South Bank contractor hotel gets licence as Teesworks demand grows
A hotel pitched as a "workers' hub" for Teesworks contractors has been granted an alcohol licence by Redcar and Cleveland Council, clearing one of the last hurdles before it opens.
The Commercial, on Middlesbrough Road in South Bank, has 42 rooms accommodating up to 84 people and is expected to employ about 13 people in a first wave of jobs. The council's regulatory committee took three minutes to approve the licence for alcohol sales and recorded music.
Aimed only at contractors
Applicant Chris Hankinson told the committee the hotel sits directly opposite the freeport, making it the closest hotel to Teesworks and the port, and that it would be marketed solely to contractors and corporate travel rather than the general public. Demand, he said, was expected from contractors in skilled and niche roles.
Rooms are described as designed for comfort, with en suites, media walls and large beds. Addressing two crime-related objections, Mr Hankinson described the bar and restaurant as a "necessary evil" so guests could eat and unwind rather than stay in their rooms, and stressed it would not operate as a public bar or nightclub.
The building has been converted from its previous use and has not yet opened. The operator, Site Stays, leases the premises and said recruitment was under way with the aim of opening as soon as possible.
The wider signal
The commercial logic here is a useful read on the Teesworks labour market. A 42-bed hotel marketed exclusively at contractors only works if there is a sustained flow of specialist workers travelling into the area, which is consistent with the scale of construction on the NZT Power and Northern Endurance Partnership projects.
For Teesside firms, that pattern cuts both ways. It confirms serious multi-year workload for electrical and mechanical contractors and their supply chains, but it also shows how much of that labour is coming from outside the region, competing for the same skilled people that smaller local firms across the Teesside trades network are trying to hold on to.
The immediate local gain is smaller and simpler: 13 jobs, and spend from up to 84 workers a night landing in South Bank rather than further afield.