York weather has helped lift trade across hospitality businesses in York and North Yorkshire, with Simon Cotton saying this summer has been “one of the strongest in recent memory for York’s hospitality sector.” The same heat has also exposed how hard it is to adapt thick-walled historic buildings for hotter conditions.
Cotton, managing director of The Fat Badger Group, said: “Visitor numbers have been consistently high, hotel occupancy has been exceptional, and our beer gardens have been full from lunchtime through to late evening.” He also said: “The weather amplifies the city’s strengths; it doesn’t replace them.”
The Fat Badger Group in York
His group has already improved ventilation at some locations with small portable internal cooling systems where permitted. It has also adapted housekeeping schedules and monitored guest comfort more closely during hotter periods, a practical response that lets staff keep operating without waiting for structural changes that are harder to make in listed buildings.
Cotton said: “Installing air-conditioning units on listed buildings is either restricted or impossible.” He said York’s historic buildings, with their thick walls, are hard to adapt to a changing climate. That leaves businesses trying to balance stronger summer demand with limits on how far they can cool, shade or rework older premises.
City Cruises York and shaded seating
City Cruises York has already made some adaptations to the changing climate, including expanded shaded outdoor seating. Cotton said: “We have expanded shaded outdoor seating but may have gone further sooner — demand for shaded areas has been enormous.”
Chris Tregellis, a York CAMRA member, was enjoying a good pint in the absolutely rammed beer garden of The Fox in Holgate, a snapshot of how heavily the warm spell has pushed customers outdoors. Andrew Lowson said retail has suffered, showing the heat has not lifted every part of the local economy in the same way.
Cotton said the next step is for planning authorities to offer clarity and flexibility so businesses can adapt responsibly while protecting York’s heritage. On the facts so far, the businesses most exposed are those trading from listed buildings, where faster cooling upgrades, shade and ventilation remain limited by the rules around the fabric of the building.
