Let’s Celebrate Local!

By Mary Stringer, marketing manager at The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa in Bath – a luxury hotel, restaurant and spa, based in the centre of the Royal Crescent.

How are you feeling about your business?  

We are ultimately a local independent business, mostly dependent on tourism, in a time when our industry has been severely impacted. So I am feeling very proud of our business at the moment, especially our Front of House and Restaurant teams whom have adapted so marvellously, from wearing PPE to delivering on the new protocols whilst putting guests at their ease. 

We’ve overhauled our menus, our check -in process, our housekeeping process. 

Everything has changed and everybody has just got on with it, which has been amazing to witness. I also think we are all feeling very grateful that we have been able to weather this awful situation so far, and that all of our team members are safe and well!

How are you feeling about business in general? 

We were very fortunate that our general manager took the decision to keep a skeleton team of around 15  people working at the hotel throughout lockdown. 

This meant that as a team we were able to prepare and launch our new sales and marketing strategy, along with all our new health and safety procedures and staff training, ahead of our reopening, which has really helped to reassure our audience and drive demand from an early stage. 

These measures have meant that we are almost beginning to approach our usual occupancy levels, which is absolutely brilliant.

Tell us three ways in which you now apply this phrase to your business and/or life ‘buy local supply local’. 

Mediaclash set up the great “Bath Together” campaign recently, which champions community support of local businesses. We wholeheartedly support this. 

We are a tourism city so it is essential to support each other – we are all interconnected, and the success of one of us depends on the success of all of us. People visit our city for “the Bath experience”, and this is something that can only be found when all of our businesses and organisations are working and delivering together optimally. We all need to do “our bit” to keep the fabric of our local business community strong.

When we are exploring new package or campaign ideas at The RCH, we always try to include a local element – such as a local discount, or collaborating with another local business. We use local suppliers wherever possible, from design and printing to our Taste of Bath gift boxes.

What has changed for you positively as a result of lockdown? 

A lot of people feel most comfortable eating outside at the moment, so this situation has really encouraged us to put our glorious hidden gardens at the heart of our food and beverage offering. 

To do this, we launched a new free “Poems in the Garden” trail to remind local residents that we are open for them to enjoy as well as our staying residents. 

The trail incentivises people to dine after they complete it, with 10% off F&B. We’ve seen some lovely social media posts and press interest in the trail, and all in all it has added another dimension to our garden. 

Tell us what, for you, makes a ‘good’ local business.  

A good local business has to build trust with its customer base, and this trust is underpinned by the following elements: quality produce (or product); timely delivery; and excellent, personal service. 

Good local businesses also tend to have excellent partner and business support locally, which gives them a network of potential additional business channels – vital when times are tough. 

Can you name a local business which you support around food & drink? 

We work with Savouring Bath, an excellent local culinary tour provider. We resell these tours as part of our packages and also as add-on experiences – something to make our guests’ visits extra special! For more information visit https://savouringbath.com

Can you name a local charity which you support? 

Our designated local charity Julian House has faced some really tough challenges recently, trying to keep the most vulnerable members of our society safe whilst battling with more limited resources and funding. 

We took part in the 2.6 Challenge as a team and delivered the proceeds to Julian House, and they are currently planning their annual Circuit of Bath Walk, which we will be supporting as we did last year.

Can you shout out to three local suppliers you wish to celebrate? 

1. Savouring Bath, who themselves celebrate several brilliant local foodie suppliers, have remained steadfastly upbeat throughout this difficult situation. 

2. Minuteman Press, who have delivered various artwork for us astonishingly quickly, such as our new poem boards. Find them here - http://www.minutemanbath.co.uk

3. All of the local influencers and supporters who have been leaving kind supportive comments on our social media posts during lockdown. A little kindness really does go a long way! 

Can you name anyone in business who has really had your back over the coming months? 

All of our business partners have been so flexible and supportive that it’s difficult to single one out. For example, many of our agencies and partners, including Total Guide To Bath, arranged temporary fee reductions, yet continued working full tilt to support us – that was really impressive, and so appreciated. 

Can you name one person in your life who has really helped you during this time? 

My colleagues have been amazing – we’re a tight-knit team and so feel comfortable reaching out to one another when we need it.

What are your business plans for Q4? 

Our new poetry trail runs until the end of September, then in November we are relaunching our Nutcracker trail – I hide nine Nutcrackers around the gardens, each with a clue attached to its wrist. 

Guests and non-residents are invited to “Hunt the Nutcrackers”, and if they solve the puzzle they get a little prize! We will also be running our festive afternoon tea as usual, and have a great all-inclusive Christmas package for those seeking to escape this year. 

Any special offers you’d like to mention? 

We are currently offering 10% off food and beverage to all whom complete our new poetry trail (they simply need to show the server their map when they’ve completed it). Here is a link to our new menus: https://www.royalcrescent.co.uk/wine-dine/our-menus/

And finally: 

Just that it’s been really heartening over recent months to see local businesses enthusiastically supporting one another on social media. I think you’d struggle to get this level of camaraderie and community spirit in a bigger city; our size really plays in our favour in this respect. 

I’m really proud to work in Bath - the little city with a big heart!

Find out more about The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa by visiting their website https://www.royalcrescent.co.uk/