Support grant is perfect match for High Force Hotel

AN upper dale hotel has been boosted by the arrival of a four figure business grant.

High Force Hotel received £1,000 match-funding from North East Business Support (NBSL) after investing £3,000 of its own cash on business development and planning.

The NBSL fund is partly fuelled by the England European Regional Development Fund to help firms grow, restructure and manage their day-to-day operations.

High Force Hotel owner Jan Butterfield found out the hotel was eligible while filing through leaflets in a waiting room.

She said: “We have been here nearly three years now and we’ve got the building where we want it.

“We want to attract more business and it’s where we go from here.”

Ms Butterfield reopened the hotel in May 2015 after help from Raby Estates in renovating the building.

A top-to-bottom renovation over the past two years has helped get the hotel back on track after it suffered from the closure of the B6277 last year.

Ms Butterfield revealed the matched funding would help reinforce some of its partnerships.

She added: “It will offer all sorts of things like working in partnership with the North Pennines AONB on their Dark Skies project and working with Visit Durham.

“We’re going to be offering special interest breaks like fishing, photography and geology and we are looking at developing our website as well. It’s come at a really good time for us – it could not have been better.”

Four full time staff, a dozen part-time employees and an array of volunteers help keep the place running.

The hotel also hosts a number of pub teams and Ms Butterfield said the new cafe had proven a hit over the summer.

She added: “The big thing for us is making the most of the accommodation and getting the tourists in, providing them with a really good base to get them to stay in the area and use amenities and other businesses in the area as well.”

Jonathan Barnes, an adviser for NBSL, stressed the grant was still available in County Durham given few Teesdale firms had applied.

He added: “It is fantastic for NBSL to be able to help a business like Jan’s where she has made such positive improvements and is now looking to drive the business forward.

“We need more County Durham businesses to contact us to access this offer which can provide up to 35 per cent funding towards projects costing between £3,000 and £8,000 – with a maximum grant of £2,800.”

The online application form, and further information, can be found at www.nbsl.org.uk