Watts Warehouse Watts Warehouse is a large , ornate Victorian Grade II * listed building which stands on Portland Street in the centre of Manchester , England . It opened in 1856 as a textile warehouse for the wholesale drapery business of S & J Watts , and was the largest single - occupancy textile warehouse in Manchester . Today the building is part of the Britannia Hotels chain . History . The Watts family . The textile firm , S & J Watts was founded by James Watts ( Mayor of Manchester ) , a Mancunian industrialist and entrepreneur , whose textile business had started in a small weaver ' s cottage in Didsbury . His success as a cotton trader was part of the commercial boom of the 19th century that gave Manchester the name " Cottonopolis " , when the city was a global centre for the cotton trade . Watts became an important figure among British industrialists , socialising with politicians and churchmen at his home , Abney Hall , in Cheadle . Prince Albert chose to stay with him when he visited Manchester to open the Art Treasures Exhibition in 1857 . Construction . The sandstone ashlar warehouse was built by local architects Travis & Mangnall in 1851 - 56 at a cost of £100 , 000 . Its ornate style typifies the extravagant confidence of many Mancunian warehouses of this period , but the Watts Warehouse is notable for its peculiarly eclectic design . Designed in the form of a Venetian palazzo , the building has five storeys , each decorated in a different style – Italian Renaissance , Elizabethan , French Renaissance and Flemish – and roof pavilions featuring large Gothic wheel windows . The interior was similarly lavish in its decoration , with a sweeping iron cantilever staircase , balconied stairwell , and mahogany counters for displaying merchandise . War memorial . During the First World War 1914 - 18 , many employees of S & J Watts lost their lives in battle . The company marked this by erecting a memorial in 1922 in the main entrance to the building on Portland Street . A bronze sculpture , " the Sentry " , stands in an arched niche on the right , and on the opposite side is a marble plaque commemorating the dead . The bronze statue depicts the sentry wearing a Tommy helmet , World War I battle gear and a cape , standing on guard with his rifle with fixed bayonet upright , and was commissioned from the British sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger who also designed the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner , London . A statuette version of the figure is to be seen in the study of Eltham Palace , where it was displayed by Stephen Courtauld , a member of the Artists ' Rifles , as was Jagger . The Blitz . During the Second World War , the Watts Warehouse was hit by Luftwaffe bombs , but it was saved from destruction when the fire was smothered by textiles . Conversion to a hotel . The textile industries that built Manchester eventually dwindled , and like many other industrial structures in the North of England , Watts Warehouse fell into disuse and was derelict for many years . The building was threatened with demolition in 1972 , but was spared . In the 1980s , the building underwent conversion , retaining many of the original interior features . In May 1982 , the Britannia Hotel opened as part of the Britannia Hotels chain originally with 25 rooms and a nightclub , eventually expanding to 363 bedrooms .