A YORK hotel which has had a major makeover and ‘gone up’ a star, and its manager who is a leading figure in the city’s hospitality sector, are both in the running for titles in The Press Business Awards.

The Monkbar Hotel has entered the Retail, Tourism and Leisure Business category, while Graham Usher is a contender for Business Personality of the Year.

The hotel “sits proudly under the Best Western Sales & Marketing consortium” but “is fiercely proud of its independence.

“Above all, the Monkbar Hotel prides itself on being not only a great place to stay, but a great place to work.”

In the past year it has had a £3.5 million programme of expansion and improvement, with an annexe housing an additional 26 guest bedrooms plus a flexible state-of-the-art function room.

“As a result of its investment, the hotel has seen its AA rating rise from three stars to four stars.” Its guests helped it to achieve recognition from global travel website TripAdvisor, which gave the hotel a Certificate of Excellence earlier this year.

Mr Usher has been its general manager since March 2012 and has overseen its transformation. He is chair of York Hoteliers Association, is a ‘Champion’ of York BID and was recently elected to the Leadership Group of York and North Yorkshire Chamber.

“Graham is best described as a hands-on manager who isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and help out where it is needed. And because he has worked in every single department – from the kitchen through to bars and housekeeping – there isn’t a job he can’t do. He has ‘been there and done that’,” the entry says.

In addition to his ‘day job’, he and his business partner Martin Firth own and run The Drovers Arms public house in Skipwith, which in June was named as one of Yorkshire’s 30 best pubs by Welcome to Yorkshire and gained a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence – both for the third year running.