Andrew Coney leaves Cedar Court Grand four months after it opens
Former Caterer and Hotelkeeper Acorn winner Andrew Coney has left his role as general manager of York's first five-star hotel - fewer than four months after it opened its doors.
Coney joined Cedar Court Grand from De Vere's Slaley Hall in Northumberland last autumn as it prepared for launch in the spring.
While it has been suggested that Coney was "asked to leave" at the end of July, a spokesman for Cedar Court Hotels](http://www.cedarcourthotels.co.uk/) stressed that Coney's primary task was to manage the redevelopment of the former railway headquarters into a luxury hotel, establish the operation and manage the hotel opening in May.
"What was needed was someone to guide the process - working hard to achieve the standards required of a five-star hotel and recruiting the right people," the spokesman told Caterer.
"The hotel opened in May and Andrew put the systems in place and the people in place but once this was complete, he decided that he did not want to relocate from Northumberland - it was very amicable."
John Horvath, hotel director at Cedar Court Group, has assumed day-to-day management of the hotel since Coney's departure and will do so for the foreseeable future.
The group intends to recruit a new general manager when "the time is right", the spokesman said, adding that it intends to look for a local candidate who will focus on integrating the hotel with York's other tourism facilities and organisations.
Coney has previously been general manager at London hotels Le Meridien Waldorf, the Tower and the Cavendish.
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By Daniel Thomas
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