More Success for Eco-Friendly Deans Place
INDEPENDENTLY-owned hotel Deans Place Country Hotel and Restaurant has added the Excellent Social Responsibility award at the 2008 HRS Hotel Excellence Awards to it`s recent success in the Water Management Category at the 2007 Considerate Hoteliers Association Hotelier of the Year awards.
Internet hotel booking portal HRS.com created the UK awards to showcase best practice in the hotel industry and to recognise outstanding achievement. The new awards are part of the Best Practice Forum’s Business Excellence Awards.
Commenting on Deans Place’s victory in the Independent Hotel category for Excellent Social Responsibility, the HRS.com award judges said that the hotel in Alfriston, East Sussex, had “put down strong foundations on which to build more in terms of a first-rate approach to environmental sustainability and social responsibility”. They were particularly impressed by the sizeable investment made by the 36-bedroom hotel in this respect from its own resources.
Peter Bramich FIH, Managing Director of Deans Place, said: “It is a great honour to have received this prestigious new national award, and so closely on the heels of our Considerate Hoteliers Association Water Management triumph.
“Our management and staff are to be congratulated on the invaluable role they have played in winning these awards – both front-of-house and in the kitchen where Stuart Dunley has increased the amount of local produce on the menu not only for freshness and flavour, but to support local businesses and reduce ‘food miles’ and resulting carbon emissions.
“I passionately believe in the importance of energy efficiency and reducing harmful CO2 emissions, which contribute to global warming.
"Not only have we recently achieved a 42 per cent saving on our water consumption, but a Carbon Trust audit estimated that the Deans Place could save up to £19,015 per annum – representing 44 per cent of previous expenditure – on energy costs.
"Over the past 21 months, I have been successfully implementing the measures suggested in the audit, ensuring that the hotel operates at maximum energy efficiency – counteracting the hotel’s rising fuel costs and impact on the local environment.
“Equally, I am a strong advocate for giving something positive back to the local community wherever practicable.
"In this respect, amongst those we support are local charities, causes, societies, festivals and special occasions – through offering anything from prizes for fund-raising events and complimentary conference room space for meetings, to recently supplying a cake for 275 people to mark the retirement of the local vicar.”
Deans Place was one of seven category award winners in the UK’s first HRS Hotel Excellence Awards – which held in association with the British Hospitality Association (BHA) and the Best Practice Forum; and supported by the Institute of Hospitality and the Meetings Industry Association (MIA).
