EMPLOYERS in Worcester are having to put visitors up in hotels as far away as Cheltenham because of a lack of high end accommodation in the city, it has emerged.

Companies as big as Worcester Bosch and Mazak are opting to book customers and investors into hotels outside the city because of a lack of choice and very high quality beds.

Many people are also put up in hotels in Birmingham – with large firms saying they would use a new four or five-star site in the Faithful City if it was available.

As previously reported in your Worcester News, a major new survey has begun, aimed at collating evidence of the need for such a development, to show to developers.

A spokesman for Mazak said: “We would not want to ‘do down’ existing hotels in Worcester, but we often find the current capacity is fairly fully occupied.

“Quite frequently, a variety of people have to go to Birmingham, or in hotels between here and Birmingham, and if there was a four or five-star hotel here, we would certainly make use of it.

“Large numbers head outside of Worcester, and while we could never give a guarantee, we would be likely to use it, and such a facility could only be a good thing.”

Councillor Simon Geraghty, former leader of the city council, says he has had frequent conversations with it about Richard Soper, chief executive of Worcester Bosch.

The company opened up a £1.5 million training centre in 2011 and has regular visits to its Worcester base from people all over the world.

Coun Geraghty said: “I’ve got a lot of feedback from businesses and a lot of them say the city lacks a very high quality hotel.

“The best example is Worcester Bosch, where Richard Soper would regularly say to me there wasn’t a hotel which he felt could meet the needs of clients.

“They get people come along for all sorts of reasons, from investment decisions to purchasing large orders, and they’d be put up in hotels in Bromsgrove, Cheltenham or Birmingham instead.

“Worcester missed out on a four or five-star hotel in the noughties for various reasons, but the biggest one was a lack of confidence from developers that there really was demand.

“I think there now is one – this is really a litmus test of what kind of city we want. We have reached that tipping point where there is a genuine need.”

A new hotel was originally supposed to be part of the Hive, Worcester’s £60 million library facility, but it stalled after a lack of interest.

In 2008 planning permission was granted for a four-star hotel as part of Berkeley Homes’ waterside development opposite the Commandery in Sidbury, but that also came to nothing.

There are seven hotels in Worcester with a combined 400 beds, and a new 120-bed Premier Inns facility opening at Worcestershire County Cricket Club in November.