A new hotel marketing and reservations services company launched by two men in Clifton Moor in September has just signed up its 20th hotel.

Now David Sankey and Mike Davies, who set up Your Hotel at Carr House, Lysander Close, a few roads away from the hotels consortium group which had earlier axed them as directors, are hopeful of bringing another 20 UK hotels on board by December.

Mr Sankey was marketing and sales director of Consort and Mr Davies was Consort's reservation services but left with Best Western's takeover of the operation in Amy Johnson Way.

Having set up in Carr House, in nearby Lysander Close with the help of Langley's solicitors in York, the two men launched a technology-led distribution and marketing system for independent hotels, giving them the chance to compete with the large hotel chains.

Mr Sankey insists that Your Hotel has a cordial relationship with Best Western. "We are not marketing an international brand in quite the same way. We tend to leave our hotels free to use their own name - it's a sort of non-intrusive common market.

"Besides, many of the Consort people at Best Western are our old colleagues with whom we get on well."

He added that there were a further ten hotels in the UK which were considering signing contracts. Some had hesitated during the foot and mouth epidemic, otherwise he reckons the membership figure would by now be 25.

"But we fully expect to have signed up a total of 40 hotels by the end of this year."