Management team announced ahead of Fleece hotel opening

The first management appointments have been made at the Fleece hotel in Richmond, North Yorkshire ahead of its mid-April launch.

Jill Loughborough has been appointed hotel manager, Ayrton Westwood deputy manager and Thomas Pickard head chef. The new team will begin on Monday 19 February ahead of the Grade II-listed property's reopening as a 10-bedroom luxury hotel, 40-cover restaurant, café-bar and lounge.

Pickard was previously head chef of the three-AA-rosette Samuel's restaurant at Swinton Park in Ripon, North Yorkshire, and a junior sous chef at the Michelin-starred Star Inn in Harome.

The hotel has undergone major redevelopment by Richmond-based Within Reach Developments and York-based Great Potential has been appointed to operate the hotel.

The property was built in 1897 as a 22-bedroom hotel but operated as a pub and nightclub for the last 30 years, during which time the upper floors were unused. Within Reach acquired the property from Stonegate Pub Company in 2016 off a guide price of £250,000.

The Victorian façade has been stripped and cleaned, the original sash stained glass windows restored, and many of the buildings' other original features treated.

The hotel restaurant will use ingredients from its own allotment and regional suppliers to offer classic Yorkshire dishes, as well as cocktails, craft ales, wines and afternoon tea.

Peter Coulson, managing director of Within Reach Developments, said: "Our ambition since acquisition is for the Fleece hotel, as a totally redeveloped Victorian hotel, to deliver the best in comfort, high-spec bedrooms, quality restaurant, café-bar and lounge, in luxuriously furnished surroundings and with top-class personal service."

Videos from The Caterer archives

Are you looking for a new role? See all the current hospitality vacancies available with The Caterer Jobs