A LEADING hotel business has started recruiting for its first hotel in the Lake District National Park, with it set to open before Christmas. 

The 71-bedroom Premier Inn at High Hill, Keswick aims to create around 25 to 30 permanent and flexible job opportunities within the town.

A ‘meet the employer day’ is being organised by the team leading the hotel at Keswick Rugby Club on August 11, where the new management team will be available to meet the community and talk about the employment opportunities on offer at the premise.

They will be recruiting for a range of positions including front of house, kitchen, night-time alongside supervisor roles. 

Karl Hetherington, the manager of Premier Inn Keswick, said: “One of our core values in Premier Inn is that there should be no barriers to entry into our business and no limits to what can be achieved when working for us.

"My own story shows what is possible as I joined ten years ago as a receptionist and am now taking on responsibility for managing my third Premier Inn hotel in Cumbria.

"I am now looking for a team of hospitality ambassadors to help me launch our brand-new Premier Inn in the heart of the Lakes at Keswick.

"It’s an amazing opportunity to open one of our new flagship hotels and we’re looking for a team of people who will enjoy meeting our guests and providing them with the warm welcome and excellent customer service Premier Inn is known for.

READ MORE: Green light for controversial Premier Inn in Keswick

"Our meet the employer day is a chance for us to talk about all the things we do as a business as well as the jobs we are recruiting for.

"Please do pop along on the 11th if you are curious about what working for the UK’s largest hotelier looks like.

"I’ll be there with my full team as well as representatives of the Job Centre Plus and am looking forward to introducing myself and kicking off our recruitment drive in Keswick," he said. 

It's fair to say ever since the initial planning application was put through, the proposal of bringing a Premier Inn to the town was controversial.

The 'Stop Premier Inn coming to Keswick' petition raised over 3,000 signatures. Organisers claimed that the inclusion of the business would change the heritage of the town; push the town's infrastructure to the limits; create a lack of car parking space alongside an overdevelopment of the current site. 

The campaign also indicated that they believed the 30 additional jobs were being used as an incentive to pass the planning application, a situation that they suggest will just add to the town's already existing problem of trying to find hospitality sector staff.

READ MORE: Businesses in Cumbrian towns like Keswick suffering through a labour shortage