Harrogate hotelier says hospitality grew ‘fat and lazy’ on cheap foreign labour

A leading Harrogate hotelier has said the hospitality sector grew “fat and lazy” on cheap labour from Europe and has been forced to pay better.

Peter Banks, managing director of Rudding Park, said some bar and kitchen staff were now earning £13.70 an hour and could earn almost £29,000 a year for a 40-hour week if they were prepared to work anti-social hours.

Mr Banks’ comments came during a speech at Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce last night about the lessons of covid.

He said the sector had suffered from the impact of lockdowns and ‘furloughitis’, whereby staff that had spent eight months of the year being paid 80% of their wages by government had reappraised their lives and decided against a career in hospitality.

Staff recruitment and retention, he added, was now a “serious issue” and had forced pay increases. He said Rudding Park now paid an extra £1 an hour for working after 7pm and an extra £2 an our for working weekends.

The hotel has also introduced service charges for the first time, further boosting staff wages, he added. Mr Banks said:

“We have grown fat and lazy on cheap labour from Europe. Whether you are a Brexiteer or not, the rules have changed. We are not going back.

“It’s no good raging against covid. It’s no good raging against Brexit. We’ve just got to get on with it.”

Read more:

‘Thrown under a bus’

Mr Banks said Prime Minister Boris Johnson “threw us under a bus” during the first lockdown in March 2020 as hotels were forced to close without any support.

Rudding Park came within weeks of closing, said Mr Banks, adding that he told all 320 staff the business might survive until July if they accepted a 40% pay cut.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak then “rode to the rescue’ by introducing the furlough scheme, Mr Banks added.

He said the two years since has been a rollercoaster ride of adaptation.

Mr Banks said Rudding Park no longer accepted cash, which required three person days a week to count. It had also centralised ordering food “because we had five different kitchens and five different chefs ordering their own stock”.

He advised others in hospitality to “stretch the rules a bit, don’t just sit their passively and be creative”. He added:

“Don’t waste a good crisis. there’s always something you can learn from it.”

Ballot could decide whether to set up Harrogate town council

The leader of Harrogate Borough Council has suggested a ballot could decide whether to create a Harrogate town council.after next year’s shake-up of local government.

Harrogate Borough Council will be abolished on April 1 next year after 49 years of existence.

Its demise is part of the biggest change in local government since 1974, which will see the abolition of all seven district councils in the county, along with North Yorkshire County Council, and the creation of a single new super council.

The move could lead to the creation of a Harrogate town council to manage local assets such as the Stray and Harrogate Convention Centre.

Alternatively, the new super council — which will almost certainly be called North Yorkshire Council — could decide to handle everything itself.

Rudding Park

Rudding Park

Richard Cooper told Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce‘s monthly meeting at Rudding Park last night:

“Some people think there should be a ballot on whether to have a town council. That’s something that happens quite a lot.”

But he said the final decision on whether to hold a ballot would be up to the new North Yorkshire Council.

Could Harrogate be home to the new super council?

Cllr Cooper, a Conservative who besides leading the borough council is also a county councillor, also floated the possibility of Harrogate being chosen as the location for North Yorkshire Council. He said:

“It’s still not decided where the new council will be and it could be Harrogate. It would certainly have the best office facilities in North Yorkshire.”

Northallerton, where North Yorkshire County Council is based, is the firm favourite to be chosen as the new location. But Cllr Cooper said whatever the outcome, Harrogate was likely to remain a “significant hub” in the new set-up because there would still be a need for council staff, offices and depots in the town.

Harrogate Borough Council offices at Knapping Mount.

Harrogate Borough Council offices at Knapping Mount.

With vesting day — the day when North Yorkshire Council comes into existence — just 444 days away, Cllr Cooper used his speech at last night’s meeting to urge Harrogate district voluntary organisations, some of which rely heavily on Harrogate Borough Council funding, to start networking with North Yorkshire County Council. He said:

“One of the key things voluntary organisations must do over the next year is build relationships.”

Read more:

He said Harrogate Borough Council had generously funded many local not-for-profit organisations, such as Harrogate Homeless Project, and he hoped the new council would continue this.

Asked whether he would be a contender for mayor of the combined authority for North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council under the new structure, Cllr Cooper reiterated that he planned to leave politics next year.

He said his political career was “in decline down to zero” rather than “on the launchpad”, adding:

“After getting into it 22 years ago, snd rather by accident, I think it’s time for other people to have a go.”

Staff ‘worried’

Wallace Sampson, chief executive of Harrogate Borough Council, told the meeting staff were ‘concerned and worried about what will happen” after they transfer to North Yorkshire Council.

He said all staff, except himself, whose role will no longer exist, would transfer to the new authority under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment). But there were no guarantees beyond then. Mr Sampson said:

“I can give assurances that on day one they will have a role. I can’t say beyond that.”

Nevertheless he said council leaders had set the tone by adopting a “pragmatic” approach to the changes and a “non-adversarial” approach to the new regime.

He added “staff had responded well to that” and were engaged in 16 workstreams related to the handover of power as well as their day-to-day duties.

Proud of Tour de France

Mr Sampson said despite all the changes, devolution was a “prize worth achieving” because the new mayor would have beefed-up powers and there would be economies of scale savings for taxpayers by the reduction in the number of senior managers and back office staff.

Asked what had been his greatest achievement, Mr Sampson said one of the things he was most proud of was leading the council through a decade of severe funding cuts from national government “without a significant impact on services”.

He also cited the council’s part in bringing the Tour de France to Harrogate in 2014. Mr Sampson said:

“I’m proud of the joy it brought to the district. It’s lasting legacy was that it put Harrogate on the map and created pride in what Harrogate could do on the national stage.”

 

 

 

Harrogate’s Firecracker Ball cancelled for second year due to covid

A major fundraising event in Harrogate has been cancelled for the second year running due to covid.

The Firecracker Ball has raised £3 million for children’s charity Barnardo’s since 2002.

The spectacular event, which is usually held at Rudding Park Hotel in November, is also one of the highlights of the social calendar.

Each year the ball adopts a different theme in the hope of encouraging people to donate and get involved in the charity auction too.

Barnardo’s, which organises the annual event, has assured people it will return in 2022. In a statement the organising committee said:

“The Firecracker committee reluctantly decided that the Firecracker Ball 2021 had to once more be postponed until we are able to hold our usual spectacular event in 2022. The decision has been a difficult one, as the funds you generously help us to raise have never been more important for Barnardo’s.

“We are making sure that we do our best to raise as much as we can in other ways at such a difficult time for everyone.”

Read more:

The previous ball in 2019 raised more than £250,000 for the charity.

The committee said it launched a justgiving page last year so people can still donate towards the work Barnardo’s does in Yorkshire.

When will big charity balls return to the district?

Charity fundraising events in the Harrogate district have been slowly returning.

But whilst the smaller events have successfully returned, such as HELP‘s Nidderdale walk or Saint Michael’s ‘Go Purple’, the big set-piece charity balls are yet to return.

The balls play a vital role in the annual fundraising calendar for many charities – often raising significant amounts of money. Such as the Firecracker Ball, which raised over £250,000 in 2019.

Claire Mills who’s partner, Tony Furlong, received end of life care from Saint Michael’s Hospice, has organised one of the first balls to return.

The event named ‘The Tony Furlong Memorial Ball’, will take place at The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, on Friday, November 5. It has already sold over 150 tickets at £60 per person.

Ms Mills said:

“I am looking forward to welcoming friends, family and colleagues of Tony to the ball, I am hoping that we raise a huge amount for St. Michael’s Hospice whilst remembering Tony and sharing some great memories. Tony loved to attend a black tie ball, particularly as he spent his career managing hotels and I am sure everyone attending will do him proud by having a fantastic evening, particularly after such a challenging year, I think everyone is ready for a party.”

Read More:

Other annual charity balls, such as the Barnardo’s Firecracker Ball, Martin House’s Glitter Ball, and the Candlelighters Ilkley Ball – have not been confirmed to be returning this year.

The Glitter Ball, though, is scheduled for May next year at Rudding Park. 

Sara Cracknell, senior events fundraiser at Martin House Children’s Hospice, said:

“We are excited to announce that the Martin House Glitter Ball will return to Rudding Park Hotel on Friday 6th May 2022, hosted by Bargain Hunt star Charles Hanson.”

“The Glitter Ball is our most glamorous fundraising event, and also our biggest – in 2019 it raised over £172,000.”

The Ilkley Candlelighters Ball, will not return in 2021, with 2022 still under review. In past years the ball has raised upwards of £52,000 in donations.

Alison Clay, chairman for the Ilkley Candlelighters Ball, said:

“With rising costs and dwindling returns, year on year, and the current situation we all find ourselves in, we are fearful this type of event will ever happen again! I sincerely hope and pray that this is not the case as the charity provides an invaluable resource for patients and their families in the most dire of circumstances and I urge all our supporters, past and present, to do their utmost to make sure that the Ilkley Candlelighters Ball continues for many years to come.”

For more information about the ‘The Tony Furlong Memorial Ball’, contact: cmills@classiclodges.co.uk and to support Claire’s fundraising for Saint Michael’s click here.

 

Stray Gardener: Cool Cucurbits

The Stray Gardener is written by Rudding Park’s Kitchen Gardener, Fiona Slight.

Fiona has worked in horticulture for more than 30 years in the UK and abroad, and specialises in growing fruit and vegetables for fine dining. 

 

If you have the room, courgettes, pumpkins and squashes are well worth growing, producing tasty fruit with a variety of uses in the kitchen. May is the perfect time to get these plants growing.

Why not grow pumpkins for lanterns at Halloween? Any pumpkin variety will do, with ‘Jack O’ Lantern’ being a good option if you want the authentic orange skin. Squashes are a much better option for cooking as they have a very sweet, full flavour. ‘Crown Prince’, ‘Honey Boat’ and ‘Harrier’ are all varieties that I have tried with great success, even if I do say so myself!

Squash plants can be grown up frames

Pumpkins and squash do need a bit of room to grow, but are fantastic for covering areas of soil to keep down weeds, so if you have an area of ground you struggle to keep under control, this may be the option. However, for smaller areas they are great for growing up trellis or supports, especially a variety called ‘Uchiki Kuri’, a very decorative squash that also tastes fantastic.

Courgettes don’t tend to trail, so can be a good option for a smaller garden or for a container on the patio, producing large amounts of fruit from one plant. Cultivars such as ‘Midnight’, ‘Defender’ and the yellow ‘Gold Rush’ are a good option for containers and the open ground.

Cold frames are useful to harden off plants ready for planting out

Seeds are best sown inside in early May on their sides and singly in pots or large module trays, and planted out in late May/early June. Any earlier and they could be damaged by late frosts and bad weather. It’s advisable to harden them off gradually before planting out. A cold frame or other container that can be covered over at night will do. As long as they are all planted in good, moisture retentive compost or well-rotted manure, and are kept well-watered and fed, you can’t go too far wrong.

It’s a good idea to protect with cloches when first planted to guard against frost and cool weather. They also need to be protected against slugs when first planted.

Recycled factory lampshade used as a cloche for protecting the planted squash

Five more tips and tricks for your garden in May:

Read More: 

 

Fire brigade rescues stranded teenagers from Rudding Park pond

Two teenage boys had to be rescued by firefighters after being stuck in the middle of a pond on Rudding Park’s golf course.

Rudding Park has an ‘access pontoon’ to allow staff to cut the grass on an island on the golf course.

The two youths, who were believed to be trespassing, decided to take the pontoon across to the island yesterday evening and made the mistake of letting go of the rope.

The fire brigade was called and officers threw lines to reach the boys and pull the pontoon to shore.

Other than perhaps a dented ego, the boys were both unharmed. Officers advised them on their future behaviour.

Read more:

 

Rudding Park works with charity to spread love to older people

Rudding Park has worked with a local charity to send 250 treat packages to older people this Valentine’s Day.

The hotel and spa teamed up with Supporting Older People to give people a lift after another month in lockdown.

Chefs at Rudding Park made hundreds of homemade treats for the packages. They include passion fruit chocolate truffles, heart shaped biscuits and more.

Julia Lightfoot, Supporting Older People’s befriending and activities manager, said:

“These delicious little treats that Rudding Park have so kindly arranged will certainly bring a smile to their faces and help them feel loved this Valentine’s Day!”

Read more:

The charity added that the deliveries have been meticulously planned to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Julia Featherstone, Rudding Park’s front office manager, spearheaded the project and said:

“Being furloughed for much of the last 11 months has not diminished the team’s desire to do what they can to make people smile.

“With this in mind, we are delighted to have teamed up with Supporting Older People to support the amazing work they do in our wonderful community.

“As it is Valentine’s Day on Sunday, we wanted to let their members know that we are thinking of them.”

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.

The Stray Gardener: Time for evergreens to shine

The Stray Gardener is written by Rudding Park’s Kitchen Gardener, Fiona Slight.

Fiona has worked in horticulture for over 30 years in the UK and abroad, and specialises in growing fruit and vegetables for fine dining. 

 

At this time of year, when the garden has started to go to sleep and bare branches start to appear, there is a group of plants which keep doing their thing and provide much needed colour and structure during the dark, dismal days of winter. Enter – the evergreens..

Why not spend some time this winter admiring the many evergreens around, and possibly plan to add some more to your garden.

Not only do they have winter colour and are a useful foil to help other plants stand out more, they can provide good shelter and protection all the year round, not only for the garden, but also for wildlife. Evergreens can provide brilliant cover for nesting birds, and their leaf litter on the floor is a perfect home for hibernating animals such as hedgehogs. Many plants provide berries for birds and small mammals such as wood mice and dormice. Most are also very useful for cutting to use in flower arrangements, wreaths and garlands.

A Yew Pedestal at Rudding Park’s Follifoot Wing

Amongst my favourites are Yew (Taxus baccata) and Holly (Ilex aquifolium), not only are they lovely trees in their own right, they are a great choice for hedges and topiary, and are a reliable choice in any garden. Holly has the added advantage of having many different cultivars, variegated and green to add extra interest. They are also very easy to re-shape and prune back hard if they start to get a little out of control. Hollies are dioecious, meaning they need a male and female to produce berries, so that may be something to keep in mind if berries are your thing..

A Monkey Puzzle Tree

For evergreen shrubs to use on walls, you can’t beat Ivy. It does need to be monitored regularly, and is probably not the best option for an unstable wall with loose mortar, but it is fantastic for wildlife, being a great place for birds’ nests. I’ve even seen ducks nesting at the base of an Ivy plant and it also provides a late nectar source for pollinating insects. There are many different cultivars to choose from with large and small leaves and various different colour combinations.

For something a little more exotic looking, try Pittosporum, Myrtle, Mahonia japonica or the Monkey Puzzle tree. Pittosporum are a lovely range of plants with different coloured and textured leaves that can be used in containers and in the border, ranging from small rounded shrubs to small trees. Myrtle (Myrtus communis or Myrtus luma) having beautiful, small, fragrant leaves and small white flowers is extremely attractive to pollinating insects making the whole bush hum with activity in the summer. Mahonia x media cultivars is a winter flowering shrub with large spiky leaves and large yellow flowers that appear in December and January. They positively glow in the winter gloom and have the most amazing fragrance, reminiscent of lily of the valley.  The monkey puzzle tree or Araucaria araucana needs no introduction, it’s a wonderful structural tree that stands out, especially in the winter months, just make sure you have room for it, but if you do, what an addition to your garden!

There are many more evergreen plants to consider, so when you get out for some fresh air over the Christmas period, why not pay a little more attention to the evergreen shrubs and trees that play such an important part in our environment, be it wild or cultivated. Enjoy!

 

Read More: 

 

Rudding Park named hotel spa of the year in global awards

Rudding Park has been named hotel spa of the year in a global competition.

The Harrogate-based venue beat competition from top spas in London and Paris to win the award.

The annual World Spa and Wellness Awards, which are organised by the Professional Beauty Group, were held virtually this year due to covid.

Read more:

It has been a difficult year for spas and the hospitality industry in general so this will bolster the team at Rudding Park.

Peter Banks, the managing director at Rudding Park, said:

“Winning such a prestigious global award voted by high profile industry judges is a fantastic endorsement.

“We are confident there will be a real appetite for people to experience a change of scene, relax and unwind.”

As the end of the second lockdown approaches, Rudding Park said it was confident of plenty of bookings during the Christmas period as people look for a chance to relax and unwind.