Hotel back in business
ONE of Cardiff’s most historic landmarks is set to reopen today.
Ashley Govier, director of Eden Grove Properties Ltd, said around half a million pounds had been ploughed into the Coal Exchange Hotel to get it ready to trade again.
Although the hotel itself is still with the Official Receiver, Mr Govier has struck a deal with the Coal Exchange Hotel LLP for a new operating management contract.
Mr Govier, a former Cardiff councillor, is desperately hoping the Welsh Government does not announce tighter hospitality restrictions. He said: “I didn’t expect it to be plain sailing but it feels like we are back in March. We could be looking at a national lockdown again. The Welsh Government could lock us down tomorrow.”
He said he decided to try to save the beleaguered hotel after staff told him they were just about to lose their jobs in June.
“I lived in Butetown, I know Butetown, where they drink, I drink,” Mr Govier explained. “So when one of the hotel managers told me they were going to be made redundant, I wanted to do something.
“It was touch and go but I got a deal to reopen the hotel.”
Many of the staff, including the manager who approached him, are still working at the hotel.
So far, the hotel is mainly targeting Cardiff guests but Mr Govier said it was booked up for the first weekend.
“I’ve been quite critical of the local lockdowns,” Mr Govier added.
“I don’t think they’ve thought about the consequences when they made the call.”
He is worried about how “sustainable” the Cardiff catchment is for the medium to long term.
“The Government has placed hospitality all in one block but bars, restaurants and hotels are all different,” he added.
The hotel is “looking good”, said Mr Govier and is “Covid-ready”, with all the necessary precautions in place.
The reopening is the latest development at the controversial hotel, which has been beset with problems since Signature Living Coal Exchange Ltd, which owned the building freehold, went into administration.
The wider Signature Group also went into administration owing £130m to creditors, and Mr Govier said the Official Receiver would be looking to trace where that money went.
Many people were left at a loss about what it meant for weddings they had booked at the Coal Exchange. While the new management team say they sympathise with customers who had parted with their “hard-earned cash”, the money remains with Signature Living and they cannot access it.
Even so, the hotel said: “We will honour the value of deposits made on weddings and work with couples to ensure their planned day is as special as possible.
“We have made this commitment knowing it is a six-figure liability but we want to help as much as we can in these incredibly difficult times.
“We encourage all those with weddings booked at the Coal Exchange Hotel to contact us and we will begin to help those where we can.”
The new management team is also honouring the complimentary night’s stay at the hotel for couples who got married at the iconic venue on their first wedding anniversary.
Brian Gamble, a former employee of Signature Living and now operations
director of The Coal Exchange, said it was a “hugely exciting” time for staff.
He said: “I am delighted we have been able to work with the administrators to reopen the hotel under new ownership whilst saving 40 jobs in the process.
“The most exciting element in all this is that it is a completely new venture and those of us now at the helm of the business have been on the ground at The Coal Exchange for some time.”
If Mr Govier’s worst fears are realised and the country enters a second national lockdown, he said he would simply “mothball” the whole venture.
“If needs be, I just mothball the hotel and sit tight,” he said.
“Apart from a small fortune on the alcohol, I have no significant liabilities. We should navigate our way through it. We don’t need to shut down – the hotel is so safe. We just need to wait and see what the Welsh Government does.”