Award winning Telford hotel boasts best January in recent history

The historic Buckatree Hall Hotel saw turnover increase by 25 per cent last month in comparison with January's over the past five years.

It is the best figure since the hotel returned to family ownership.

General manager Wayne Jenson said: "Usually people think January is a quiet month because you are in the wake of an excessive December and the cold weather deters people from venturing out.

"We have never felt that here at the Buckatree, but this year is something else – we have been the busiest we have ever been since the Moon family bought the hotel.

"There has been a huge jump with turnover increasing by 25 per cent.

"Thankfully we were not really affected by Dry January either, in fact last month we had to arrange extra deliveries as we began to run low on wine and the local ale."

The hotel was bought by Grant Moon in September 2010.

Since then he has spent more than £1 million refurbishing it, adding leisure facilities and creating a new function room and outdoor wedding facility.

The hotel now welcomes thousands of visitors every year from across the world and hosts a variety of charity and corporate events as well as countless weddings.

It is a former McDonalds Hotel and Swallow Hotel but Mr Jenson believes their recent success is based on the personal touch.

He added: "Being a family owned hotel sets us apart from the large chains, we invest in the local area and our customers can see that it really matters to us.

"Winning the travel, tourism and leisure category at the Shropshire Business Awards last year was a huge coup for us and it has been a springboard.

"Our location at the foot of the Wrekin and growing reputation has attracted more and more overseas visitors, with people staying from Sweden and America last month.

"We work hard to ensure we are always offering best value rates and whenever possible partner with some of the great attractions that we have in Shropshire.

"We are currently working on some fantastic deals for February half term and it is this type of activity that ensures we have a balanced mix of business between corporate and leisure."

For more information visit www.buckatreehallhotel.com.