Infiniti Group completes £1.5m Esplanade Hotel refurb contract

Scarborough-based Infiniti Group has completed an extensive £1.5m interior, exterior and roof refurbishment of the coastal resort's Grade II listed Esplanade Hotel for the Daish Hotel Group.

Infiniti Group's work on the Victorian hotel, which has just re-opened, started in 2020 creating jobs for Infiniti Group employees and employment for local sub-contractors throughout the project, between 15 and 40 at any one time.

A complete wraparound scaffold - now taken down - was erected during October and November, followed by re-roofing of the five-storey hotel with 15,000 traditional slates over a 620sqm area; the full refurbishment of 12 of the Esplanade's 73 bedrooms and bathrooms; installation of a new women's WC; external painting of all walls and window wood works, including more than 200 sash windows; and redoing the external walkways.

Alex Willgrass, Infiniti group director, said: "It is an incredibly satisfying feeling to now see the hotel fully finished and open as a result of all the work and effort that the Infiniti team have put in."

Infiniti Group's contracts manager, Sharon Lester, who oversaw the project, said: "We've had so many people come up to us and say how professional, considerate and hard working the Infiniti staff have been. And with the freezing cold and wet weather that we've had this winter and spring the job has certainly had its challenges, especially on the edge of the North Sea."

One impressed neighbour is Sir Rodney Walker, who said: "Over the past 12 months we have observed the work carried out by Infiniti on the Esplanade Hotel from our nearby apartment. This was a major project involving scaffolding the entire building, installing a complete new roof, exterior repair and repainting. The result is a new look to this prominent hotel thanks to the professionalism of Infiniti."

Marcus Rowe, Infiniti group director, helped to ensure that all logistical and construction obstacles posed by lockdown were overcome, such as pre-empting Covid-19 lockdown restrictions by buying in advance the majority of the materials they needed to finish the work, while also sourcing additional fully experienced, available, skilled contractors.

Covid social distancing safety was achieved using signage, floor and wall markings, hi vis and intelligent clothing and exact, pre-planned operational movements of workers around the site, such as keeping contractors separate and adopting work patterns sequentially across the hotel's floors.

The company also had to overcome Brexit-related delays related to specialist supplies being brought in from mainland Europe including a new 4,000-litre water tank.

The Esplanade Hotel is the second high profile hotel refurbishment Infiniti Group have won in Scarborough and follows the conversion of The Mount Hotel into the Bike & Boot Hotel in 2020.