SCOTTISH hotel investment company Chardon Trading, built up by sector veteran Maurice Taylor, achieved strong rises in turnover and operating profits in its last financial year.

And it is confident about the outlook for profits, against a backdrop of challenging conditions in the hotel sector and broader economy.

Accounts which have just become available from Companies House show that Chardon Trading made operating profits of £3.32 million in the 12 months to April 30, 2015, up from £2.12m in the prior financial year.

This increase was achieved on the back of a 52 per cent rise in turnover from £10.05m to £15.3m.

Writing in the accounts, director Mr Taylor highlights the boost received by the Scottish hotel sector during the year to April 30, 2015, from the staging of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and from The Ryder Cup at Gleneagles. And he notes the addition of hotels in Dunfermline and Edinburgh to the company’s portfolio during the financial year.

Mr Taylor says: “We continue to invest in the hotels to maintain them to a high standard in a competitive market. We are also becoming more aware of the importance of conserving resources, and are making a conscious effort to aid this objective.

“The hotel and leisure sector remains challenging and very competitive.”

While citing rises in energy costs and the level of commissions paid to third parties, Mr Taylor adds: “We remain confident of the profitability of these hotels even in the current economic climate.”

Chardon Trading, which says on its website that it was established in 1972 with a 10-bedroom hotel in Edinburgh, has a portfolio that includes the Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express Glasgow Theatreland hotels in the city’s West Nile Street. It also has Holiday Inn Express hotels at Edinburgh Airport and on the Royal Mile in the Scottish capital, as well as in Dunfermline and Perth.

The Dunfermline and Royal Mile Holiday Inn Express hotels were added to the portfolio during the year to April 2015.

Chardon Trading’s portfolio also includes Glasgow brasserie La Bonne Auberge.

The company’s average monthly number of employees rose to 226 in the year to April 30, from 207 in the prior 12 months.