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BOSSES at a Burnley spa named the ‘best in the world’ have paid tribute to staff and customers who helped to put the 100-acre haven on the map.
More than 4,400 people voted the Woodland Spa at Crow Wood Leisure as the best emerging venue in the World Luxury Spa Awards, seeing off competition from Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Australia.
Managing director Andrew Brown said his management team had paid special attention when creating an attraction which could provide a welcoming environment, no matter what the East Lancashire weather might throw at them.
He added: “This is the third major award we have received since we opened just over two years ago. We were open for less than 12 months when we won a day spa of the year competition.
“Our team has put a lot of effort in and it is almost faintly ridiculous to say the best spa in the world is right here in Burnley.”
Comic and radio presenter Ted Robbins, who presented the award to the company, said he would be treating his Accrington-born wife Judy to a spa outing in the near future.
The Crawshawbooth-based Phoenix Nights star said: “This is such a successful place and it employs so many people in Burnley. The staff is around 160 strong and that is not so much a workforce as a whole community. And now it’s been named the best in the world.”
While welcoming people from all over Lancashire, the club and spa’s membership now extends to all parts of Greater Manchester and Merseyside, and the 100,000th customer landmark is said to be close at hand.
Marna Lourens, the executive manager of the World Luxury Spa Awards, said: “As a luxury emerging spa amongst the world’s best, this is a truly remarkable achievement and we believe that the business will prosper and grow.”
Mr Brown added: “We’re incredibly proud to be promoting Burnley and our region to the world. Gone are the days when Burnley and the surrounding area could be depicted in stereotypical fashion. Cobbled streets and mill chimneys may be our heritage, but our present and our future is one where our town is becoming a destination that offers sophistication and quality.”
The spa was opened in 2013 following a £4.5million investment and forms part of a complex also including Soccer Burnley, an equestrian centre and Bertram’s Restaurant.
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