London-based Bass PLC has named Tim Clarke as group chief executive to replace Ian Prosser, who will remain with the company as chairman and be in charge of strategic direction. Clarke, 43, was formerly head of Bass Leisure Retail.
Clarke, who joined Bass in 1990, became director of group strategy in 1991 and was appointed CEO of Bass Leisure Retail in 1995. Clarke says his priority is to add more hotels to Bass Hotels & Resorts' brands, which include Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites.
The Americas hotel division, based in Atlanta, recently promoted John Sweetwood as president in charge of the 2,300-hotel portfolio in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Sweetwood formerly was president of the Bass Hotels & Resorts Midscale Hotel Group in North America. His new duties are a combination of his previous responsibilities and those of Thomas Arasi, president of the company's upscale brands in North America and all brands in Latin America. Arasi will leave Bass by the end of October to set up his own company.