STAFF at the Cathedral Hotel in Salisbury are toasting their own success after scooping the South Wiltshire Business of the Year Sandy Balls Tourism and Hospitality Award.

Manager Tony Negal is thrilled with the accolade which is placed behind the bar and its logo added to the hotel’s website.

The city centre hotel, bar and grill fought off stiff competition from the likes of Larmer Tree Festival and the Salisbury Playhouse to win the prize with judges commending the company’s support of local businesses and the city’s tourism industry.

Tony said: “In the last couple of years we have become more and more involved with VisitWiltshire and VisitEngland.

“We have been sponsoring free prizes for VisitWiltshire and offering free rooms during press trips to the area.

“I’m also the chairman for the local Pubwatch and now go along to the Chamber of Commerce. People would be quite rude about the Cathedral Hotel at the beginning but, slowly but surely, we have changed perceptions.

“We have been going for the award for three years and I was losing heart thinking what do we have to do to win so it was great to finally get there.”

Tony who is also a director of the hotel, along with his wife, Julie, Jez King, Gary Morse and Ian Bailey, said: “It was all a bit crazy before we took over six years ago – it was a nightclub downstairs at weekends, had torn couches, pigeons coming in and rooms for £20 a night.

"We renovated the building and made it operational again. Our guests come from far and wide – Salisbury is an international city. There is more and more marketing taking place on promoting the city and visitors are no longer just coming for the cathedral and Stonehenge.”

Just over two years ago, the group of directors took over the Castle Hotel in Devizes and nine months ago took on The Old Mill Hotel in Harnham.

Tony said: “Awards such as these give you a bit of credibility – it makes people feel more comfortable that you are a professional company.”