A 10-year franchise agreement has been signed between Queens Moat Houses and Six Continents involving 26 QMH hotels.

In Germany, a previous agreement which concluded in February saw 11 QMH hotels operate under the Holiday Inn brand and this has been renegotiated for a further 10 years.

In addition, the five QMH hotels in Cologne, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Munich will transfer to the Holiday Inn name immediately - again under a 10-year agreement - followed by a further five in Baden-Baden, Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover and Karlsruhe over the next two years.

The three remaining QMH hotels in Germany - Kassel, Velbert and Niefern - will be the subject of a review.

Also subject to the new agreement are two hotels in the Netherlands - the Holiday Inn, Rotterdam and the Crowne Plaza, Maastricht - and three UK Holiday Inns - Bristol, Newcastle and Reading -previously operating under the same arrangement seen in Germany.

QMH has additionally been given the option to add new sites to the Holiday Inn brand.

Corporate development director of QMH, Stuart Metcalfe, said: 'This is a landmark agreement for both parties. QMH will bring its two German hotel portfolios under one global brand and Six Continents will see a considerable extension of the Holiday Inn name in key locations of the largest economy in Europe.' Details: www.queensmoat.co.uk