What makes the Clocktower tick?
The general manager of one of the city’s most iconic hotels talks post-Covid and how to find an eco-friendly replacement for avocado on toast
THE BUILDING which now houses the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel has been a landmark in Manchester city centre for more than a century.
With construction starting in 1891, the imposing structure was originally home to the Refuge Assurance Building until it was transformed into a hotel in 1996.
Going under several different names, including the Palace Hotel, Le Méridien Palace and The Principal, the hotel has witnessed a lot of change occur outside of its gates.
But since being snapped up by the InterContinental Hotels Group in 2018 the hotel has been given a new lease of life and been reinvigorated inside and out.
The severe challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic has also had a profound impact on how the hotel is run.
There is a new focus on cutting its carbon footprint as well as generating income from events and meetings rather than just selling rooms.
In an exclusive interview with BusinessLive, general manager Johan Scheepers lifts the lid on what it’s really like to run one of the city’s most prestigious hotels, the battle to hire back as many people as possible who were made redundant during the pandemic, as well as how making the extra bank holiday for the Queen’s Jubilee permanent would benefit the hotel.
It was a common theme during the height of the pandemic that hotels were forced to cut their headcount as they were forced to close their doors for months at a time.
The Kimpton was no exception but newly-installed general manager Scheepers had a plan.
“The management team, who stayed behind during the pandemic to try and keep the building alive, said from the outset that we would try to grow the business as fast as possible so we are in a position to invite our former team members back”, he said.
“I think we have done a reasonably good job at that. I would say that quite a few of the team, who have not moved on to Amazon or the other industries that hospitality employees went to during lockdown, are back here.
“A lot of that is due to the love for this building and the excitement around the Kimpton brand and I’m very proud of that.”
Off the back of the Covid-19 restrictions being lifted, the hotel industry has seen a spike in demand which has led to room rates being pushed up.
“2021 definitely grew faster than we anticipated - every hotelier in the city will tell you that”, the general manager added. “In the absence of people having the opportunity to travel abroad, a lot of people had staycations and we grew much faster than I anticipated.
“There is a real appetite from a national travel perspective to have these staycations in city centres but they are also willing to pay a premium price for it.”
However with the cost of living crisis seemingly worsening week by week, can the current rise in prices be sustainable? Mr Scheepers said: “I’m not sure it’s 100% sustainable but we certainly have this year so far maintained a growth on 2021 in terms of rates as a city.”
The number of hotels being opened in Manchester has steadily risen in recent years, with even more in the pipeline.
The Kimpton has always pitted itself against its main rivals in the city: The Edwardian, The Lowry, The Midland and Dakota.
But how will the Kimpton fair against the new entries into an already crowded market?
“I was initially quite nervous about the hotels that are opening right around us but actually it’s turned out to benefit us”, Mr Scheepers said.
“When we do appeal to large conferences I now have a hotel on my doorstep that we can share the volume with.” In recent days there has been a call from business leaders urging the prime minister to make this year’s extra bank holiday marking the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee permanent.
In an open letter, the CBI, UK Hospitality and a number of well-known brands said a “thank holiday” would honour the monarch and public service.
They also argued that the new holiday would provide an economic boost after Covid.
Research by PwC also suggested that government figures have overestimated the cost of a new bank holiday by about £500m.
It’s a campaign that the general manager of the Kimpton Clocktower
Hotel is fully behind.
He said: “Bank holidays really give us an opportunity to activate the business in a different way.
“People stay for a bit longer and there’s a higher demand in the city so you can optimise that opportunity from a revenue perspective.
“It also gives us a great opportunity to layer the customer experience to what the bank holiday is about.”
Most businesses are looking at ways to cut their environmental impact, not only to save the plant but also to help their bottom line amid the economic volatility the world has been experiencing since the start of 2020.
Companies can switch to LED lightbulbs or buy electric vehicles but the Kimpton’s general manager came up with a novel way to reduce his hotel’s carbon footprint.
“IHG is very committed to reducing our carbon footprint, like any other big organisation in the world”, he said.
“A lot of people have strategic intent but if you don’t start somewhere with the small things then you’re just not going to claw away at the total target of being carbon neutral by 2030.
“It’s not just about changing halogen light bulbs out for LED - we all talked about that ten years ago.
“It was a big investment and hotels have benefitted from that with lower energy bills.
“But now the challenge for the team is what else can we do. We have a massive footprint and we all know that the UK does not grow avocados, it’s a tropical fruit.
“Mexico is a massive producer and we have realised that the carbon footprint of the avocado is huge as it comes a very long way.
“When we looked into how avocados are farmed we realised it has a massive impact on the environment. The trees themselves consume a lot more water than other trees.
“A lot of natural foraging has been cleared to make space for these trees and like any other industry there’s complications around how it’s managed which is not necessarily fair to the people who are actually working on these avocado farms.
“The answer for us was to not serve it anymore and we had to think about how we were going to replace it as it was one of our top sellers. Avocado on toast is everywhere.
“I challenged the chef to come up with an alternative and we played around with a lot of ingredients.
“I ate it and I could almost not taste the difference. It’s the right texture, it’s the right consistency, the right colour and it does not detract from the overall experience.
“So, it turns out the answer is broad beans.
“It’s farmed in the UK and it has zero impact on the environment.
“It’s seasonal but you can freeze it very successfully and the quality does not get affected so you don’t have to buy it out of season necessarily.”
2021 definitely grew faster than we anticipated - every hotelier in the city will tell you that Johan Scheepers