JSE-listed group City Lodge Hotels on Tuesday announced that its Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment verification status had been raised from Level Six to that of a Level Four Contributor with a 100% recognition level.

The Group said its BEE status was further enhanced through its value adding vendor status, giving the group a Preferential Procurement Recognition Level of 125% (Level 2).

Apart from having 23.8% black ownership, the group's Equity Ownership score increased as a result of net value being realised by the group's BEE partners.

City Lodge added that it had also made significant improvements in skills development, preferential procurement, enterprise development and socioeconomic development "and continues to explore and implement innovative systems and processes that will both sustain and improve current scores".

"We are very pleased that our BBBEE rating has improved so markedly. This illustrates our strong and ongoing commitment to sustainable transformation and economic growth throughout our operations across South Africa," said City Lodge Hotels CEO Clifford Ross.

The City Lodge Hotels group currently operates 44 hotels offering 4 989 rooms across its four brands - Courtyard, City Lodge, Town Lodge and Road Lodge.

Source: I-Net Bridge