Newcastle hotel owner to press on with development

4th July 2023 | Jack Oliver

The owner of the Newcastle’s Vermont Hotel is set to go ahead with developments at another site in the city “in the coming months”.

Gainford Group, based in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, will look to redevelop its hotel on New Bridge Street to create the tallest building in the North East of England.

It acquired the former Premier Inn building in 2018.

The skyscraper will form part of a £50m gateway into Newcastle city centre, at the site of the New Bridge Street hotel. Gainford’s Proposals include a five star hotel, residential apartments, a fitness and health club, and a number of bars and restaurants.

This comes as the group, which also operates restaurants, bars, nurseries, and care homes, reports an increase in turnover for 2022.

Last year, Gainford Group recorded turnover of over £47.3m, up from £36.2m in 2021. Profit before tax fell, from £7.87m to £6.43m, although the group said this was due to “major costs”. This was also higher than the pre-Pandemic figure of £4.9m recorded in 2019. It has also upped its workforce, from 1,087 employees to 1,205.

Gainford director Imran Khaliq said: “The business has seen a major escalation in costs due to high inflation this year. The UK economy faced 11.1% inflation in October 2022, resulting in increased energy prices [and] food and labour costs. Despite all of this, the company has managed risks very effectively and, through different pricing, costing, and marketing strategies, responded very well.”

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