Lancashire holiday centre preparing to reopen, but warns jobs will be hit by the coronavirus lockdown

Holiday destination Ribby Hall has announced it is to start a phased reopening from Monday, but may have to consider making some staff redundant.
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It will begin with the opening of the nursery on June 8 and then the SPAR shop on June 15.

Ribby Hall said subject to confirmation from The Government, it was hoping to re-opening the gates to its holiday home owners and holiday cottage guests from July.

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Paul Harrison, chief executive at Ribby Hall Village, said: “Once we have made our Village covid-secure, it is highly likely that we will be operating with a much lower occupancy than we are used to.”

Ribby Hall is preparing to come out of coronavirus lockdownRibby Hall is preparing to come out of coronavirus lockdown
Ribby Hall is preparing to come out of coronavirus lockdown

He said that the closure has produced a significant hit to the Wrea Green holiday centre's income.

He added: “Due to the significant, adverse financial impact Covid-19 is having on our company, it is therefore with great sadness and regret that we will be seeking agreement from staff to take a temporary reduction in pay when returning from furlough.

"We will be entering into a period of collective consultation with employees. The collective consultation has been planned in response to the projected deterioration of our income, as we initiate the phased re-opening of Ribby, following the lockdown. Unfortunately, it is therefore inevitable that we will have to consider redundancies.

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"These are the most difficult decisions I have had to make during my time in business, and especially at a time when some of our dedicated and loyal teams who work tirelessly to provide the best possible experience for our customers - will already have experienced illness, tragedy, and personal loss during the pandemic.

"I am sorry for the additional angst these decisions will cause and our priority is therefore to support and guide our teams during this difficult and worrying time.

"As we work through the pandemic and rebuild the business, we would very much like to give our loyal employees whose roles have been made redundant, first sight and choice to apply for any new roles that become available and prior to them being advertised to the general public.

"I sincerely believe that after more than 25 years of building such a vibrant, popular, and award-winning destination – and being Lancashire’s only five-star Holiday Village - that our loyal customers will return, and once it is safe to do so."