Our Coast, Our Sea - B&B in historic building wins top North-East Tourism Award
17 October 2011
St Cuthbert’s House luxury Bed & Breakfast near Seahouses, Northumberland, has received the Gold Award in the Sustainable Tourism Category at the North East Tourism Awards 2011.
The B&B is a 200-year-old former Presbyterian church, and has been carefully renovated. Owners Jeff & Jill Sutheran, who planned and worked on the renovation themselves and now run the business, are delighted to have won the top prize in this year’s Regional Awards competition – which follows their ‘Best B&B’ award at last year’s ceremony.
Jill said: “We work really hard to run our business in an environmentally-responsible way, which supports and encourages other local businesses and tries to enhance this beautiful area in which we live and work. It’s a real thrill to have that work recognised in this Award.”
Jeff added: “We’re delighted to have brought an ancient building back to life, and we have shown that a luxury accommodation business can also be run on sustainable principles. As well as the obvious areas like energy conservation and waste management, we’ve established some bee-hives in our village, and we source our supplies and services locally too. Building a sustainable tourism business doesn’t require the wearing of a hair-shirt!”
After a long and painstaking restoration and conversion of the old church building – which carefully integrated many original features like the pulpit and communion table – the 5-star Gold Award winning business opened four years ago, providing luxurious guest accommodation in six ensuite bedrooms. It has now received the highest accolade for Sustainability at the 2011 North East Tourism Awards – building on the Gold Award in the Guest Accommodation category at the 2010 finals – at the awards ceremony in Sunderland.
The North-East Tourism Awards shortlist three Businesses across each of 15 categories of tourism businesses. The Awards ceremony took place at Sunderland Football Club’s Stadium of Light on Thursday 6th October. Jeff said: “Entering these awards has helped us to measure and improve what we’ve created at St Cuthbert’s House, and it’s a privilege to be acknowledged amongst the best businesses in the whole North-East region.”
For more information, contact:
Jeff & Jill Sutheran
St Cuthbert’s House
192 Main St
North Sunderland, Seahouses
Northumberland
NE68 7UB
01665 720456
07787 289388
stay@stcuthbertshouse.com