The World of English Lakes
Where did we start?
Norman Buckley - Uncle of our late Chairman, Michael Berry purchased the Low Wood in 1952, when it was a 36 bedroomed seasonal Hotel.
In 1959 he purchased The Wild Boar near Crook.
In 1965 he purchased the Royal Hotel in Bowness on Windermere.
Michael Berry joined the Company in 1972 and became Managing Director on the death of his uncle in 1974.
In 1975 Waterhead, Ambleside was purchased, in 1979 English Lakes was established officially as a limited company.
In 1983 The Watersports Centre at Low Wood was built.
In 1989 a major development took place at the Low Wood Involving the building of a Conference Centre and Leisure Club.
In 1991 Lancaster House & Sandpiper Club was our first green field site build.
In 1994 a number of Directors attended Disney University in Orlando, on a programme called “The Disney Approach to Quality Service”.
As a result, major key objectives were set which included a completely new programme called ‘Expectations", which welcomes all new people to the Company and introduces them to the Company Philosophy. The programme also Includes Health & Safety, Service Recovery and +1.
In 2001 ONESIMUS a development training company was formed and continues to be based at Low Wood Bay.
In 2003 Storrs Hall joined the group, Waterhead closed as a 2 Star Hotel for major redevelopment and Low Wood achieved 4 star status.
In 2004 the Royal Hotel was sold. In Spring the new Waterhead opened as a 4 Star Town House Hotel and was subsequently awarded ‘Small Hotel of the Year'.
In 2005 English Lakes, wins the national finals of the Coutts Bank, Family Business of the Year. Storrs Hall achieved its 4 star status and a major development at Lancaster House took place, adding a further 19 bedrooms and an extension to the bar and leisure club Including a complete makeover in the gym.
In 2006 Waterhead was awarded ‘Large Hotel of the Year’; Lancaster House, ‘Business Tourism Award’ for Lancashire; Low Wood ‘Business Tourism Award’ for Cumbria & ‘Excellence In Business Tourism’; The Company: ‘Tourism Hospitality & Leisure Business Excellence Award' for +1 Customer Service Initiative and ‘Best Family Business’ Coutts Award.
Gilpin Plantation - 72 acres of woodland adjacent to The Wild Boar were purchased.
A major redevelopment of Low Wood ground floor.
The Low Wood Marina was an exciting new development, providing Lake Windermere with an exceptional new boating facility.
In 2007 Low Wood won the top award for Business Tourism at the annual England‘s Northwest Tourism Awards held In Manchester.
The Wild Boar was shortlisted for Cumbria Tourism's most outstanding Customer Service Award.
In 2008 The first ever Great North Swim was held at Low Wood Bay with over 2000 open water swimmers taking part.
In 2009 The Midland, In Morecambe, joined the group. The hotel was highly commended “Large Hotel of the Year” in the Lancashire & Blackpool Tourism Awards for 2009/10. Also, The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded the Hotel an Award for Its high architectural standard and for making a substantial contribution to the local environment.
Low Wood Gym underwent a major extension and refurbishment.
In 2010 The Wild Boar was reopened after extensive development to 17 feature and luxury rooms and Grill and Smokehouse additions.
English Lakes reached an Impressive figure of £100,000 raised by the group for Nurture Lakeland to help aid their conservation work for the local environment.
The company name and all properties benefitted from a rebranding exercise which included the company becoming English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues to better reflect the group’s market position and future plans.
Where are we going?
Our aim is to grow and develop the company and the teams who work with us and I would like to welcome all new employees who want to help us achieve our shared goals and continued commitment to distinctive and special service.