Nairn’s Havelock Hotel has celebrated the opening of a ‘fantastic’ major refit, and its owners Morag and Gordon Holding have praised the community for rallying round after Gordon shattered his pelvis and the injury threatened to derail the work

A “year of extraordinary trials” and uplifting tales of community-spirit have been shared by the grateful owners of a local hotel after a serious injury threatened to derail an ambitious refit before it even saw the light of day.

Morag and Gordon Holding were in celebratory mood when the official opening of the newly-refitted Havelock Hotel was marked with a weekend of music and events recently.

The upgrade included the construction of a new extension, the relocation of the dining area next to the extended main bar, and improved live event and sports-related facilities. The outdoor drinking area has also been moved and now overlooks Nairn Links.

The numerous changes have delighted the Holdings and their customers, with the couple saying that those who got a sneak peak ahead of the official opening were “just blown away by how great it is”.

And the opening weekend for the new-look Havelock was a time of celebration, full of live music, food and drink.

But the year it took to get to that triumphant moment was one full of unexpected challenges for the couple after Gordon fell from the roof when a ladder collapsed and he shattered his pelvis.

Gordon, who is also an electrician by trade, had been heavily involved in the refit work on everything from fitting out the restaurant’s new air-conditioning system to handling the new sound and lighting for their live events.

And his unexpected hospital stay and months-long road to recovery - which is still in progress - brought a sudden halt to that work while the refit was still far from complete.

But the community-spirited response to the shock accident has meant a lot to the Holdings, with Morag full of praise for all those who stepped in to help get them and the project through those difficult months.

She explained: “[The response] was incredible. Gordon had a really serious accident and he completely smashed his pelvis. And from October he was in hospital for a while and then he was in a wheelchair and crutches. Now he's still using his crutches and it will take a while but hopefully he will make a full recovery.

“But right from the day of the accident, all the staff rallied round from the start. Gordon and I both work in the business quite a lot, so we're like two additional staff if you like - we're always here and we're always physically working in the business, and do lots of hours you know.

“And straight away our manager stepped up and took on a lot more responsibilities, all the staff were there offering to do extra, working extra hours, anything they could do so the effect was ‘You concentrate on Gordon getting well and don't think about here and we'll run it!’. And they did.”

She added: “It has been a year of extraordinary trials, but in some ways uplifting as local tradesmen and businesses [also] rallied round to help us. The £100k build became a £200k build, but we got there and it looks fabulous.”

Gordon was also determined not to let his injury stop him, and he also leant a hand once he was able to get up on crutches.

“Everyone really filled the gaps so that things didn't come to a complete halt until Gordon was out of hospital and well enough to come along and tell people what they should and shouldn't be doing, continued Morag.

“He's a very determined person, and as soon as he was able to get up on crutches he was putting out a distribution board from his wheelchair and set it at lower level so he could actually reach it to do the work that was required - nothing stops him.

“But we would have had to stop if other people hadn't said ‘look, what can we do?’ - and it meant so much.”

With work complete the couple can also now focus on the many positives that the new refit has brought to the business.

Morag explained that the restaurant’s move next to the extended bar area stemmed from their concept that “people like to be together”.

She added that the restaurant’s new sea view is “obviously a huge attraction as well”.

Bi-folding doors can also be used to separate the two areas, depending on the needs of specific events.

And she added that visitors will spot the reintroduction of a pool table and “more sports into the bar”, with the likes of a huge 52 inch TV in there.

“We’ve also built a bespoke stage to a very high standard in terms of the equipment we’ve put in there - the sound and light,” Morag continued, explaining that this will enable a wider range of events and also let the hotel branch out to put on a wider array of musical performances from different genres - from jazz and blues, to pop and rock”.

“We're trying to cater for a wider market because nowadays in hospitality you've got to give people a reason to come out. So you have to have a complete venue - you have to have sports and music and great food. You can't be one thing any more in this business. And that was the whole concept behind doing this.”

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