[A] Carlisle woman has been given the top job running a city centre hotel where she started as a waitress 18 years ago.
Maggie McLellan has been appointed as General Manager at the Crown & Mitre where she has worked since she arrived as waitress in October 2000, thinking that she might work there for a couple of months.
Eighteen years later Maggie, 42, is delighted to be running the hotel, taking over from her former boss, David Crossley, who has moved on to run a hotel in Bradford for the same group.
Maggie moved to Carlisle from her native Scotland where she had begun waitressing in Braemar after a period as a nanny.
“I had decided I didn’t want to carry on with nannying as it was upsetting leaving the children at the end of a job. I was unemployed for a few weeks and started waitressing.
“My brother Alistair was the food and beverage manager at the Crown & Mitre and invited me down here,” said Maggie who is originally from Kirriemuir, a village to the north of Dundee.
Maggie soon showed her potential by quickly working her way through roles as supervisor, duty manager, front of house and for the last few years was deputy to Mr. Crossley, implementing her own ideas on how to improve the hotel.
In that time the hotel has changed immensely thanks to investment of nearly £1 million by the Peel Hotels group which has upgraded rooms and restored the Edwardian splendour of the foyer and reception area.
Maggie acknowledges that the Crown & Mitre still needs to continue to work hard to get people to realise how much the hotel has improved in recent years.
“The hotel has changed immensely – it used to be a lot of coach parties and the older market and had a bad reputation. David improved the hotels reputation and introduced a more modern dining experience, I am wanting to continue this in my new role
“I want people to have a fresh look at the Crown & Mitre and realise that it has improved rather than think it’s still the same as it was 15 years ago,” she said.
Maggie is hoping to bring in more wedding bookings and to have the Crown & Mitre host more of its own events, building on the success of evenings such as its recent 80’s night.
Changes at the hotel have been mirrored in Carlisle, Maggie added, with a big increase in people coming to the hotel and the city for leisure breaks.
“We were completely sold out for the Lionel Richie and Paloma Faith weekends so it would be good to see more events like that in Carlisle and anything that can be done to promote the city more as a destination would be a big help,” she said.
Former Crown & MItre general manager David Crossley is now running the Peel Hotels group’s Midland Hotel in Bradford and said he was delighted that Maggie had been appointed as his successor.
He said: “I had a wonderful time in Carlisle and am now ready for a new challenge. Maggie will make a great general manager for the Crown & Mitre. I’m sure she’ll build on the success we’ve had in recent years, upgrading and investing in the hotel and hosting so many fabulous weddings and events.”
