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Two New Hotels planned
Plans for two new hotels have reached the planning stage. The first is a new hotel planned at Bridlington Links Golf Course in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Plans have been submitted to build an 84-bedroom hotel at a golf course in Bridlington complete with conference and events facilities. The new hotel would be located in close proximity to the existing clubhouse providing easy access for the guests to use the additional leisure facilities offered.
Bedrooms at the rear of the hotel would also have walk-out balconies allowing guests “expansive” sea views.
Meanwhile further inland in Shropshire, brewing group, Marstons, are planning to build a new pub and hotel in Shrewsbury. The new hotel would have 39 bedrooms and will also feature a 180-cover pub/restaurant. It would be located in Oteley Road in Shrewsbury.
Shropshire Council's planning committee is currently considering the application.
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HBAA report on Coronavirus and its impact on business
Over 30 per cent of employees working in business events, accommodation and meetings agencies are at risk of redundancy from this month (July 2020) according to a report published by the HBAA (Hotel Booking Agents Association).
The Association, which is demanding additional financial support, said that a lack of a clear independent identity has left the industry fighting for its life after being ignored and unappreciated by government.
Lex Butler, Chair of the HBAA said: “It’s been clear since March that the business events, accommodation and meetings sector would be decimated by the consequences of lockdown and would be one of last to re-open, potentially not fully until Q2 2021. It was also clear that special ongoing financial government support was essential and needed immediately”
“The news we desperately need is a start date for meetings and events. Although hotels have re-opened they are unable to host meetings and many conference centres and event venues remain closed. Many restaurants also rely on corporate groups, so the hospitality industry is only really half open and barely able to operate profitably due to the lack of business from the events, and meetings sector.”
HBAA and other industry associations working with Business Visits and Events Partnership (BVEP) have lobbied government energetically throughout this period and have supported their members in asking for this support – a task made more difficult by the fact that the government doesn’t recognize the sector as an entity in its records, only as part of hospitality and tourism.
HBAA’s " Business Events, Accommodation and Meetings - the need for special financial support and a clear identity" report was published to coincide with a debate in the House of Commons.
The report highlights a HBAA survey which found that 81 per cent of the 102 companies who responded anticipated making redundancies, and that 30.6 per cent of the workforce are likely to be made redundant in the next three months.
The report also highlights research by DCMS and You Gov (DCMS Business Survey’ published 10 June) which showed that 77.6 per cent of 357 events and exhibition companies surveyed in May had no revenue after March and 61.0 per cent had furloughed at least 75 per cent of staff.
HBAA is the trade association for the agency, apartment and venue community, with more than 300-member organisations including over 95 agency and 225 venue members.
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Marketing Manchester promoting conference industry
Marketing Manchester has launched a campaign to help recovery of the tourism, hospitality, leisure and cultural industries and to rebuild confidence in Greater Manchester as a place to visit and work.
The campaign is a response to the decimation of the tourism, hospitality, leisure and cultural industries by COVID-19.
From an events and conference viewpoint– ‘Space to Meet and Space to Learn’ – will launch in the autumn, encouraging confidence and safety within the meetings and conference industry.
Sheona Southern, managing director at Marketing Manchester, said: "Our campaign aims to reinstall confidence in Greater Manchester's workers, business owners, residents, students and visitors, inspiring them to explore our villages, towns, cities and countryside, and to do so safely.”
“We know that the success of Greater Manchester as a place to visit, work, live and study is due to how seamlessly these groups overlap and interact with each other so our job as the organisation that promotes the destination across these strands, is to find a way to build each group back up and return to being the thriving city-region that proudly draws business and visitors from across the globe."
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Solihull Hotel planning expansion
Strawberry Bank Hotel in Solihull is planning an expansion of its bedroom stock. Currently Strawberry Bank Hotel has 55 bedrooms. A further 30 bedrooms are planned at the rear of the building
Strawberry Bank Hotel is a Grade II-listed building which benefits from one of the most desirable and accessible business locations in the UK.
Conference and events facilities at Strawberry Bank Hotel include the main Meriden Suite accommodating up to 100 delegates theatre style with a small boardroom in support.
Location-wise Strawberry Bank Hotel is three miles from the M42 at the centre of the UK motorway network, five miles from Birmingham International Airport, four miles from the NEC and LG Arena and under five miles from Birmingham International Station and the planned new HS2 station on the high speed Birmingham/London rail link.
Solihull Metropolitan District Council is expected to make a final decision on the application in the coming months.
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Mere Golf Resort & Spa planning expansion
Mere Golf Resort & Spa is planning to expand its operations. Plans include 64 new bedrooms, expansion of the Resort’s conference and banqueting facilities, and remodelling of the reception area.
Also planned are improvements to the restaurants, external terraces and an extension of Mere Golf Resort’s spa facilities.
Mere Golf Resort & Spa currently has 81 bedrooms many with views over Mere Lake and the Championship Golf Course. The hotel has six meeting and events spaces with the largest - the James Braid Suite – accommodating up to 700 delegates.
Mere Golf Resort & Spa is close to the M6 Motorway at both junctions 19 and 20, the M56 at junction 8 and is around a ten-minute drive from Manchester International Airport.
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New Hotel approved in Inverness
Planning permission has been granted to covert a former office block in Inverness into a 76-bedroom hotel.
Axcel Hospitality propose to convert a former four-storey office block in Church Street, Inverness, a building previously occupied by the Department of Work and Pensions.
The new hotel will also include a bar, restaurant and gym.
A proposed opening date and details of the hotel operator await publication.