An Ambleside couple, who won multiple awards when running their own Guest House are now using their experience to help other hospitality business owners across Cumbria.

Chris & Allie Hodgson ran the award-winning Haven Cottage B&B in Ambleside for 5 years, in that time winning Cumbria Tourism B&B of the Year in 2019, a Visit Britain Rose Award for Outstanding Customer Service, being rated as 12^th best B&B in the world by Trip Advisor and also completing a full 2-years ranked number 1 on Trip Advisor for the Ambleside area.

In that time, they gained a reputation for delivering the highest levels of customer satisfaction and for championing local Cumbrian suppliers and initiatives. They recently sold Haven Cottage to new owners in December 2021.

They then took the decision to set up Lakes365 – a business designed to provide practical and affordable help for small and medium-sized businesses operating in the hospitality, retail, food, drink and tourism sectors. They wanted to be able to offer the benefit of their skills, knowledge and professional support to others across Cumbria and especially within the Lake District, across a variety of roles.

Chris & Allie said: “Smaller businesses often need help quickly, for a short period of time, but aren’t ready to commit to recruiting full-time staff. We can help plug those gaps by providing business sitting services during holidays or for sickness cover. Equally we know how seasonal some businesses in the Lakes can be; again, we can help out in these situations when demand exceeds the capability of the existing workforce.”

“We have experience across many sectors and having operated at senior management levels in larger businesses, and also run our own small businesses, are flexible enough to cover roles at most levels within an organisation. We can represent companies in sales & marketing but are equally very happy to be more hands-on helping fulfil orders, in the back office or front of house,” said Allie.

Chris said: “We are incredibly passionate about the Lakes and think we have a huge number of talented companies in our area. We want to help those companies to grow and become even more successful.”

Chris & Allie are available to help on both a short-term contract and an on-going basis. In their time at Haven Cottage, they also gained the Green Tourism award for sustainable tourism. Chris is an active member of a community group in Ambleside (Ambleside Action for a Future) helping to develop renewable energy alternatives in the area, he is Secretary of Ambleside Athletic Club, and Race Organiser for the prestigious Hodgson Brothers Mountain Relay. Allie is an award-winning hostess with a passion for excellence in customer care and a flair for all things creative including cooking, baking and the Arts, together with a strong reputation for attention to detail. Prior to moving to Ambleside in 2015, they set up and ran their own successful luxury catered ski chalet business in the French alps.

To find out more about how they are able to help SME hospitality and tourism businesses in Cumbria, visit https://lakes365.org/