THIS year’s Tour de France Grand Depart in Yorkshire provided a major boost to the health of the region’s hotels, a new report has confirmed.

According to the latest report from insolvency body R3, hotels in the region have seen a marked uplift in their fortunes and are now among the region’s best performing sectors.

Only 16 per cent of Yorkshire’s 448 hotels had a higher than normal risk of insolvency in July and August with levels now lower than those across the UK, which stood at 18 per cent . Yorkshire hotels put in the strongest performance in the UK last month, exceeded only by London which had 14 per cent at risk of insolvency.

Chris Wood, Yorkshire R3 vice chairman and partner at Clough Corporate Solutions in Cleckheaton, said: “There’s no doubt that the Grand Depart delivered a huge boost to the region’s hospitality sector, not only from the hundreds of thousands of visitors who descended on Yorkshire in July, but also from the positive feelings created by the phenomenal success of our hosting of this world-renowned event.

“Having seen the glory of the Yorkshire countryside on TVs around the globe, hopefully the Tour-effect will continue as more people from both the UK and overseas choose to visit the region over the next few years.”

Other sectors which continued to show a strong recovery regionally were agriculture and manufacturing which put in the strongest performances last month with just 12 per cent of agricultural businesses at risk in August and only 17 per cent in manufacturing having a higher than normal risk of insolvency.

Mr Wood added: “We are seeing an overall improvement in many sectors, however, during the recovery period it is vital that businesses continue to operate with caution.”

“As ever, the key is to seek professional help at the first signs of financial difficulties.”

Hotel operator Kew Green Holdings Ltd, whose estate includes the Holiday Inn Leeds-Bradford at Tong Lane, has acquired 19 more Holiday Inn hotels from LRG Holdings Ltd, taking the total to 38, making it InterContinental Hotels Group’s largest Holiday Inn franchise partner in Europe.

The hotels which will continue to trade as Holiday Inns will all be extensively refurbished over the next few years.

Nick O’Keeffe, Kew Green’s business development director, said: “We remain focused on further opportunities to strategically grow the company through acquisitions and new management contracts across the UK”