Hoteliers face staff and supply shortages in busy summer season

The Headland Hotel in Newquay has had to close off some rooms because of a staff shortage

Staff shortages and a lack of supplies mean hotels are having difficulties during the busy summer season.

South West hoteliers say they are losing staff who are told to isolate by the NHS Covid app, with some closing off rooms to deal with the shortage.

Other issues include difficulties in providing clean linen with fewer workers to do the laundry.

There is also a global shortage of chlorine that is creating challenges for those hotels with swimming pools.

With international travel limited by coronavirus restrictions, many people are choosing to holiday in the UK over the summer.

The Headland Hotel in Newquay, Cornwall, is currently without 21 staff members which Director Veryan Palmer said "makes it really tough".

She said the hotel has closed 15 bedrooms and three cottages to bring numbers "down to a more reasonable manageable level".

Veryan Palmer from the Headland Hotel said they had been struggling with staff shortages

Ms Palmer added the hotel has also been having a "real challenge" getting chlorine for its swimming pools, something that "is probably going to affect quite a few hotels in Cornwall".

Supplier Pool Warehouse said "there is an overall chlorine shortage in the UK, mainly down to supplies from China" that has been "quite noticeable particularly this year".

Bed linen supplies have been an issue for Brett Powis' hotel in Torquay

Staff shortages are also having an impact at the Riviera Hotel in Torquay, Devon, with laundry services affected.

Owner Brett Powis said: "When you've got a guest checking in at three o'clock in the afternoon and you haven't got any bedding to put on their bed or you haven't got any pillow cases, they're not quite so understanding.

"We put in £10,000 worth of laundry equipment into one of the hotels just so we could stay open."

A laundry company in Redruth that cleans bed linen for accommodation providers said the influx of visitors to the area had resulted in their workload doubling.

LJ Laundry Services has been "struggling to get new stock in" and is facing a backlog of orders for replacement stocks of "up to six weeks", Hayley Richards said.

The surge in tourism has resulted in double the amount of work for a laundry company in Redruth

The CEO of UK Hospitality said changes need to be made "to allow those businesses to reopen at full capacity and continue to provide the service that's needed".

Kate Nicholls said the "pingdemic", where people are sent self-isolation alerts by the NHS Covid-19 app, was causing staff shortages "so we do need to make sure that the government keeps that self-isolation policy under review".

"Because crucially for businesses in the South West they really only have these six weeks to be able to get in the money that they need to survive the winter when the season ends."