The Fleece, Richmond: Grade II-listed hotel once 'the grandest coaching inn between York and Scotland' closes due to increasing costs and staffing issues

The Fleece Hotel in Richmond has a colourful history, having been built in 1897 to serve stagecoach traffic between Yorkshire and Scotland in the trade’s dying years.

It later became a pub and nightclub, and when the former closed in 2015, its upper floors had been derelict and disused for 30 years.

In 2019 it re-opened as a high-end hotel and restaurant owned by local developers Within Reach, who restored the Scottish baronial-style building. Directors Peter Coulson and David Colley also renovated the old mews houses around the hotel’s courtyard as part of a separate housing development.

They described The Fleece as ‘iconic’ and at the point of purchase said it had ‘reached the lowest point of its life’ having once been the grandest hotel from York to the Borders.

Investor Chris Miles then took on the running of the hotel.

In a statement on the hotel’s website, Mr Miles said: “I am very sad to tell you that I have taken the difficult decision to close The Fleece. The combination of unrelenting chronic staffing issues and ever-increasing costs mean we are simply unable to continue operating at this time.

"Our bar and restaurant will close at 5pm on Sunday 30 July. In order to honour room bookings for our guests over the remainder of the summer, we will operate a bed and breakfast only service throughout August. The hotel will close fully on Friday 1 September.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our team for their commitment, resilience and positivity over what has been an extremely difficult period of time. In particular, I would like to thank Claire, Ali and Shelley for their unrelenting efforts in doing everything possible to make The Fleece a place we can all be proud of.

"I would also like to thank our loyal customers for their support over the past few years. We have thoroughly enjoyed serving you.

"To be absolutely clear, The Fleece has not “gone bust”. I am choosing to close at this time to ensure that we can do it on our terms and in an orderly way. All of our employees, suppliers and other creditors will be paid on time and in full as they always have been.

"Whilst I do not want to appear bitter (although I am a little to be honest!), it is imperative that our Government take action to provide much needed support to businesses like The Fleece. We do not need a hand-out but we must be able to keep more of the money we generate. Since opening in May 2019, in addition to the increasing costs we have had to contend with, the Fleece has paid c£350k to HMRC in VAT and a further £100k in Employer National Insurance and Business Rates. That figure would have been higher had it not been for the temporary VAT reduction in 2020-22.

"It is an enormous burden for a fifth of our income to be taken in VAT in addition to the other taxes we pay before any profit is made. We simply do not have the luxury of passing the 20% VAT cost onto our customers and this decimates our profit margins. We need our Government to recognise this and to help us.

"We don’t want hand-outs but we do need to be able to make profits. Let me finish by saying thank you once again to my team and to our loyal customers. I really am very sorry that it has come to this.”