Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc is a dynamic, global hotel company, operating hotels in 17 countries around the world. Today’s organisation has two starting points – in the UK from the 1970’s as a hotel operation for British Caledonian Airways, and in Singapore as part of the CDL organisation.

1970s Caledonian Hotel Holdings formed in late ‘70s to operate resort hotels for British Caledonian Airways acquired when the airline rescued the tour operator “Blue Sky Holidays.”

Caledonian Hotel Management (known in Spain as Compania Hotelera del Mediterraneo) was based in Palma, Mallorca and operated management contracts in Switzerland, Gambia, Sierra Leone in addition to the properties owned in Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza and the “original” Copthorne Hotel at London Gatwick, in the nearby village of Copthorne, West Sussex, England. This had been a British Caledonian investment since about 1972.

1980s In the early ‘80s the operation moved to Horley, Surrey England under a new management team headed by Michael Booker, Peter Brench and Christopher Rouse.  

1985 Copthorne Hotels brand launched.
The Palma properties were disposed of and the group then comprised the Gatwick hotel and contracts in Barbados - Heywoods, the Bon Air Beach in the Dutch Antilles, Zambia, Gambia and later Brussels. 
 
1986 Hotels in the UK were added in Aberdeen and Glasgow.
 
1987 New builds opened in Birmingham, Manchester, Plymouth. A second Gatwick property, Effingham Park was purchased.

1987 British Caledonian was preparing for its eventual sale to British Airways. Copthorne Hotels was sold to Aer Lingus – adding the Tara Hotel to the portfolio. All of the overseas hotels left the group with the exception of the Gambia property which remained until the country suffered a military coup.
 
1988 New hotels were opened in Cardiff, Merry-Hill Dudley, Newcastle and Slough-Windsor.

1989 In Singapore, CDL Hotels International acquired 6 hotels in Asia.
 
1993 CDL made its first move outside Asia - purchase of 548-room Gloucester Hotel in London. In the same year CDL took control of a 13-hotel chain in New Zealand.

1994 CDL made entry into the USA with the purchased of the Millenium Hilton in New York and acquired the Millennium Broadway in New York’s Times Square district in December.
 
1995 Copthorne Hotels sold to CDL for £219 million which led to the launch of the Group’s new global hotel brand, Millennium Hotels & Resorts. The Group also became New Zealand’s largest hotel owner with 21 hotels, while at the same time, acquired a controlling stake in the landmark Plaza Hotel in New York.
 
1996 Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc (M&C) was successfully floated on the London Stock Exchange. The Group acquired the Millennium Britannia Hotel in Mayfair London from InterContinental.
 
1997  M&C noted ‘Best UK Hotel Group of the Year’ at the 1997 Executive Travel Hotel Awards. The expansion of the global expansion of the Copthorne brand begins in New Zealand. 
 
1998 Copthorne makes debut in Asia with the rebranding of 3 Singapore hotels and its Penang hotel.
 
1999 M&C acquires all of CDL Hotels’ Asia and Australasia, transforming M&C into a global hotel owner/operator. It also purchased the 5-star Seoul Hilton for US$213.5 million. Towards the end of 1999, M&C completes a US$640 million acquisition of Regal US. M&C now ranks amongst Britain’s top 100 ‘Most Admired Companies’.
 
2000 As part of a capital restructuring, CDL Hotels International (CHIL) sold its shareholdings in Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc (M&C) to City Developments Ltd (CDL). CHIL changed it's name and focus in the autumn of 2000, to City e-Solutions Ltd (CES), a hospitality industry solutions provider. Spearheading the strategy for CES, is SWAN Holdings LTD, (SWAN), which is jointly owned by CES and M&C, 85% and 15% respectively. The first management contract in the UK, the Millennium Madejski Hotel Reading, opened. M&C entered into a global strategic marketing alliance agreement with one of Germany’s largest and most prestigious hotel companies, Maritim Hotels. The alliance allows M&C and Maritim immediate penetration into each partner's geographic regions without extensive capital investments. Customers from both Maritim and M&C will also enjoy an enlarged choice of hotels through the alliance.

2001 M&C expanded into the Middle East with several management contracts secured in the United Arab Emirates.
 
2003 Millennium Hotel Sydney ceased operations in March 2003. One tower of the hotel to be re-developed into a luxury residential apartment - Zenith.

Millenium Hilton in New York, was the first hotel in the Financial District to re-open its doors after extensive refurbishments following damage resulting from the collapse of the World Trade Centre Towers after terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001.

2004 The Group’s share in the Plaza Hotel New York was sold in a landmark deal. In Singapore a new Global Sales and Marketing team was appointed to spearhead a global strategy and brand development.
 
2005 In order to refocus attention on the Millennium and Copthorne brands in the UK in particular, a new strategy was formulated with the target of growing the UK group to 20 – 30 hotels within a 3-5 year timeframe through management contracts, franchise and Joint ventures. Two contracts were signed in the first quarter, one a new build in Southampton, the second at Kirtons Farm Reading which required significant refurbishment prior to being branded as a Copthorne hotel in 2006. The first management agreement hotel opened in Egypt and contracts were signed to manage a new 350-room hotel and 92 apartment development in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt and a property in Bangkok, Thailand. Contracts were also signed in New Zealand for 4 more properties.
 
2006 Further contracts signed in the UK – including the management of two hotels at Chelsea Football Club in London - and in the Middle East. The first Millennium Hotel in mainland China opened, Shanghai, in August.
 
2007 Hotel openings will include Bangkok (Thailand), Doha (Qatar), Montazah (Egypt), and Abu Dhabi (UAE).
 
2008 Hotel openings will include Beijing and Xiamen (China), Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuwait, Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt) and Sheffield (UK).
 
2009 Further expansion in China announced with hotels to open in Chengdu, Wuxi and Qindao in the coming years. Hotel openings in 2009 include Doncaster (UK).

2010 Hotel openings will include Southampton Ocean Village (UK) and Abu Dhabi.