A year on from purchasing Sleaford’s Carre Arms to both protect an important asset and promote wider regeneration opportunities for the town, North Kesteven District Council is poised to invest £1.8m to modernise and refurbish the hotel.
Funded through business profits, a programme scheduled over the next 18 months to two years will – within the next couple of weeks – begin with works to provide new bedrooms, access, roofs, and reception plus anticipated improvements to the external frontage.
Seeking to respect the past and embrace the future, this comes on the back of several changes and improvements made over the past year by the management company, mostly related to the operations and the ‘behind the scenes’ processes. The kitchen has been upgraded along with the tills and booking systems and various repairs have been carried out to ensure that the Carre Arms remains an enjoyable and safe place to visit, stay, and work.
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 representing the ‘old sidings’ to the Maltings buildings and will be looking to engage residents and businesses to identify ideas and options for regeneration that will further increase the local economic vibrancy and complement the town centre. The Maltings, of course, remain in private ownership with the Council keen to see them brought back into use.
As part of the original business plan produced when acquiring the Carre Arms it was identified that around £1.8million of investment would be needed to modernise and refurbish the building. Originally planned to occur over the first 10 years of the Council’s ownership, it has since become clear that some aspects of the programme are more urgent and extensive, and need to be brought forward.
Meanwhile the Carre Arms has launched a new website – www.carrearms.co.uk – which contains a number of new features for guests to make their visit to the Carre Arms more enjoyable, as well as new menus for the a la carte, lunchtime, Sunday lunch, and breakfast service.