Wedding industry must have strong 2021 season, hotelier says

Norfolk Mead Hotel. PHOTO: ANTONY KELLY (Image: Archant Norfolk 2013)

James Holliday, who runs The Norfolk Mead Hotel, in Coltishall, with Anna Duttson, said it had been a challenging period for those in the industry, and that some suppliers would be unlikely to survive another difficult period.

The hotel usually has in the region of 100 weddings a year, and has managed to move the vast majority booked in 2020 to 2021.

If restrictions allow, next year is likely to be one of their busiest yet, combining postponed weddings and those already booked in advance.

“The weddings side of it was very hard,” he said, “and we have been trying to give our couples confidence.

The Norfolk Mead Hotel is offering takeaway afternoon tea during lockdown. Picture: The Norfolk Mead (Image: The Norfolk Mead)

“The wedding industry has been let down - you can have a funeral for 15 people but not a wedding. At one point you could have 1,000 people for a horse race but not 20 for a wedding.”

Up to spring, they have a series of micro-weddings in the diary, after launching a new package and offering specifically for much smaller celebrations.

But the government, he said, needed to give greater clarity for suppliers to prepare for future changes - the hotel has a handful of weddings in December, for example, which he said would be unlikely to be confirmed either way until days before.

“Another bad season would be huge for a lot of people,” he said.

With events and weddings cancelled, Mr Holliday said they were lucky to be able to focus on the hotel side of the business - which, after the first lockdown eased, boomed.

“We have had the busiest few months we’ve ever had,” he said, adding that they had topped 99pc occupancy in both August and September.

Many of their visitors were local, he said, with people wanting to get out and explore close by as restrictions remained in place for travel abroad.

They have also been offering takeaway afternoon tea, which can be ordered on their website and has proved particularly popular, with more than 3,000 sold during the first lockdown and hundreds on the Father’s Day weekend alone.

Mr Holliday said it had helped the hotel cover costs and had enabled them to stay connected with locals, which he said was important.