Edinburgh hotel and school development gets green light

The hotel and school is part of the £350m Haymarket Edinburgh development

Work has started on a "pioneering" hotel and hospitality school in Edinburgh.

The project has moved ahead after the City of Edinburgh Council gave it the green light.

The hotel and school is part of the £350m Haymarket Edinburgh development, which will include three office blocks and retail units.

M&G Real Estate is funding the overall project, which will be developed by QMile Group.

The hotel, which will be operated by the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) under a franchise agreement with Hyatt Hotels Corporation, is expected to open in 2023.

EICC said the 362-bedroom hotel would address the centre's "conference demand issues".

'Skills gap'

Meanwhile, the school aims to address recruitment challenges faced by the hospitality industry in Scotland by providing a pipeline of qualified people for Scotland's leisure and tourism industry.

It plans to build relationships with organisations such as the Scottish Tourism Alliance, Edinburgh Hotels Association, British Hospitality Association, VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland.

EICC chief executive Marshall Dallas said: "We know the events industry is experiencing a skills gap that is only becoming more of an issue.

"The hotel and hotel school will go some way to alleviating that challenge while putting the EICC on an even stronger foot and keeping the venue at the forefront of Scotland's overall proposition when it comes to business tourism."