New spa will provide jobs boost for town

SIXTEEN jobs will be created at a new £2 million luxury spa within a Dumfries hotel. Renovation work will begin in January at The Cairndale Hotel with the existing leisure club replaced with a net zero luxury spa centre. The major transformation project, which comes after they were given a £400,000 development funding award from South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE), was announced yesterday by the Wallace family, who have owned and run the hotel for 40 years. Director Matthew Wallace Jr said: “This is a decision we have not taken lightly. We know that our leisure club users will be disappointed that we can no longer offer them a membership service. However, we believe that this is the right decision for the future of the Cairndale Hotel, as well as the local community and economy. “We are fortunate enough to be surrounded by a vast amount of outstanding natural beauty and we aim to embrace that within our expanded offering, working in partnership with other local businesses and suppliers.”

Work is scheduled to begin on Monday January 8 with plans to launch the Cairndale Spa to visitors in spring. Professor Russel Griggs OBE, chair of SOSE added: “The South of Scotland is a fantastic tourism location and we want to ensure we continue to improve the excellent facilities we have on offer for visitors. Projects such as the one being taken forward at the Cairndale Hotel will do that, providing additional income for the wider Dumfries area, as well as new employment. It also builds on the visitor facilities already available in the town. “In addition, the Cairndale Hotel investment ties into the soon-to-be-launched South of Scotland Responsible Tourism Strategy, which aims to deliver the best for our visitors, our businesses, our people, our communities and our environment.”