Said Dolce International Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Dolce, �Dolce International is the first American conference center company to enter the UK market and plans to acquire several more UK properties in its European expansion strategy. With the acquisition of Norton Manor, we bring our American-style conference center concept to the UK which blends five-star meeting facilities and services with four-star hotel services. We have formed a relationship with Patrick Hungerford and Toby Ward, founders of Style Conference Centres, who were pioneers in the conference center industry in the United Kingdom. They are assisting us in identifying additional properties in the UK which will fit our conference center criteria.�
 

Adds Dolce International Senior Vice President of European Operations Mark DePiero, �Our initial concentration at Norton Manor will be capital improvements and service. A $4.6-million (3.2-million pound) renovation and expansion of the property is planned.  The existing guestrooms, lobby, lounge, and dining space will be completely renovated by March 1, 2001, and an expansion

Norton Manor Training and  Conference Centre Hampshire, England

The Manor of Norton was recorded as long ago as Saxon times when it was believed to have been held, in Edward the Confessor�s reign, by Fulchi who was one of the great Saxon thanes. After the Norman Conquest, the Manor passed to Bishop Odo of Winchester and thereafter, in the early part of the 13th century, from the St. Valery family to Walter de Langton, Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield in 1307. The existing Manor House, estimated to be approximately 350 years old, has just been completely renovated and now includes 15 four-star guestrooms and elegant private dining and meeting space. The Manor House can be reserved as an exclusive executive meeting site.

Dolce International, the global leader in learning through meetings and leisure, represents 16 conference destinations in the United States, Canada and Europe. In Europe Dolce International also owns and manages Hôtel du Domaine de Chantilly just north of Paris; Frégate in Provence, France; and Hotel & Kasteel Vaalsbroek in the Maastricht region of The Netherlands.