Is Brexit to blame for Harrogate’s hospitality jobs crisis?

Some people believe the equation is simple – the 2016 referendum led to Polish bartenders or Spanish housekeepers deciding to leave Harrogate and return to their home countries. But is it that simple?

The statistics appear to back up the theory.

According to latest ONS figures, the number of non-British residents living in the Harrogate district has halved from its peak of 14,000 in December 2014 to 7,000 in December 2019 — and the covid pandemic has undoubtedly hastened a further exodus since then.

Dan Siddle is the general manager of the Crown Hotel in Harrogate which has been employing chefs, housekeepers and waiters since the 19th century.

The hotel has a workforce of 50 and Mr Siddle said recruiting currently is “the hardest I’ve ever known it” due to a perfect storm of factors, including Brexit and covid.

He told the Stray Ferret the hotel lost several members of staff from the EU that have been difficult to replace.

“Those eastern Europeans had been here a long while. They were my supervisors but they chose not to come back to the UK. That’s three or four important roles. “

However, he thinks “we don’t have to rely on people from Europe” and can employ people locally if they offer an attractive package.

The hotel has raised the hourly wage for housekeeping staff to £10 an hour, has begun to offer roles that come with accommodation and is paying transport costs from Leeds.

He says hospitality is “a fantastic, great industry to work in” but the perception of tough working conditions needs to improve to attract UK workers.

“[The jobs crisis] has given the industry a kick up the behind. We need to change the way we work. The perception didn’t come out of nothing.”

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Lisa Headford is the branch manager of Travail Employment Group, an employment agency based on Princes Street that recruits front-of-house and catering positions across the district.

She told the Stray Ferret that the office is busier than ever and they are having to turn hospitality businesses away because they simply don’t have enough employees on their books to fill roles.

“Everyone is looking for staff. We get calls every day. We have learned to say, ‘we cant help you, we’ve exhausted our resources’.”

However, Ms Headford believes it’s overly simplistic to blame Brexit on the recruitment crisis in hospitality.

She said:

“It’s not definitive. We’ve had a number of people come back to Harrogate from Poland as during the lockdown they didn’t have a permanent job, and they wouldn’t have got furlough. They are now gravitating back.

She said the lockdowns have forced many people who worked in hospitality into jobs with more sociable hours — and they’ve liked the change.

“We had a lot of casual chefs but they’ve become a delivery driver and they haven’t gravitated back.”

Ms Headford said that despite Brexit, Harrogate is still a “very multicultural town” with working families from across the EU.

“These people have been established for a very a long time and are part of our town.”

Are you looking for a job or have a job vacancy you need to promote to as many people as possible? Take a look at the Stray Ferret jobs page to see the latest jobs or to submit a new one.  Every job is placed on our homepage and posted on our social media channels. 

Tomorrow we’ll be reporting on the views of hoteliers and bars owners in Harrogate on what they think should change to attract local talent. 

Ripon’s Spa Hotel to reopen following sale

Ripon’s Spa Hotel has been sold for an undisclosed sum to The Inn Collection Group.

The 40-bedroom Edwardian hotel was on the market for a guide price of £1.5 million.

It has been sold on behalf of long-standing owners the Hutchinson family by Colliers International.

The property agents brought the hotel to the commercial market for the first time since it was opened in 1906.

Julian Troup, head of UK hotels agency at Colliers, said:

“This sale marks a new chapter in the history of the Ripon Spa Hotel, and I look forward to seeing this renowned Yorkshire hotel benefitting from the high-quality of refurbishment for which The Inn Collection Group is synonymous.”

Interior photo of Spa Hotel

The hotel will be refurbished by the new owners

He added:

“There has been a noticeable change of mood in recent months among potential hotel purchasers.

“Activity has significantly increased, and the Ripon Spa Hotel attracted a good deal of interest from a diverse range of buyers before being secured by The Inn Collection Group.”

Located on Park Street in landscaped grounds of 5.75 acres and including croquet lawns, the three-star hotel was built complete with its own ballroom to accommodate high society in the early 1900s when Ripon Spa was operating in the cathedral city.

It continued to trade successfully long after Ripon Spa closed in 1947, although the hotel’s Turkish baths were eventually converted into The Turf, a popular public bar and bistro with horse-racing décor to complement the hotel’s more formal dining room.

The purchase of the Ripon Spa Hotel by The Inn Collection Group increases to 24 the portfolio of the Alchemy-backed hospitality company, which is based in Northumberland.

Sean Donkin, managing director of The Inn Collection Group, said:

“We are delighted to be welcoming the Ripon Spa Hotel into our portfolio.

“Its picturesque location in such a popular part of the UK makes it the perfect fit for The Inn Collection Group. and our offering.

“We’re excited to be furthering our expansion plans with such a great site, and are proud to be continuing to thrive during these challenging times for the hospitality sector.”

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The reopening of the hotel will come as a relief to operators of tourist attractions, as well as Ripon City Council, which was concerned that the property might be sold for redevelopment involving other uses.

Kimberley Hotel owner goes into liquidation amid £3.5m debts

The owner of the Kimberley Hotel in Harrogate has filed for liquidation amid over £3.5m debts to local companies as well as HM Revenue and Customs.

Insolvency firm Booth & Co was appointed to wind up Denison 2 earlier this week.

In December 2020 the hotel announced it had permanently closed due to the impact of covid.

Its sole director, Stewart Lewis, is still a director of several other hospitality and property companies that are still trading.

There are 80 entries on Denison 2’s list of creditors totalling £3.5m. £2.6m of this is to its sister company Denison which has the same registered address in York.

Other creditors include HM Revenue and Customs for £338,935 and Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID) for £1,380. Almost £27,000 is also owed to staff in holiday pay.

The Stray Ferret emailed Mr Lewis for a response and for information on the future of the hotel but we did not receive a reply.

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The 70-bedroom, four-star hotel, close to Harrogate Convention Centre on King’s Road, had been welcoming guests for over 50 years.

A post on the hotel’s social media channels in December said:

“It comes with a heavy heart that we have to tell all our loyal guests and friends that due to the financial position caused by covid, we unfortunately have to close the hotel.

“We sincerely thank everyone, customers and staff alike, that have supported us over the years and regret deeply that covid placed us in a situation that we cannot recover from.”

The Kimberley Hotel opened in the 1960s when five townhouses dating back to the turn of the 20th century were converted.

It benefitted from the opening of what was then called the Harrogate Conference Centre in 1982, which is a short walk away.

The properties were originally built as homes for some of the wealthier families in Harrogate during its Victorian expansion.

The man hired to revive one of Harrogate’s most historic hotels

Fifteen years ago Paul Donkin applied for a job as a waiter at the St George Hotel in Harrogate.

Now he is the hotel’s general manager and recruiting his own team of staff ahead of re-opening on May 17.

At 35, Mr Donkin may seem relatively young to hold such a senior position at one of Harrogate’s premier hotels.

But he has worked in hospitality since he was 15, lived in Harrogate for the last decade and a half and is brimming with ideas to revive the 90-bed St George.

The hotel, opposite the Royal Hall, is steeped in history but has had a troubled recent past.

After a multi-million pound refurbishment in late 2018, it closed during the first lockdown 13 months ago and then its owner, Shearings Hotels, went into administration in May.

The St George was one of 39 hotels in the group bought by Coast and Country Hotel Collection under an agreement with management company Bespoke Hotels.

Few people, besides a caretaker, have been inside the building for the past year, so it remains in superb post-refurbishment condition.

Gin bar

Mr Donkin’s plans include changing the menu, re-starting weddings and creating a gin bar.

He also wants to create an afternoon tea room, which seems a brave thing to do in a town not exactly under-served by tea rooms. But he sees an opportunity to entice locals to enjoy a brew beneath the magnificent stained glass domed ceiling in one function room.

He also has plans to improve the Dog and Duck bar, which has lacked the appeal of some other Harrogate hotel bars despite its central location. As part of this, he has been talking to Cold Bath Brewing Company about introducing new beers.

What about reviving the hotel leisure club and swimming pool? The pool has been drained. Mr Donkin says:

“It’s on the radar of the owners. The Majestic and Rudding Park are the only hotel leisure centres so it would be nice to have one.”

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Mr Donkin is currently recruiting about a dozen staff for what he calls a ‘soft launch’ in May. He says:

“Once we pick up speed we will be recruiting more.”

What does he think will be the biggest challenge in the new covid world? He replies immediately:

“Customer confidence. Everyone is still a bit nervous about sitting in a restaurant with up to 100 other people.”

‘Harrogate remains a great destination’

At York Pavilion Hotel, where Mr Donkin was previously general manager, he says  more people booked directly with the hotel rather than through websites when it briefly re-opened after the first lockdown in September so they could ask questions about the covid protocol.

He predicts this will continue and there will be more last minute bookings until people feel confident again about going away. He says:

“It’s not going to be easy. But hospitality in Harrogate has always been strong. It’s always been a great destination to come to. We live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country.”

Although he welcomes the impending reopening of Harrogate Convention Centre, he says the town’s hospitality sector needs to be less dependent on it and “explore other avenues, such as leisure and corporate travellers”. He adds:

“I don’t think we will ever be back to where we were, with 200 or 300 people regularly attending conferences. People do that on Zoom now.”

Mr Donkin, who is married with two children and plans to run his first marathon in October as part of an ambition to complete a triathlon, clearly has a task on his hand. But he knows what he is letting himself in for.

He has worked at many of the town’s major hotels, including the Cedar Court, Old Swan and Crown, and knows the other hoteliers.

“In York, we knew each other but there wasn’t the same community feel as there is in Harrogate.

“I’ve been very excited since I got the role and can’t wait to re-open.”

 

Police and council to check Harrogate venues comply with outdoor rule

Police and council officers are to conduct checks on outdoor hospitality shelters in the Harrogate district to ensure they comply with government regulations.

Harrogate Borough Council warned of the checks amid concern about whether all of the shelters in the district comply with what is classed as outdoor.

Many hospitality venues have created shelters to take advantage of today’s latest easing of lockdown rules, which allow licensed premises to serve customers outdoors.

Government guidelines say that to be considered outdoors, ‘shelters, marquees and other structures can have a roof but need to have at least 50% of the area of their walls open at all times whilst in use’.

A source close to one small business owner told the Stray Ferret they were ‘surprised’ the council, which is enforcing the national government guidelines, had agreed to some of the structures.

The issue has also raised numerous comments on social media.

A council spokesman said its officers would be carrying out visits across the Harrogate district in partnership with North Yorkshire Police, “to offer support, advice and guidance to businesses and check on compliance with the latest regulations”.

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He added:

“Temporary outdoor shelters are determined by national government advice.

“Any Harrogate district businesses wishing to find out more, or whether planning permission is required, should get in touch and we will be happy to advise.”

Asked to comment on claims some venues breached the guidelines, he said:

“Without knowing the details of the premises who have raised concerns we cannot comment further.”

The council spokesman was unable to say how many venues had applied to erect outdoor structures.

But many large Harrogate hospitality venues, including the West Park Hotel, the Fat Badger , La Feria and Gianni’s Brio Restaurant and Pizzeria, as well as the Fox and Hounds and the Grantham Arms in Boroughbridge have done so.

Perhaps the most spectacular is the Cedar Court Hotel‘s £50,000 tipi, which can accommodate 36 people.

Wayne Topley, managing director of the hotel, said it was built in full compliance with the regulations. He added it could be adapted for weddings and conferences.

“It’s a temporary structure but we hope to use it for a couple for years to come.”

 

 

Venues call for recruits as outdoor dining hots up

Hotels and restaurants in the Harrogate district are hiring new staff as bookings roll in ahead of the reopening tomorrow.

As of April 12, hospitality venues are allowed to open their outdoor seating areas, with many already fully booked.

During the pandemic the hospitality industry took a large hit, with forced closures spanning many months.

As well as the extra hands needed to meet demand, new staff have been brought in to replace those who left to find work elsewhere.

Wayne Topley, managing director of Cedar Court Hotels, said the company has been recruiting for months. The Harrogate hotel’s outdoor Tipi already has 150 bookings for the first few days of trade:

“We have a loyal team of great people who we are proud to say have ‘weathered the storm’ with us, but now as our hotel looks to reopen we are truly excited to be going out to market to find even more great people.
“We have been recruiting and we still are for the months ahead. It’s a great time to join our team to be part of something pretty special.”

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Gill Richardson, landlady of The Bull Inn in West Tanfield, also said she was hoping to recruit more team members to manage the extra covid safety requirements facing pubs and restaurants over the coming months.

“We do need extra staff, we lost a few team members over the pandemic and policing the new guidelines will be difficult without more help.

“We’re nervous to open because it’s been so long but once we’ve got into the swing of things it’ll be really exciting.”

Martin Greenhow, managing director of MOJO group, said the company has lost some employees and would be hiring for the busy period.

“We are expecting this to be a very busy time and are really optimistic about the summer. But we will need to hire a number of new employees to cope with not only the loss of previous employees, but also to cope with table service requiring more staff and managing guidelines in a safe way.”

St George Hotel in Harrogate set to re-open

One of Harrogate’s oldest and most famous hotels is set to re-open.

St George Hotel, opposite Harrogate Convention Centre in the town centre, has been closed for more than a year since the first lockdown began.

Previous owner Specialist Leisure Group went into administration in May with the loss of 2,500 jobs throughout the company.

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It is now owned by Bespoke Hotels, which was founded in 2000 by Haydn Fentum and Robin Sheppard and describes itself as ‘the UK’s largest independent hotel group’, with 120 properties.

Paul Donkin, general manager of York Pavilion Hotel, revealed on social media he was leaving his position to take on the challenge of re-opening the hotel and building a new team to bring the hotel back to its glory.

Mr Donkin, who lives in Harrogate and has extensive experience of the town’s hospitality sector having worked previously at the Cedar Court Hotel, the Old Swan Hotel and the Crown Hotel, told the Stray Ferret he would be happy to discuss the matter in more detail when he took up the role on April 7.

The hotel grew out of the Chequers Inn and was renamed after George III’s gift of the Stray to the people of Harrogate in 1778.

It was enlarged several times during the nineteenth century and renamed the St George shortly before the First World War.

It was badly damaged by fire in 1927 and requisitioned by the Post Office and Air Ministry during the Second World War before re-opening as a hotel in 1952. It acquired a spa facility in 1985.

It has 90 bedrooms, a restaurant, bar, library and terrace and its close proximity to the town centre makes it a popular spot for visitors.

‘Give us a clear plan’, say Harrogate hospitality businesses

Hospitality businesses in the Harrogate district have called for a clear plan as they await the Prime Minister’s “road map” out of lockdown.

Boris Johnson is expected to announce the next steps to ease lockdown in his public broadcast later today.

For local hospitality, the most important thing is for there to be sufficient detail to allow them to plan the next steps in reopening – and that enough businesses can be opened to make the whole sector viable.

Kimberley Wilson, chair of guesthouse association Accommodation Harrogate, said reopening hotels would only be viable if other facilities were also able to open:

“Visitors want to know everything else is open before they book. One guy said to me, ‘I don’t want to come and sit in my hotel room with nothing to do – I want to know the shops are open and I can eat out’. It has to be a package.”

Dan Siddle, general manager of the Crown Hotel, said he doesn’t want to see restrictions eased and then reintroduced, and would rather wait longer until the country is “clear of the woods” before welcoming guests back. He added:

“Hospitality has suffered from March last year, and while there has been some positive support throughout, it’s important that we as an industry are not forgotten about and that that support continues. The VAT reduction, business rates cut, [and] furlough pay to support teams, could all be continued to help us through the recovery period.”

Harrogate BID said it was working on supportive measures for businesses which had been forced to close repeatedly, and will be carrying out projects including street cleaning and floral displays to make the town centre attractive again.

Harrogate BID carried out extra street cleaning at the end of the first lockdown

Chair Sara Ferguson said:

“Ideally, we would like to see all non-essential shops and the hospitality industry back open in time for Easter. This traditionally marks the start of the tourism season, and with hopefully warmer weather and lighter nights, those in the hospitality sector will again be able to make use of the pavements and other open spaces.

“However, I have a feeling the hospitality sector will be lockdown until after the holiday as the Government won’t want to face the issues it did at Christmas.

“Any rules and guidelines, national or local, must be clear and not leave room for any ambiguity which has occurred in the past. They also need to be strictly and consistently enforced.”

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While it is likely indoor events on the scale which Harrogate is used to seeing will be some way off, outdoor events are being planned from March onwards.

Harrogate International Festivals is working with other organisations on projects to encourage people back into the town centre from next month, if restrictions allow. Chief executive Sharon Canavar said:

“We must have made 50 plans and torn them up last year. What we’ve done this year is look at how we could put on events if rules are relaxed but there is still social distancing in place.”

Plans are also being made to stage the organisation’s larger festivals later in the year. The first of these is likely to be the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in July – though it could be under canvas with reduced numbers compared to previous years.

All the changes needed will impact on events’ viability, but HIF – which has already cut its staff numbers down to just three – is looking at the long-term picture, both for its own events and as part of the town’s overall attraction to visitors. Sharon added:

“Do we want to just survive or do we want to make sure there’s a recovery there? What will the diary in Harrogate look like after this, for the arts and for business events? It’s not just about this year, but about what we’re creating for the future.”

My Year: Peter Banks recalls confusion, poor communication and curfews in hospitality

In the latest in our series of personal reflections, Peter Banks, managing director of Rudding Park, takes us through the radical changes of his year.

January

Reports of an Epidemic in China. We seemed to think it was a purely Chinese problem.

I attend the Hotel General Managers conference in London on January 20-21; the key note speaker was a futurologist, some bloke who is supposed to be able to tell us what the trends and issues are coming in the future. Not ONE mention of a global pandemic – some futurologist he was. I wonder if I’d get my money back……..

February

Italy suffers really badly with overflowing hospitals and whole towns shut down. We still allow our population to go skiing to Italy. We watch in horrified fascination, a sort of voyeuristic “rubber-necking” at a crash on the motorway. We still refuse to believe it will happen to us.

March

Spain and France are the next countries to suffer and impose severe lockdown and curfews. We follow the “herd immunity” theory and allow Cheltenham races and European football matches to go ahead.

March 16 – Boris throws the hospitality industry under the bus when he tells the population not to go to pubs, restaurants or hotels. 500,000 hospitality jobs lost in one week as a tsunami of cancellations hits us. I convince all of my team to take a 40% pay cut to see us through to the end of June.

March 20 – Guests are leaving on the Friday night, in tears, telling me I should be shut now. The feeling is of a country on the verge of a war.

March 21 – I close the gates of Rudding and the hard work really starts as we try to contact every guest and alter their arrival dates. We try to move dates rather than refund as we are not sure how long we will stay cash liquid.

Rudding Park closes its gates as the coronavirus lockdown approaches

March 23 – Rishi comes to the rescue with the incredibly generous furlough scheme that saves millions of hospitality jobs and means that my team only need to take a 20% cut.

April

We have a skeleton team staying in the hotel for security, grass cutting and fire. I stay one week and start feeling like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Less “Here’s Johnny!”, more “Here’s Banksy!”. Two of my team start a 100-day stint staying in the hotel. Respect.

We start talking with the bank for CBILS loans and overdrafts. I redo the budget four times before it is satisfactory. Frankly it’s all guesswork anyway as we have no clarity, no plan and no communication from the government. I imagine they are even more up to their necks in it than I am. The daily briefings become a depressing tally of cases and deaths, but there seems to be no clear planned escape route.

The weather is amazing, we would have been heaving at the golf, spa and terrace if we had been open. Heartbreaking. We start taking bets that when we reopen it will start raining.

May

I start going a little crazy as I am not shaving, polishing my shoes or ironing a shirt. This way lies madness so I start coming in to work every morning – in my suit, polished Oxfords and clean-shaven.

We reopen the golf on the May 14, and are given 24 hours to get the course open. Boris announces this in a sort of “off the cuff” manner on Sunday night. Great planning and great communication. Not.

June

Four balls allowed, I have my first contact from the EHO about the external bar at the golf. Apparently guests can bring their own beer from Sainsbury’s and drink it in the car park, or I can sell them beer and they can drink it on the side of the road. I can’t however sell them beer and they drink it on our terrace, or spread all over the estate. Social distance is possible over 200 acres, surely? Apparently not. Them’s the rules.

We try to keep our team engaged with volunteering for Ripon Walled Garden and the “Rudding Pop-up Litter Pick”. We collect over a tonne of rubbish from around Harrogate by hand.

Rudding Park staff went out litter-picking in the summer

July

Hallelujah!!!! We are open!!!

July 4 – Holiday Park reopens.

July 14 – Hotel reopens.

July 25 – Spa reopens.

We have planned and implemented so many Covid secure ways of operating: masks, visors, temperature checkers, apps, sterile cutlery bags, staggered dining times, online check in and out – the list is endless.

Staff return to work in a panic. They don’t know what they are allowed to do, are afraid of talking to guests – daily tears are the order of the day.

Guests are delighted to be back, and are very understanding. I (foolishly) hope that this will be a sea change in guest behaviour towards staff. This good behaviour lasts about two weeks before usual service is resumed. Silly old me, ever the optimist.

August

Steam rooms and saunas are still closed by law. This apparently is our fault and guests get really annoyed. I suggest that they write to Mr B Johnson, 10 Downing St, London WC1.

The world goes mad with the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme. A month ago we weren’t allowed to see each other, now we are encouraging restaurants and pubs to be full. The irony! Still, we have to join in as we have to take the opportunity to make some money as the bank still needs paying.

Rishi announces a 5% VAT rate on food and accommodation. Tremendously generous and is the difference between many hospitality businesses being solvent or going bust.

September and October

The incredible demand continues and we are so busy. Some guests are Covid deniers and swear and shout at staff when we ask them to wear a mask or tell them what the “rule of six” means. Guests book two separate tables of six and then push the tables together.

The ridiculous curfew starts. Most guests behave and go to bed, some bend the rules by ordering room service drinks, then walking out of their bedroom and sitting in public areas in the hotel. Guests complain, swear and shout when we try to enforce the curfew. Again, a lack of clarity. I wonder whether the government actually asked an hospitality operator how these rules would work in practice. Somehow I doubt it.

November

Here we go again. Closed on November 4. This lockdown is not a real lockdown however – more of a just hospitality and retail closed. We use the time to refurbish the Clocktower restaurant – we can make as much noise as we want and not disturb guests.

December

The impenetrable tier system starts. Guests in Tier 3 are “advised” not to travel, but it is not illegal. This creates great confusion for guests: are they allowed to stay or not? We tell guests that they are “advised” not to travel, but we are open. The Government needs to make some unpopular decisions, that’s what leadership is about sometimes – you can’t always be everyone’s mate.

December 20 – The new variant is announced and the Government is finally forced into making an unpopular decision. At last he acts like a real leader. We have 45 rooms cancel for Christmas, but at least it’s clear. At last the communication is getting better.

We planned a different New Year’s Eve at Rudding. Because of the curfew we decide to be creative and change time! We will give every guest a watch with the time set two hours forward so that 10pm GMT is 12pm RPT (Rudding Park Time)!!! Therefore Champagne and pipers can happen within the rules at Rudding!

December 30 – Well this really is the icing on the cake. Nine hours’ notice to close as we go into Tier 3 at Midnight tonight. New Year’s Eve we should have been full. All of the food (turbot, venison fillet, lobster) all wasted, the time spent preparing the dishes, the administration of New Year’s Eve, The watches, the recovery packs, the marketing collateral for our Rudding Park Time – all wasted. They must have known this was going to happen, but to give us nine hours’ notice? I understand the danger of the virus – but a little more notice would have been appreciated. Nine hours? Really? If I ran a company like this – I would be out of a job – pronto. For a year of poor planning and poor communication this has got to be the absolute gold star award. No wonder the Prime Minister got Matt Hancock to deliver the news. Poor old Matt – always Boris’s Stooge…….

We decide to have New Year’s Eve on December 30, rather than 31. They might have cancelled New Year’s Eve, but not at Rudding!!!!! Music, balloons, time change, smoke machines, Champagne – this is our Dunkirk, I reckon.

 

Overall, a chastening year – battered, but still standing. Still trying to look after our guests, trying to understand the impenetrable fog of directives coming from government and trying to tread the thin line between financial success and failure.

What a year. Leadership, Communication and Resilience have been the watchwords of the hospitality industry.

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in 35 years at the sharp end of hospitality, it’s that no matter how bad today has been – the world will continue to turn, the sun will come up. The key is how we frame tomorrow. As leaders that is our responsibility – let’s kick 2020 into touch and frame 2021 with energy, enthusiasm and positivity.

Bring it on.

Tier two gives Harrogate district hotels hope for winter

Hotels in the Harrogate district breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday as the area was told it was moving into tier two.

Tier two restrictions, while closing wet-led pubs, paves the way for hotels to reopen at the end of the lockdown next week.

It may not be the same sort of takings that hotels would normally hope for over the festive period but it is a positive sign for the sector.

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The Majestic Hotel on Ripon Road will now be able to bring its team back from furlough and it putting reopening plans in place.

Andy Barnsdale, the general manager at the Majestic Hotel, said:

“We are now planning the process of reopening on Wednesday and bringing the team back, which is good news.

“We are looking closely at the guidelines and tailoring our food options for our indoor careering as well as for the outdoor Majestic Winter Teepee.”

Anthony Blundell, the assistant general manager at West Park Hotel, said:

“We will of course have all the safety measures in place but I think we might be in for a busy December when we re open next week with lots of bookings already and more coming in.

“I think the substantial meals rule will have an impact, we will just need to convert those people who are coming for a drink into having a meal.”