Council to invest £1.8m in Sleaford hotel revamp
A year on from purchasing Sleaford’s Carre Arms Hotel, North Kesteven District Council is poised to invest £1.8m to modernise and refurbish it.
The authority had intervened last year in a move it said was to both prevent its potential loss as hotel accommodation for the town and promote wider regeneration opportunities.
Within the next couple of weeks, the council will begin work to provide new bedrooms, access, roofs and reception area plus anticipated improvements to the external frontage.
Funded through business profits, the £1.8million of investment programme is scheduled to continue over the next 18 months to two years and had always been part of the council’s business plan, it says.
Originally planned to occur over the first 10 years of the council’s ownership, some aspects of the programme have been seen as more urgent and extensive, and needed to be brought forward.
This comes on the back of several changes and improvements made over the past year by the council-owned management company, mostly related to the operations and the ‘behind the scenes’ processes, says the authority. The kitchen has been upgraded along with the tills and booking systems and various repairs have been carried out.
In a statement, NKDC said: “All of these improvements were understood and foreseen when the council bought the historic hotel through the use of business rates income that it was allowed to keep by the Government for investment in the local economy. The Carre Arms management company remains a private sector independent business with the council as the sole shareholder.
“Endeavours to build up core aspects of the business such as weddings, conferencing and events, and the excellent food and drink offering, have also been a priority of the management company during this last year – resulting in a five-fold increase in weddings and functions.
“Through the removal of the trees and planned new planting, outdoor space will be maximised for events and special occasions.”
The council also now owns an area of land behind which were the ‘old sidings’ to the Maltings buildings and will be looking to invite residents and businesses to offer ideas and options for regeneration to “further increase the local economic vibrancy and complement the town centre”. The Maltings remain in private ownership with the council keen to see them brought back into use.
As part of the refurbishment, the venue will adopt a new brand identity to reflect the modernisation of the venue whilst maintaining links to its Edwardian heritage. It has also has launched a new website – www.carrearms.co.uk – which contains a number of new features for guests and new menus.