BUILDING ON OUR SUCCESSES
April 23 - March 24
Building on our successes
We’ve three years under our belt as a B Corp and while having made big gains since 2021, we continue to be committed to getting better at using our business as a force for good.
Across the six hotels and estates, two spas, cookery school, pub and golf course, the input from our teams, our guests and supplier partners contributes to our community and environmental impact. Every idea and hack, operational or performance improvement lightens our load on the environment, while making an impact on our teams, communities and future talent.
When we started our B Corp journey, we were six hotels and in the next year we will be adding a Midlands outpost to the collection: Ansty Hall.
As well as Ansty Hall, we will also be launching The Reeds; new luxury lodges and a wild swimming lake on South Lodge’s 93-acre estate.
One of our first actions when we became a B Corp was to partner with Land App to understand our grounds and estates and how we could use our
691
acres
as an opportunity to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and simultaneously improve biodiversity on the land we are fortunate enough to be custodians of. In the past couple of years each hotel has been surveyed and mapped and we’re using the data to plan our legacy on each estate.
When we put in our plans for The Reeds, we ensured we designed for biodiversity and sustainability not only in the lodges but in the surrounding habitat too.
We’ve drawn on biophilic design principles to immerse guests in the restorative power of the surrounding landscape, and we’ve been rigorous in using sustainable construction processes, materials and finishes. We’ve placed as much focus on the design and impact outside too; our new lake isn’t just about being a calm setting for guests, it creates a new area of local habitat and biodiversity, contributes to our wider sustainable water management practices, and plays a crucial role in cooling the surrounding environment. We’ve brought water neutrality into the design with taps, toilets and showers that use less water without compromising the guest experience.
Just as Land App has given us authoritative data and fostered a cornerstone for our estate and land management, we’re building upon other initiatives and ambitions from the rest of the business to help us improve, evaluate and evolve.
Our stewardship of our heritage destinations has been recognised by our peers in the last year with commendations including:
• The Campaign Experience Award for ‘Most Sustainable Company’
• South Lodge was named as ‘Sustainable Hotel of the Year’ at the Hotel Cateys
• Lainston House won the Central South Business Awards ‘Sustainable Champion’ award
Our chefs too have been recognised for their creativity, focus on sustainability and on combating food waste. They’ve helped set us apart with stars, rosettes and even a starring role on MasterChef: The Professionals:
• Latymer, under head chef Steve Smith at Pennyhill Park, has both a Michelin star and 5 AA Rosettes
• Both head chef Robert Potter’s Bybrook at The Manor House and Ben Wilkinson’s The Pass at South Lodge boast a Michelin star each
• Tom Hamblet won MasterChef: The Professionals 2023
Between April 23 and March 24, we’ve honed our efforts around five key areas:
Reduce, replace, sequester and biodiversity
Supply chain management: Linking our supply chain with our purpose
Giving: We’re conscientious about our community
Belonging: We’re a family business, with modern family values
Carbon Road Map: Owning our emissions
In the past year, we’ve made considerable progress, and recognise that our influence extends far beyond the confines of the four walls of our hotels to the woodland, scrub, heath, reedbed and hedgerows which all contribute to creating new habitats and increasing biodiversity as well as influencing our suppliers and industry colleagues.
2023 has been a significant year for us and helped embed solid foundations ready for our three-year recertification.
Danny Pecorelli Managing Director
Fast Facts:
£108,511 donated to our nominated charities.
14,510 meals redistributed to local communities and projects.
12 new graduates on our Chefs’ Academy and 6 on our Graduate Academy.
Revenue growth on budget
Profit conversion year on year -7.8% +2.3%
Versus last year 13.04% 15.8% 17.16% EBITDA conversion Budgeted conversion
Reduce, Replace, Sequester and Biodiversity
Promoting a zero waste to landfill policy across the estate means we’re ferocious about minimising food waste and we strive to grow our own produce where possible to reduce our carbon footprint.
Our partnership with Olio sees leftover food from our events redistributed to local communities and projects. In the last year we’ve:
Saved
6,257kg of edible food 14,510 meals
486 households with 14,510 meals
Planted Fed
4,552 litres of water the equivalent of 1,207 trees
At South Lodge and Lainston House, items that cannot be redistributed make their way to the onsite rocket composter which processes any commercial food waste and green waste using nature’s own compost process from the waste stream and back in to our grounds.
Last year at South Lodge we diverted 15,872kg of food waste from the waste stream.
We’re working with Klimato, meaning all conference, meeting and wedding menus show the carbon footprint associated with each item. In detailing the footprint and impact of each dish, organisers will be able to make more informed menu decisions for their events, as well as make a greater contribution to their own organisation’s ESG policy.
At Manor House a wormery has recently been introduced to turn fruit and vegetable scraps from the kitchens into richly fertilised compost for use across the grounds. The hotel’s golf club also achieved GEO Certification®. Given by GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf, it’s a global accolade for clubs who prioritise sustainable practices across all facets of operations.
• BunkerMat technology to improve sand retention on the bunkers’ steep slopes and we’re installing more efficient sprinkler heads to help reduce water usage.
• We’ve put in 66 monocrystalline solar panels on the clubhouse and greenkeeping maintenance facilities. In its first four months of operating, solar energy generated 15230 kWh of power.
• We’re eradicating single-use plastic from the club, course and pro shop too.
The Reeds have been designed to be as sustainable as possible and to respect the surrounding ecology.
Structure:
• built off site from timber sustainably sourced; due to the accuracy of off-site production the wastage is minimised, if not eliminated.
• Rapid Root foundation system requires no concrete and is designed to have minimal impact on and nearby tree roots.
• rainwater harvesting tanks to collect the rainwater, filter it and reuse it in the lodges.
• heating is generated by water source heat pumps, taking the heat from the pond and using it to heat the lodges and the water.
• low energy LED lighting. Lighting to bathrooms will be sensor activated so that lights will only be on when the room is in use.
Wall cladding
Bamboo cladding which is 100% sustainable and CO2 neutral
Decking
Millboard decking is made from composite materials, 100% wood free, accredited by UKAS to ISO 14064-1 Verified Carbon Footprint Assurance Mark.
Roof cladding
Zinc roof cladding is 100% recyclable and has 50% less CO2 than other zinc roofing products.
Doors and windows
Aluminium doors and windows are 100% recyclable.
Finishes
Rugs repurposed from old fishing nets, fabrics from corn and artworks selected from local Sussex artists and makers.
We’ve renovated the lake from stagnant water to a biodiverse eco system with wild swimming.
The introduction of owl boxes, bird boxes and pollinator habitats ensures we’ve considered sustainability not only in the lodges but in the surrounding habitat too.
It’s All About The Community
Pennyhill Park partnered with conscientious creative studios Tempest and Null on the hotel and estate’s carbon sequestration and biodiversity goals. The two studios partnered with Protect Earth and helped plant 1,600 trees at Pennyhill Park to create and support a new habitat in the hotel’s grounds and gardens.
David Cartledge, Founder of Tempest:
“We loved getting our hands dirty! Swapping keystrokes for shovels was a welcome change of pace for us and we hope that we’ve started a new legacy at the Pennyhill Park estate. A big thank you for getting us involved.”
It’s the little
things ideas and hacks from our teams
Supply Chain Management
By continually adding like-minded suppliers to our preferred list, it’s a big affirmation of our ongoing commitment to social and environmental responsibility. Linking our supply chain with our purpose.
Over the year we’ve continued to hone relationships with partners who uphold the same high standards of sustainability, ethics, and transparency that we strive for.
It means some of our biggest spends are with fellow B Corps including:
Guarantee Laundries Comfort Zone Cotswold Fayre Ridgeview Wine Estate
We select partner brands with a view to using sustainable products and use the following B Corp accredited house pour products across the group:
Sapling Spirits Symington Family Estate Wines Crumbs Brewing
Toast Brewing The Botanist Gin Thompson & Scott Noughty non-alcoholic sparkling and still wines
In addition, a wide variety of key product lines and support services are provided by accredited companies, including clothing recycling, asset recycling, stationery, snacks, coffee capsules, pet foods and accessories, tableware, aprons, fire logs and more.
Our spend in the financial year on B Corp products / services was over £1.5m
“Our supplier partners are important to us and our chefs and purchasing department work as a team to source the right partners. We collaborate with partners as well as educating them on our expectations around reducing our packaging, deliveries, production methods, traceability, supplier accreditation, labour and of course, sustainability.
We work with Sedex and are currently auditing all group suppliers in every category to ensure their sustainability and ESG policies are in line with ours.”
Sarah Frankland, Executive
Chef
Our supply chain goes beyond food, drink, laundry and uniform suppliers: KaurMaxwell, our solicitors recently became B Corp and as we build new lodges and refurbish a 62-bedroom hotel we’re working with fellow B Corp, COAT paints to bring conscientious colour to these upcoming openings.
Where we can, we go hyperlocal
At Lainston House 38% of our suppliers are from within a 30-mile radius and at our pub, The Castle Inn, most ingredients are from within 30 miles: flour from Shepton Mallet, eggs from Fenton Farm in Somerset, and rapeseed oil from Frome.
It’s the little things ideas and hacks from our teams
Giving
We’re conscientious about community
We continually look at how we can input into and impact the communities we touch. We have Hospitality Action, Protect Earth and Buglife as the collection’s charity partners along with regional initiatives from each hotel.
As we donate a minimum 2% of our profits to charity, we gave £105,965 in 2023 to our company wide partners. As well as our central partners, our hotels also work with their local charity to create impact.
Pennyhill Park X Camberley Alzheimer Café
South Lodge X Chestnut Tree House
The Manor House X CALM
Lainston House X Trinity Winchester
Royal Berkshire X Sebastian’s Action Trust
Fanhams Hall X Always Bee You
One of Hospitality Action’s major fundraisers is Back to the Floor, an event Danny helped establish over a decade ago. It marries fun and fundraising and sees many top UK hoteliers don white gloves and bow ties to serve tables, a skill left behind some years ago!
Back to the Floor continues to thrive and we’re a proud sponsor of the evening. In spring ‘24 several of our general managers helped the charity achieve its largest single fundraising event in its 187-year history,
raising nearly
£260,000
We’re curating works from Warwickshire artists, potters and makers as well as students from Warwick University art school.
Lainston House x Trinity Winchester:
Trinity Winchester was chosen by the hotel as it tackles issues related to homelessness around Winchester. The charity runs drop-in clinics for health and welfare issues, holds courses to assist in finding jobs, and offers counselling sessions. They also provide a daily meal, a safe place to sit and chat, and opportunities to shower and wash clothes.
Over the year, Lainston’s chefs, housekeepers, front-of-house, and restaurant teams have participated in walks, runs, bakes, and charity sales for Trinity Winchester. At Christmas the hotel’s chefs cooked Christmas lunch for the charity.
Ansty Hall x Local Artists:
As we gear up to open our Midlands home of discovery, we’re curating works from Warwickshire artists, potters and makers as well as students from Warwick University art school in recognition of the county’s rich history in craftsmanship.
Accessibility:
We continue trying to ditch any narrative around disabilities and removing any connotation that our people, guests and partners are othered, outsiders or that they stand out. As we’re creating a new blueprint for Ansty Hall, we’re using the opportunity to create outstanding new washroom facilities that don’t stand out.
We gave in prize vouchers
£15,000
It’s the little things ideas and hacks from our teams
Belonging
We’re a family business, with modern family values.
Our blend of experience, culture and backgrounds are the assets to our outlook and ability to ‘create happiness in amazing places’.
Making memorable occasions for everyone who visits us is our premise and it’s lived out through our values of teamwork, generosity, character, challenge and creating a community of consciousness.
With a team of 850 plus we have a diverse voice that is carefully framed by our Respect Charter. The Charter encourages everyone in the company to speak up and it means that it’s not just the boldest that get heard.
19,194
We’re a chatty lot: our company app, Hubbub, has had posts comments in the last year!
23,879
We’ve ensured that we have a balanced female board by welcoming Stephanie Hall, our group sales & marketing director, to help oversee the management, strategy and governance of the organisation. And with improvement, evaluation, transparency and evolution the watchwords for the board we’ve strengthened our senior team with our first ever director of technology and analytics, Andy Cartwright, and Derek Bock as the Collection’s new director of finance.
We celebrate generational diversity and understand that digital learning and development is a big tick for many of our team. As part of our wider digital transformation, we’ve partnered with software provider Sona to provide an end-to-end workforce management platform that includes HR, rostering, payroll system and even AI.
Celebrating our peoples’ contributions and achievements is as important to us as supporting future chefs and hoteliers who are considering a career in the hospitality sector.
Qudos is our peer-to-peer recognition app. In the last year colleagues have acknowledged each other’s contributions more than 10,000 times.
Teamwork: 4666
Generosity: 1069
Character: 1064
Challenge: 916
Consciousness: 273
Creating happiness: 1463
During National Careers Week we welcomed students from Chichester College to South Lodge giving them a glimpse of our F&B Academy and Chefs’ Academy Programmes
Charlene Phipp
Named Spa Professional of the Year at the Hotel Cateys
Chelsea Lacey
Was awarded AICR Receptionist of the Year
Gareth Rees
Took his place in hospitality’s Hall of Fame as an Acorn Award winner
Tom Hamblet
Won MasterChef: The Professionals 2023
Adam Fisher
Made it as a top 10 finalist at the Craft Guild Of Chefs’ National Chef of the Year
Lainston House
Home of our cooking school Season, featured on BBC1’s Future Food Stars
Our future stars - Chefs’ Academy
Our Chefs’ Academy was created to address the skills shortage in the UK hospitality sector and provide us with a talent pipeline for development, onboarding, upskilling, promotion, and retention.
Based at Lainston House, the programme is led by Andy Mackenzie, who has built relationships with key catering colleges and schools near our hotels to promote hospitality careers and opportunities.
Supported by our head chefs, the salaried 2-year full-time Academy offers participants diverse experiences in our award-winning restaurants, event spaces, spas, and member areas, leveraging our talented chefs’ expertise.
Andy’s programme offers a unique chance to:
• develop cooking skills, specialisms, and confidence through experience, management, and leadership development in Exclusive’s kitchens
• individually paced coaching and mentoring
• participants work with quality produce and visit our supplier network to understand the supply chain, seasonality, and sustainability. They visit farms, learn foraging, and gain hands-on experience in quality, traceability, and sustainability
• Year 1 ends with a cook-off for a panel of judges, while Year 2 culminates in another cook-off for senior chefs and managers
• practical exposure in high-pressure environments helps chefs identify their specialisms, from banqueting to fine dining
In 2023 we had a 90% completion rate of the course, and we took on 12 new graduates.
In the last year we’ve onboarded 6 new graduates on to our 2-year Graduate Management Programme. 6 others graduated and are ready for a bright career ahead of them in hospitality.
The overall success of the Chefs’ Academy is measured on retention and completion rates over the 2-year programme, and since it started in 2014:
114 people have been through Chefs’ Academy, 40% of whom are female
we’ve had a 70% completion rate of the 2-year scheme
55 people remain within our business.
It’s the little things ideas and hacks from our teams
Charlotte Ellis, Chefs’ Academy says
“I joined the program because I wanted to further my career in the hotel industry. Chefs’ Academy offered the training, mentoring, structure and life-skills that I don’t think I’d get anywhere else. I’ve progressed massively; I’m more self-assured, I’ve built a huge culinary know-how and I’m confident in the differing scenarios that I get to work in.
Longer term I’d love to work in Australia because of the fresh fish and seafood scene, but for now I’m excited at the progression that Exclusive Collection presents after I graduate”
Carbon Road Map
Owning our emissions
Location-based
March 2022
March 2023
March 2024
Over the year we’ve leveraged our spaces across the estate and have added a dozen or so new bedrooms. More rooms does mean more energy overall - but our new boilers and green energy sources means that we’re winning and per square foot we’re saving.
Market-based
March 2022
March 2023
March 2024
At Manor House, we are undertaking a boiler replacement project that will boost efficiencies by 20%.
Additionally, at the golf club, we’ve upgraded from outdated gas cookers to new induction hobs, further enhancing our energy efficiency.
At our new lodges at South Lodge, we’re using water source heat pump technology embedded into the lake.
Our technical services team are implementing a plan for effective energy consumption across all our hotels. This includes projects for insulation, sensors, and localised initiatives aimed at reducing our company wide consumption by 3% annually.
EV chargers across the Collection
We’ve also been amping the number of
Pennyhill Park
EV chargers: 10
South Lodge
EV chargers: 6
Lainston House
EV chargers: 4
Royal Berkshire
EV chargers: 4
The Manor House & Golf Club
EV chargers: 10
Fanhams Hall
EV chargers: 4
The next 3 years Building on our successes
After
3 years, we have worked collaboratively across the collection to hit our goals in the areas we set out to achieve in 2021.
We’re owning our emissions, we’re conscientious about our community and have led the hospitality industry in achieving B Corp certification. We’re proud that many of our colleagues, suppliers, and clients have begun their own B Corp journeys too.
Despite lots of positive change taking place, we’ve identified more opportunities to progress even further.
“ We do not want to become grandstanders and instead are wholly focused on achieving real-world impact”
Danny Pecorelli
Therefore, within our 2024 recertification, we have re-aligned our objectives and decided to hone in on the most pressing environmental challenges. We are doubling down on our efforts to make tangible progress in these key areas and have reduced any peripheral activity that may distract from the overall goals.
Goal 1
Reducing our water direct from mains consumption.
Just as we have focused on carbon, we will now turn our attention to water, aiming to replace and reduce our consumption.
Replace:
As we upgrade and invest in new products, we will prioritise those that maintain our customer experience while reducing water usage. This includes innovative investments in grey water technology and water boreholes.
Reduce:
We’ve set a target through daily management practices to reduce water consumption across the group by a minimum of 3% per year.
Goal 2
To be carbon positive on scope 1 and 2 by 2026.
We will continue to enhance our carbon-positive impact by consistently reducing our consumption and increasing sequestration through ongoing planting programmes.
This will be achieved by investing in green energy and implementing the findings from our Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) Phase 3.
Additionally, we will conduct high-level audits in 2026 and 2027 to further influence suppliers and customers through education, collaboration, and initiatives aimed at reducing our Scope 3 emissions.
With ESG a key consideration for our meeting and event guests, we will be adding My Street Smart to help inform decisions about delegate travel. We’ll also be delving in to delegate food behaviours to look at the influences on meal timings, quantity and food preference so we can inform even more waste reduction.
Goal 3
To focus on improving our biodiversity metrics.
As custodians of heritage buildings with 691 acres we’re in a good place to plan our estates and create new legacies. We will be developing on the work we’ve started by:
• surveying and enhancing some of our rarer habitats in partnership with our nature partners
• reintroducing habitats that have been removed over the last 2 centuries such as species rich hedgerows.
We will enhance our focus on our teams’ health and wellbeing in the workplace.
Goal 4
People, social and community goals.
Our people have always been the heart and soul of our business. And to create happiness for our guests, we must first create happiness within our teams.
We will continue to develop our culture by reviewing our employee value proposition, ensuring every voice feels valued, respected, and connected to our purpose. We will enhance our focus on our teams’ health and wellbeing in the workplace and commit to providing an annual volunteer day for every employee over the next three years.
Recognising that today’s workforce is dynamic, diverse, and digitally connected, we will continue to champion a career in hotels and hospitality in a voice that will appeal to all. We will achieve this by strengthening our partnerships with educational institutions in a more systematic way to support both the learning environment and promote a positive image of hospitality as a career. Where appropriate, we will sponsor and invest in local educational initiatives as well as keep to our commitment of offering placement opportunities at our hotels.
In addition to creating opportunities for people in our local communities, we will focus on collaborating with a small number of charities that support individuals facing employment barriers. We aim to establish new partnerships that provide life-changing career opportunities through coaching, job placements, apprenticeships, and workshops designed to upskill and empower. We will evolve our people, social and community goals as we establish our partnerships in these areas.
About Exclusive Collection
Eat well, sleep well, do you well and take a breath from the everyday in beautiful surroundings.
Exclusive Collection are proudly leading the way as the first B Corp certified, family-owned collection of country house hotels, spas, golf, cookery school, and a pub thrown in for good measure.
Exclusive Collection was founded in 1981. The group includes: Fanhams Hall, Lainston House with Season Cookery School, The Manor House with golf club and The Castle Inn, Pennyhill Park with spa, Royal Berkshire, South Lodge with spa. Ansty Hall, our new home of discovery joins the Collection in summer 2024.
More at www.exclusive.co.uk
www.exclusive.co.uk