Crathorne Hall reopens with help from Onyx Group

Despite the devastating blaze that resulted in the temporary closure of the of historic grade II listed Crathorne Hall Hotel in Yarm, the company who operates the property, Hand Picked Hotels, have executed their business continuity plan to minimise any disruption caused by the fire. Key members of staff who include mission critical contact centre workers were moved to a nearby Workplace Recovery Centre owned by North East technology firm Onyx Group prior to the hotels reopening just six weeks later.

Onyx Group’s site in Stockton is the only Workplace Recovery centre of its size and scale in Teesside and can host up to 200 members of staff at a time.
Neil Stephenson, CEO of Onyx Group, feels the incident highlights the important role a strong business continuity plan should have in any business.
He said: “Situations like this really emphasise why many of our customers have incorporated a Workplace Recovery plan into their business strategy. In this scenario a business was affected by a fire but with the winter coming, the chances of flooding and adverse weather conditions further heightens the risks facing businesses. Without a secondary site available to staff, businesses are leaving themselves open to the threat of prolonged downtime, loss of customer confidence and severe damage to their brand and reputation.”

“The quick turnaround to get the hotel back up and running was fantastic and we are delighted that we have been able to help a local customer continue their day-to-day business activities despite such difficult circumstances. We will continue to protect businesses across the North East, Yorkshire and Scotland.”

Ken Arkley, Commercial Director at Hand Picked Hotels, praised the capabilities of the Onyx staff and stressed the importance of making sure they honoured commitments to their current clients: “It was essential in the short-term that our staff still had full access to our files and IT systems. The ability to carry out our day-to-day business activities is pivotal not just for the hotel, but also for the company as a whole. It is of great benefit to us and other businesses across the region to have a facility such as this right on our doorstep.“

He said: “The phone support for our whole company is based in the North East and it was imperative to us that we were back on our feet as soon as possible” continued Arkley. “Our customers are our most important concern and prior to the hotels reopening, our staff worked tirelessly to make sure those who were booked into the hotel found appropriate alternate venues.”

“Onyx Group’s ability to get a business back up and running within a matter of hours was a key selling point for us and they have proven to be the perfect partner. Not only because of the close proximity of their Stockton site, but also because of the security and reliability that their IT infrastructure provides us.”

Stephenson added: “The reassurance that business continuity solutions provide any organisation and its customers is a vital part of modern business. Combining an off-site recovery facility with state-of-the-art data centres, means a business can replicate their IT infrastructure and continue to operate, no matter what happens.”