IPSWICH: The manager of one of the town's newest hotels who left suddenly last month quit the post for personal reasons, it has been confirmed.

IPSWICH: The manager of one of the town's newest hotels who left suddenly last month quit the post for personal reasons, it has been confirmed.

Peter Osborne oversaw the launch of the Ramada Encore hotel, in Ranelagh Road, in June last year, and in an interview with the Evening Star in August spoke of his plans to stay in Ipswich for the foreseeable future.

In December, however, it emerged that Mr Osborne had left his job unexpectedly and a spokesman for the company behind the hotel declined to comment on the reasons for his departure.

Former colleagues left messages on the Star website, denying that Mr Osborne had “disappeared”, saying that they were “sad to see him go” and praising him as “dedicated and hard working”.

And yesterday, Neil Taylor, chief operating officer of BDL Hotels, which runs the Ramada Encore, in Ipswich, responded to inquiries to confirm there was “nothing untoward” in Mr Osborne's departure.

“He did a great job in launching the hotel and establishing links with the local community,” he added. “I cannot comment on the exact circumstances but he left for personal reasons.”

BDL is one of the UK's largest multi-brand franchise hotel developers. Besides the Ramada Encore brand, owned by the Wyndham Hotel Group, it also operates hotels under the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brands, all of which are owned by the Intercontinental Hotel Group.

It also operates a number of hotels under independent branding, including the Marks Tey Hotel, near Colchester.

The four star 126-bedroom Ramada Encore, in Ipswich, was launched despite the deepening recession to take advantage of a perceived shortage of hotels rooms in Ipswich, beating to the draw a number of other hotel schemes which have been put on ice as a result of the economic climate.

Among the local projects it is supporting are the development of a new statue of Cardinal Wolsey and the Ipswich Town Community Trust.