The former offices of an iconic Bath company on the Lower Bristol Road are being demolished to make way for a second Premier Inn for the city.
Demolition work is ongoing at the Beazer House site in Bath | Photo © John Wimperis
Postwar office block Beazer House has been largely stripped out and is awaiting demolition.
Planning permission was granted in September to knock down the building and build a 152-room hotel in its place.
The planning application avoided mentioning who would run the hotel, with artists’ impressions of the building simply showing signage which said “New Bath Hotel”.
But now it has been revealed it will be a Premier Inn, after the hotel company applied for a licence for its bar.
Neighbour Matthew Milton-Meakin from Oak Street, next to where the bar would be, questioned why the hotel had applied for an off-premises licence in an objection to the council.
He said: “Although we are not against the development in its entirety, this licence application appears to further increase the risk to public nuisance/public order in the area, potentially baking in conflict with local residents, complaints and damage to the hotel brand.”
But Tim Shield, a licensing solicitor representing Premier Inn, told Bath & North East Somerset Council’s licensing subcommittee on 6th March that the hotel had applied for an off-licence so that guests could take drinks purchased at the bar back to their rooms, or people having dinner at the restaurant could take a partially drunk bottle of wine home with them. He said: “[It’s] not a local off licence.”
He said: “I hope all the committee have heard of Premier Inn and know their reputation. They do not have problems with crime and disorder.”
He said that it would create 31 or 32 careers for people in the local area. The subcommittee granted the licence, although removed a part allowing the hotel to serve hot food outside late at night.
The new hotel will be the second Premier Inn in Bath, with the first just a ten-minute walk away on James Street West.
The planning application described Beazer House as “one of Bath’s least attractive buildings” — but some people have positive memories of the site.
Beazer House was once the offices of iconic Bath crane-makers Stothert & Pitt. Local resident Jon Avent worked in the building as an apprentice for the company in the 1970s.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It was a great building to work in.” Is he sad to see it go? He said: “Times change.”
The site was most recently occupied by L&C Mortgages, which occupied the offices for around 20 years before moving to Newark Works in 2023.
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter
