Claims Stoke Rochford Hall near Grantham is to close
Staff members say they have been told that a hotel that has been accommodating asylum seekers is due to close.
Several employees, who asked to remain anonymous, have contacted LincsOnline to say that Stoke Rochford Hall, near Grantham, is closing due to ‘financial strain’.
The hotel is due to stop being used as asylum accommodation at the end of February as its contract with the Home Office is coming to an end.
One of the staff members at Stoke Rochford Hall said that the venue being used for asylum accommodation has “forced the hotel into closure” and staff have been told it cannot afford to reopen.
He said: “There are 35 people who will lose their jobs, as well as suppliers and local businesses.”
Staff members were told on Friday (January 12) in an “informal meeting” that the hotel would be closing.
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Another staff member, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I started crying, I have no idea what to do next. Stoke Rochford is all I have known.”
Another staff member said they felt like their “heart has been ripped out”.
They added: “We were all so devastated. My team members are like my second family.
“[I have] no idea what to do next. We’re all left feeling very sad, used and deflated.”
Stoke Rochford had previously cancelled weddings after the Home Office contract to home asylum seekers was extended.
Grantham MP Gareth Davis said: “Following my persistent engagement with the Home Office, I am glad that their use of Stoke Rochford Hall to accommodate those who have entered our country illegally is coming to an end, as part of a wider effort to end the use of hotels within our asylum system.
“Reports of Stoke Rochford Hall’s closure would be a commercial decision taken by Countrywide Hotels who I understand manage the hotel.”
Countrywide Hotels, which owns Stoke Rochford Hall, has been approached for a comment.
