Tewkesbury Park secures major investment to invest in energy efficiency

Published by

Nicky Godding

Tewkesbury Park Hotel

Cotswolds hotel Tewkesbury Park has secured a £500,000 investment from Lombard to upgrade its plant room to include combined heat and power (CHP) which it estimates will save £100,000 per year in energy costs.

This highly efficient process captures the heat created by electricity generation to meet its water and space heating requirements.

Tewkesbury Park is a family-owned, luxury hotel resort and 18-hole golf course situated on the site of the 1471 Battle of Tewkesbury. The hotel hosts premium stays, golf and tennis trips, weddings and conferences, and also has an onsite spa and fitness centre.

The business, which employs 134 people, is run by Linda McIntosh, with her son Chris McIntosh and daughter Claire White.

They estimate that the use of combined heat and power will save 200 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide per year.

Chris McIntosh, Managing Director at Tewkesbury Park Limited, said: “We are passionate about making our hotel more sustainable and setting a positive example that others in the hotel industry can follow. This investment from Lombard has allowed us to take a big step forward in this regard.

“Due to space and listed building constraints, we were unable to install solar panels – but Lombard helped us find a solution that will allow us reduce our emissions and make huge costs savings, while increasing our security of supply with a system powered by LPG that can run even if the grid does not.”

Jason Holness, Senior Relationship Manager at Lombard, added: “It was fantastic to work with the McIntosh family on this deal and help them to take a big step towards their sustainability goals, with the added benefit of saving them a lot of money in the long run. One of our business aims is to provide financing options that encourage and empower businesses to improve their sustainability, and the Tewkesbury Park team embodies exactly what we’re trying to achieve.”

The family discovered the neglected hotel in 2014 and, seeing its potential, purchased and refurbished it over a four-year period, adding a new events venue and bedrooms in the main house.

For further assistance with their climate action plan, Tewkesbury Park has registered with NatWest’s Carbon Planner, a free tool providing businesses with tailored solutions to reduce their operational emissions.

Commercial Director Claire is putting her luxury hotel experience to good use on new ITV game show The Fortune Hotel. Claire and husband Dan are competing for a £250,000 cash prize.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.