Jobs saved at Cornish hotel following staycation ‘boom’

The Headland Hotel in Newquay has announced that 72 jobs have been saved from redundancy following a surge in guests amid a staycation “boom”. 

According to The i, the site was facing the prospect of 80 redundancies after its finances were hit by the nationwide lockdown. 

Following an uptick in guests, however, the group is now looking to recruit 20 more employees, including a sous chef, a deputy head of housekeeping and bartender, in anticipation of a late-summer surge in bookings. 

Despite initially making eight redundancies, owner Caroyln Armstrong said the site was now expecting its “busiest ever autumn”. 

Armstrong told The i: “It was looking very bleak at one point. We were facing a really tough decision. We were looking at redundancies to save the business and preserve jobs. Before now my husband and I were enduring the hardest six months of our careers.

“Then suddenly we were allowed to open. And we’re booking up fast. We’re already looking 65 per cent full over September and October. Cornwall is inundated.”

She added: “We thought people might be unwilling to travel, or a bit reluctant to spend. We’re thrilled people are coming. It’s lovely, it’s just such good news – superb for the local economy.”

“It was incredibly upsetting to have to start the difficult process of asking for voluntary redundancies back in June. We were sorry to have to lose eight members of our team but we are relieved that 72 of the 80 at risk roles have been saved.”