Hungerford hotel accommmodation, Berkshire, England
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
The Bear Hotel Hungerford considers there are aspects of corporate social responsibility which have particular implications for the events as a whole and these take into the account in the conduct of its business We shall do our utmost to ensure that our business is environmentally sustainable, and that we continuously improve performance in the areas of energy, of water, of chemicals and resource consumption, and waste generation. The company seeks to reduce the impact of paper usage by recycling and by the increasing of online transmissions and electronic data collection.
We maintain our gardens and the River Dunn which flows through our grounds to ensure a safe environment for our local wildlife, we have Swans, Moorhens and Ducks that live on the River and find that baby Trout use our shallow water before venturing off to the deeper parts of the river as they grow. We ensure that there is shelter and nesting opportunities by leaving sections of the banks untrimmed.
With having trees and gardens, we provide homes to our local birds and other wildlife. One of the organisations we are working with at present is the North Wessex Farmland Bird Project, by supporting them we are raising awareness in the local area as to the plight of our native species.
We endeavour to recycle as much waste as possible, all our glass is recycled and paper wastage is kept to a minimum. We ensure that our chemical suppliers have an environmental policy and that all chemicals used within our business are environmentally friendly with regards to contents and packaging.
In the Hotel Industry the daily replacement of towels across the world impacts massively on water and energy requirements. We understand that water is precious so we have notices in all bathrooms requesting that guests only put towels to be washed if they actually need to be. Likewise we are conscious of all water wastage, both within the hotel and in staff accommodation.
Although our energy is not green. We continually remind all staff to turn off appliances when not in use. We have machines that have power save and encourage guests not to leave the TV on standby!
Being a listed building, we are conscious of the responsibility we have in maintaining the structure and ensuring guests comfort whilst adhering to the regulations that come with being as old as we are. We try as much as possible to insulate wherever we can so as not to change existing structure and not to change the exterior of our historic building which has been standing since the 12th Century.
We are fortunate to be easily accessible by bike, bus and rail and have a main line station within walking distance of the hotel. We encourage our guests to enjoy the beautiful walks available to us and allow dogs with well behaved owners!
We try to use local suppliers as much as possible from flowers to mushrooms, wedding cakes to branding. It is important that as a community we support one another and keep our towns and villages thriving, through using local suppliers, we support our local business economies as well as providing jobs in a rural area.
Through having organised local networking meetings at our hotel, suppliers make and maintain relationships with other industry's local to them, encouraging less transport miles and again supporting local economy.
Community
We shall take an active role in the responsible business community enthusiastically taking the lead with Hungerford's hospitality sector, and contribute to the local communities where we operate.
We actively encourage the use of local suppliers and encourage relationships outside of our immediate contacts by organising networking opportunities so that businesses meet the suppliers they need at these networking events. We talk to businesses in our immediate community and further afield building relationships that support local jobs and tourism ventures.
We promote local events through our website, e-mail campaigns and support by sponsorship, as well as making available their leaflets/guides to our guests. We continually share our knowledge of the local area with our guests and recommend places to visit and enjoy. In the hospitality industry we are privileged once our guests choose to stay with us to inform them of the huge variety of attractions we have local to us, therefore benefiting the guest and our local tourist sites.
We spend lots of time talking to the decision makers within our community and getting to know the people who can make a difference.
One of the differences we are addressing at the moment is the decline of our farmland birds, this is a project that we are supporting by holding a Christmas Craft Fayre to promote crafters in the North Wessex Downs. We have wonderfully talented people who work on a small scale in our area, usually from home and to promote their goods to a wider audience thus encouraging local buying, we decided to do something specifically for them. As it was North Wessex Downs related we wanted to raise funds for something beneficial for our land and chose the North Wessex Farmland Bird Project as we felt that it was perfect! also by working with the AONB itself, we feel that if we are able to help raise awareness to our staff, clients and suppliers of the things that are important to the area it could only be for the good.
We support local charities such as CHAIN our local volunteer service and our local church, we donate to the air ambulance service and members of our staff who live locally are often involved with litter picking in their rural villages and supporting community events.
We always advertise our jobs locally and offer good wages and working conditions. Unfortunately we struggle to get local staff and although nearly half of our staff come from our local area we have to employ people from further afield, although as we provide staff accommodation this does bring more people into the community.
All our staff are fully trained in the skills needed to carry out their job and in Health and Safety and Food Hygiene as appropriate.
Landscape
We shall through activities within the Hotel promote and inform our staff, clients and associated businesses of ways to preserve the area in which we live and the surrounding countryside that inspires us. We understand the need for greater awareness and will work with the relevant organisations to increase our knowledge so we can share it with others.
We liase with local experts that provide ways of enjoying our countryside, whether it be horse riding, boating on the canal, shooting, fishing, off road 4 x 4 driving or learning about surviving in the wild or what stars you can see!.
We offer this range of activities to corporate clients and leisure guests alike and work with the AONB and other local businesses to help promote events in the area.
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