Bolton: Mercure Bolton Georgian House Hotel new management

Eric Spencer-Smith was a manager at the Mercure Bolton Georgian House Hotel in Blackrod for more than 10 years and now Dave Longcake – who has previously been a general manager at one of the other hotel branches – has now taken over the position.

Weddings and events manager Rochelle Jeffrey says she wants the community to know that the hotel “much more than a hotel”.

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She said: “It’s really exciting to be under new management.

“Sometimes you need to bring someone into the business.

“Eric is a great guy and it was his decision because he felt like he had taken it as far as he could get it to.”

Bottom left: Irene Harper (who has been there 34 years), Zoe Costello, Dave Longcake (general manager), Claire Oldham (front of house manager), Tracie Shaw. Top right: Rochelle Jeffrey (wedding and events manager), Keaton McClure, and Nadine Saxton. (Image: Public)

Rochelle says that one of the biggest changes to the hotel is the style of weddings that they now offer, with the food and themes now matching.

The new themes now on offer include rustic, twilight, little big, festival and a winter wonderland.

Rochelle added: “What we are doing with the weddings is massive.

“We have checked the current trends of weddings out and changed everything.

“For each of the wedding concepts, the theme will run throughout, from the food to what our staff will be wearing when working at them.

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“We are aiming for the top spot when it comes to our weddings and events in the area and we will be known as the best place to book for your wedding or event.”

Rochelle says her favourite theme is the festival themed wedding and says that they first thought they could not do this because it would have to be outside.

She said: “The most exciting one is a festival wedding.

“We realised that we can do it inside rather than outside.

“There will be lots of different food trucks, which is a result of us thinking outside the box.”

There will also be a whole host of inhouse events, which had previously stopped running as a result of Covid.

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They include ladies' nights, silent discos, a Northern Soul night with Wigan Casino founder Russ Winstanley, back to the 80s nights and more to come.

She added: “The thing that I found is that people would have been here if they had of known we were here.

“Someone who lives six minutes away didn’t know this hotel was here.

“Hopefully these different events will get people coming here for food and drinks or events.”

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