Combe Grove Under New Ownership

The Elmhurst Foundation announce the purchase of Combe Grove, Bath.

The Elmhurst Foundation, has announced the purchase of Bath hotel, restaurant, and fitness club Combe Grove. The Grade II-listed Georgian country manor house hotel is described as having ‘one foot in the city and one foot in the countryside’ and is set in 70 acres of woodland, with a members’ fitness club, a restaurant and 40 recently refurbished bedrooms.

The purchase is part of a five-year plan which will see The Elmhurst Foundation realise a long-term vision to transform Combe Grove into a centre for work-based learning excellence, creating a range of high quality, enhanced apprenticeships for local students. Elmhurst’s apprenticeships will be offered across each department of the business, including marketing, administration, finance, hospitality, catering, customer services, listed building crafts & conservation, estate management & horticulture and others.

The business will continue as a hotel, with priority to expand further into holistic wellness, building on the existing Combe Grove fitness club activities. Plans are now in place to evolve the business to make the very most of the hotel’s tranquil woodland setting and outstanding natural views over the Limpley Stoke valley.

Combe Grove will develop the range of daily classes and introduce new residential courses with a focus on health and wellbeing, including yoga, meditation, painting, and writing. These will sit alongside a programme of practical courses such as bee-keeping, dry-stone walling, and hedge-laying, amongst many others.

Sharon Love has joined the team as General Manager. Sharon is well-known and respected in the Bath area, with over 30 years’ experience as a General Manager, most recently 12 years running the Royal Crescent hotel. Helen Scammel has joined the team at Head of HR. Helen has over 30 years’ experience in HR, most recently as HR Director at Dorothy House Hospice in Bath. Helen will implement the apprenticeship and volunteer programmes at Combe Grove.

Helen Aylward-Smith, Founder of The Elmhurst Foundation, commented: “We are very happy to now be able to share our long-term plans for Combe Grove. Combe Grove is well-established with a wonderful, experienced team. We are very grateful to all those who have given us the opportunity and enabled this to happen. We will now focus our energy on launching our apprenticeship programme, working together to create an inspiring retreat for health and wellbeing, in this most beautiful rural English setting.”

Combe Grove was previously headed up by Rebecca Whittington & Simon Baldwin, who oversaw extensive refurbishments of the property since purchasing the estate in 2015. Rebecca commented: “I am delighted to be able to pass the torch onto the Elmhurst Foundation who have such a wonderful vision for managing the whole estate at Combe Grove, and encouraging the local community to be part of it. I am sure that a vibrant apprenticeship programme will make a real difference to people across the region.”

For more information about Combe Grove visit the website, find them on Facebook , or find them on Twitter.

For more information about The Elmhurst Foundation click here.