Greater Lincolnshire

Andrew Keeling

Hotel Solutions completed work in 2017 for Lincolnshire County Council to assess the potential for hotel development across Greater Lincolnshire and to devise an action plan for intervention by the County Council and the Greater Lincolnshire LEP to support and accelerate hotel investment in line with the identified opportunities. The work involved:

  • A review of national hotel performance and development trends of relevance to Greater Lincolnshire, to provide a context for considering hotel investment opportunities in the county;
  • An audit of the current hotel supply across Greater Lincolnshire and hotel development proposals, including discussions with the developers of schemes to determine the likelihood of them being progressed and any barriers to implementation;
  • Email and face-to-face consultations with relevant County Council and district council officers and the LEP, and a review of relevant economic development and tourism strategies in order to understand the key drivers of future growth in demand for hotel accommodation across the county;
  • An assessment of potential hotel sites in each part of Greater Lincolnshire;
  • A telephone survey of hotel companies to assess their interest in opening new hotels in the county;
  • Interviews with hotel managers in Lincoln, as the key location of opportunity for hotel development in Greater Lincolnshire, to gather detailed information on hotel performance and markets in the city.

Key outputs from the work were:

  • A Greater Lincolnshire Hotel Investment Fact File providing information on the current hotel supply across the county, recent changes in hotel supply, planned new hotels, planned investment in existing hotels, hotel proposals and sites, growth drivers and contacts for further information.
  • A Greater Lincolnshire Hotel Development Action Plan setting out 9 action programmes for public sector intervention to help bring hotel investment forward across the county over the next 3 years (2017-2020).
  • A Lincoln Hotel Development Strategy for the next 5 years (2018-2023).
  • Separate reports on the assessments of hotel sites and hotel developer interest.
  • Presentations to the local authority tourism officers and the Greater Lincolnshire LEP Visitor Economy Board.

In terms of hotel development opportunities in Greater Lincolnshire, the research identified potential for:

  • A number of new hotels in Lincoln, with priorities in terms of a branded boutique hotel; independent boutique hotels; a budget boutique or lifestyle hotel to help the city to attract the Generation Y market; and an aparthotel to cater for the extended stay corporate market.
  • Upper-tier budget hotels in Scunthorpe, Grimsby and possibly as part of the proposed Grantham Designer Outlet Village.
  • Budget hotels in Boston, Cleethorpes, Gainsborough, Skegness and Stamford;
  • Pub lodges in Sleaford and Spalding;
  • Boutique hotels in Stamford;
  • Pub accommodation in the county’s smaller towns.

New hotels have subsequently opened across the county in 2018 and 2019 in terms of:

  • New Travelodges in Lincoln and Gainsborough in 2018;
  • A new Premier Inn in Skegness in March 2019;
  • Marston’s Inns pub lodges in Lincoln and Spalding.

Lincoln’s Doubletree by Hilton and Premier Inn hotels have also expanded.

Hotel Solutions is currently providing an aftercare programme to support the County Council in implementing the Hotel Development Action Plan, with a focus initially on securing a branded boutique hotel for Lincoln.