but insisted neither brand was focused on achieving a particular portfolio size.
“Careful growth is more important than growth for the sake of growth,” he said. “So it’s not a numbers game; it’s making sure that everything we do is accretive to the brand.”
Virgin Group announced in January that Virgin Hotels and Virgin Limited Edition would be brought together under a new parent company, Virgin Hotels Collection.
Bermingham, who was previously chief executive of Virgin Hotels, assumed the role of Virgin Hotels Collection chief executive, overseeing both brands.
Jon Brown, who was chief executive of Virgin Limited Edition for more than 24 years, remains an advisor.