HOTELS on Teesside are embracing a buoyant start to 2012 for the UK’s hospitality industry with two top awards.
The Blue Bell in Acklam, Middlesbrough, and Crathorne Hall Hotel, near Yarm, have beaten rival venues across the UK to top accolades.
The 60-room Blue Bell Hotel won the Largest Increase in Profit Award, beating 200 rivals at the Barracuda Pub group’s annual awards, after profits increased by 30% year-on-year in 2011. And Crathorne Hall Hotel was handed the Most Consistent Performer award by its group of 17 high-end venues, Hand-Picked Hotels, for the second year running after seeing an 8% sales increase in 2011. The hotel’s restaurant manager, Libby Georgiou, also won Employee of the Year 2011.
It reflects the overall strong UK services sector, which saw a record leap in optimism in January, according to the Markit/CIPS survey.
Ron Darby, Blue Bell Hotel manager for the last 21 years, said major contracts - Middlesbrough’s Middlehaven development and the ghost ships projects on the Tees - brought good news for hotel bookings.
Mark Clayton, general manager at Crathorne, said staying ahead of changing trends - an increase in demand for luxury weddings and afternoon teas - had shown a record sales and profit year.
