| The Marriott Worsley Park Hotel
& Country Club, Manchester
The Marriott Worsley Park Hotel & Country Club, Manchester, was one
of the first hotels in Europe to gain environmental certification in 1999
and has been counting the benefits ever since. Even before the four star
hotel was built, the General Manager, Peter Bech, made a decision that
the hotel would be as environmentally friendly as possible. This was particularly
important as it was being built on a 200 acre green-field site and therefore
had considerable local opposition.
By working with English Heritage and Green Globe, Peter ensured the hotel
blended into the surrounding countryside, creating a wildlife haven in
the process, and strove to minimise the impact on its neighbours. This
has been so successful that the neighbours are now very proud of what
their local hotel has achieved.
‘Having a sound environmental management approach to running a
business is absolutely necessary,’ Peter says, adding, ‘there
are very good economic reasons why every business should take this approach.’
By way of proof to those words the Marriott Manchester saved around £60,000
in its first full year of operation simply by cutting down on consumption
of water, gas and electricity.
‘It really isn’t difficult,’ says Peter, ‘no
hotel should be fearful about taking the first steps - it’s really
just using common sense.’
So how did the hotel manage it? Firstly by getting all the staff involved
in the scheme, nominating a champion for each department and holding regular
meetings to ensure all parts of the plan are continually monitored and
tested.
‘It’s just a question of getting everyone into the right
frame of mind,’ Peter says. ‘Chefs traditionally turn everything
on as soon as they enter the kitchen, whether they need the equipment
or not. With a little education on the damage being done to the environment,
let alone the savings to be made, this practice can be stopped
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