“I do think tourism in Calderdale will bounce back” - Firms across the borough determined to rise again

The enforced lockdown has hit the borough’s tourism businesses hard, with hotels and attractions seeing customer numbers plummet as people stay indoors.

But business owners in the tourism trade say that, while times are tough, they are optimistic they will come out of the other side of the pandemic.

Joseph Farrar, general manager at the Holdsworth House Hotel, said: “The pandemic has impacted us in ways which we could never have anticipated.

“Holdsworth House Hotel has been operating for 57 years now and has never closed its doors during that time.

“We started to see the impact around January time with a small amount of cancelled bookings from overseas guests.

“Then at the end of February we really noticed things kick up a gear and we had over £100,000 of business cancel within a week – all of which was due to COVID-19.

“Myself and the family then made the very difficult decision to close the business following the government advice on March 21.

“This business has been through difficult periods in the past, most significantly the recessions in the 1990’s and late 2000’s.

“It’s these experiences that have shaped the way in which the family approach the finances here at Holdsworth House, making us a very financially astute business and that is the reason that we will be able to ride out this storm.

“One of the most difficult parts of all of this was making contact with our wonderful wedding couples. Having the conversation with these people whom we have built a strong relationship and letting them know that their wedding will not be going ahead as planned was very difficult.

“Thankfully though we have managed to find everyone new dates and they will all have their special day at some point in the near future.

“Inevitably this pandemic will have a huge impact on us not just in the short term but over the next two to three years whilst we rebuild our business, however we still know that we are fortunate as not a lot of business will have the opportunity to rebuild themselves and I feel that we will see a raft of closures within the hospitality and tourism sector as a result of this.

“Good, financially sound businesses will struggle with the lack of revenue over this time and taking out a loan to see them through it may not be the answer for the long term success of the business.

“I do think that tourism in Calderdale will bounce back though. We have seen such a boom over the last few years and particularly in the last 12 months on the back of the success of Gentleman Jack, I think that will grow once again after this has passed.

“There is so much for Calderdale to offer and it will be important that we champion that throughout this time and then once again when we are out the other side.”

Alison Bartram, chair of the Hebden Bridge Business Forum and owner of the town’s Heart Gallery, said: “This will impact on Hebden Bridge more heavily due to the fact we were still recovering from Storms Ciara and Dennis.”As a town we are heavily reliant on tourism and thankfully we do have a very strong visitor economy.

“So many of our small businesses are currently closed and don’t have online facilities to continue to trade.

“However, those that do I believe have made the correct decision to close their online shops as well to protect the Post Office and delivery services; following strict government guidelines is of paramount importance.

“The small food outlets in Hebden Bridge still trading have found alternative ways to do this by operating more stringent procedures, adapting their orders to fulfil supply and demand and some have even seen an increase in turnover due to customers frequenting them for the first time as they look for alternative ways of shopping and avoiding the big towns.

“Thinking on our feet and outside the box is something that the business owners of Hebden Bridge are used to. They are a resilient bunch and as a general rule don’t run to the hills at the first sign of trouble but think creatively for a solution.

“Of course many shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants are closed but hopefully have now received the financial grant to ease some of the short term cash flow problems they are facing.

“Many are using their time wisely planning for recovery; we’ve seen some wonderful videos across all the various social media platforms. This is a great way to ‘market’ both themselves and their town and keeps them engaging with their customers ready to welcome them back when restrictions are lifted.

“Our previous ‘normal’ may become a ‘new normal’ but that doesn’t mean that it won’t work because it’s different; sometimes being different is distinctive .... and Hebden Bridge has always been distinctive has it not?

“Going forward the best way to prepare for recovery will be to collaborate and communicate across our valley. Now, more than ever, the links between all the business groups, Hebden Royd Town Council, the Town Hall and Calderdale Council will need to be stronger if we are all to survive.

“The Hebden Bridge Business Forum would like to think HX7 businesses can do more than survive; they can come out of this thriving. This is not impossible but will take a lot of work, not just individually but collectively.

“Business will get better but what we do now during this ‘downtime’ will determine our future. We would urge those HX7 businesses not already signed up to the Hebden Bridge Business Forum do so to receive regular newsletters and updates not just about the current ongoing Coronavirus situation but future uplifting newsletters packed with information about what is happening locally and how to get involved. They can do this by emailing HBBF [email protected].
“Let’s look ahead to a bright new future for us all.”

Susan Stevens, who co-owns Shire Cruises in Sowerby Bridge, said: “The Canal and River Trust have, in effect, closed the canals. We can’t operate at the moment and we’re cancelling all our bookings in April and into May.

“We haven’t done the final sums yet but it will have a big impact.”We’ve been going for 40 years so we’re well established and we will come out the other end of all this. But we will suffer a loss of income this year.

“What we all need to know in the tourism sector is when we can start again.”UK holidays are going to be the favourite I would hope, and people come and enjoy their local canals.

“We’ll be ready for them as soon as we can operate.”I think people are going to find it more difficult to go abroad or they won’t be able to go abroad, so once people can go out and about again, hopefully they have their holidays in this country instead.

“We don’t want people to say ‘oh dear, I can’t go abroad therefore I won’t do anything’, but ‘this is my opportunity to go on holiday in Britain, because the British holiday market is great, it’s much better quality than it used to be and there’s such a variety.

“We have customers who come from Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and I’ve had to cancel them because they can’t get here, so we need people to stay at home on their holidays and have a great time in their own country.”

Max Heaton, from the Shibden Mill Inn, said: “It has been a very testing time for everyone and we are no different.

“We suffered from the floods earlier this year and now we are closed for the foreseeable future due to COVID 19.

“We will be back though, we are already working hard on planning for the future. Last weekend should have been a huge weekend for us, we were fully booked for rooms and tables due to the Anne Lister Weekend, which was obviously cancelled.

“We are working alongside the local tourism board and organisers especially Pat Esgate to make next year’s event even bigger and better than this one was going to be!

“We are also working on our famous garden in order to make sure the flowers on display look as beautiful as ever for when we can hopefully re-open!

“It is unfortunately a very scary time for everybody in the tourism sector, mainly because we don’t know how long we will be closed for and we have a very expensive building to maintain.

“We are determined to try and make sure that we are in a position to re-open when the time is right. We have worked very hard to establish our business and we will work even harder to keep it.”
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Resources, Coun Jane Scullion, said: “Calderdale Council’s tourism team is working closely with industry partners to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the visitor economy. 
“A key part of this work involves working with local businesses to ensure that they are getting the right financial support from the government to enable a sustainable tourism economy going forward.

“Many of our tourism businesses have been diversifying their services by increasing their online offers and we’re encouraging people to continue to support local independent enterprises, where possible, during this difficult time.

“Of course COVID-19 has also had an effect on the borough’s many usual spring and summer events and festivals which have unfortunately been postponed or cancelled this year. We’re working with event organisers to offer our advice and support to help with rearrangements where possible.

“The main priority for the Council at the moment is to keep people safe but we look forward to welcoming visitors back to Calderdale when we’re able to do so.

“People can keep up to date with the tourism related COVID -19 updates at visitcalderdale.com or follow Visit Calderdale on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.”

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