Harrogate hotel hosts frontline workers during coronavirus outbreak

Dean of Ripon urges residents to 'remain vigilant' and follow lockdown rules after suffering from coronavirus symptoms

Whilst closed to the general public, the White Hart Hotel's Managing Director, Simon Cotton, has been working closely with Harrogate NHS Trust to ensure that those who cannot return home or need to stay local to their work have somewhere to stay.

The hotel team have been providing accommodation throughout the past week with a cooked Yorkshire breakfast and evening meal delivered to guests' bedrooms from the on-site restaurant. Whilst the hotel's restaurant, The Fat Badger, is closed, skeleton staff are still working to ensure guests are still served quality food as room service.

Simon Cotton said; “We are proud to be hosting a number of front-line workers from Harrogate and surrounding areas at The White Hart Hotel. From the NHS staff to the energy supply teams and beyond, there are a number of keyworkers staying here, keeping Yorkshire operational.”

Following the announcement from the NHS that Harrogate Convention Centre is to become a temporary hospital looking after Covid-19 patients, the White Hart Hotel have been hosting the key teams building and creating the new hospital.

Talking about the measures in place at the hotel, Simon added: “The safety of our staff and our guests is paramount, and to ensure we keep everyone safe we have stringent social distancing, constant cleaning routines and PPE. We have also reduced our staff numbers to ensure that we can maintain adequate social distancing, whilst still being able to provide the service our front-line guests need.

“I would like to personally thank all of the front-line workers in Yorkshire. It is not just our health service who are doing such an amazing job, but everyone from postal workers to supermarket cashiers, and those in the supply chain supporting; there are more hero stories out there than we realise. We are just happy to help a few of them do their important jobs.”

This is what you need to know about Harrogate Convention Centre's transformation into a NHS Nightingale hospital - as well as other emergency sites in England

The White Hart Hotel is part of the Yorkshire hotel and Inn company, The HRH group, which has eight hotels, pubs, restaurants and inns across North Yorkshire.