A TELECOMS entrepreneur who has entered the hospitality business, almost by accident, is taking the competition head on.

Mark and Clare Oglesby bought and invested in a stately home near Harrogate after falling in love with the building. Four years later, Goldsborough Hall has been restored to its former glory and is making a name for itself as a popular wedding venue, despite the competitive market driven by the recession.

Mark saw an advertisement for the 40-bedroom stately home in 2003, which had been used as a care home.

“I couldn’t believe such a house existed. I’d never known about it, so we decided to go and have a nosey.

“And we fell in love with the place. We made a silly offer on it which was firmly rejected.”

Mark’s business at the time, Efax, which converted emails to faxes and vice versa, was just starting to pick up after the dotcom boom and bust. But two years later, the sale of the hall had fallen through and Mark had sold his business, enabling him to buy Goldsborough Hall to stop it being turned into flats.

He spent the next four years renovating the building himself to save on labour costs. “Once you start you can’t stop, no matter what happens to the global economy. The building doesn’t realise you’re in a recession and externally the house was in bad repair.”

The care home had already installed a lift, disabled access and emergency lighting. So what Mark did spend his money on was the most luxurious décor he could find to fit up only six rooms on the top floor to make it a very exclusive venue.

Every room has an eight-foot four-poster bed, leather Chesterfield sofa, plasma television and Whirlpool bath and the former residence of Oliver Cromwell, Princess Mary and every Earl of Harewood is steeped in history.

“People who want to have an amazing wedding will still pay for it,” he said. “Competitors have galvanised their offering in the recession, but it’s looking good and the building has the capacity for 40 bedrooms so there’s so much more we can do in time.”