Luxury Bed & Breakfast +InnKeeper Magazine

WWW.LBBMAG.CO.UK • ISSUE 39 • WINTER 2019

INSIDE THIS ISSUE FROM CASTLE TO B&B The planning and practical challenges of transforming a 500-year-old manor house

SAVE OUR PUBS We catch up with the CAMRA-backed campaign to stem the alarming rate of UK pub closures

COMBINING FARM AND INN The Golden Lion Hotel in Allendale is serving premium meats from rare breeds on his neighbouring farm

BEATLES MEMORABILIA We visit Epstein* House, Beatles manager Brian Epstein’s childhood home in Liverpool *not that Epstein

Everything from the smallest undercounter to the largest Q@BJ @MC kHFGS machines

SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR HEAVY EQUIPMENT

WINNER

Exclusively from Maidaid distributors For more information 0345 130 8070

maidaid.co.uk

12

32

44

IN THIS ISSUE 4 || NEWS

30 || COMMENT

48 || FINANCE

Industry news and analysis from around the UK

Louise Newman, Critiquie managing director

How to raise finance for your hospitality business when you most need it

10 || COMMENT

32 || PROFILE

B&B chairman David Weston

12 || PROFILE

The owner of the Golden Lion Hotel in Allendale is integrating his inn with his neighbouring Northumberland farm

Alex and Cory Johnson put their own mark on luxury B&B Ty Croeso near the Brecon Beacons

40 || REVIEW

20 || COMMENT

An update on the CAMRA-backed Save Our Pubs campaign

50 || PRODUCT VIEW The latest products to help run your hospitality business more effectively.

B&B business consultant Yvonne Halling

44 || PROFILE 22 || PROFILE Epstein House, Brian Epstein’s childhood home, is a treasure trove of Beatles memorabilia

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The challenges of transforming a listed 16th century Welsh mansion into a luxury B&B

Winter || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || 3

CONTENTS || WINTER 2019

Bill Lumley Editor

WELCOME to the latest issue of Luxury Bed & Breakfast magazine, the first edition to be published by new owner Miramedia, which acquired the title this summer following its merger with Innkeeper magazine.

Our editorial team and aim remain unchanged. In each edition we will bring you relevant news, analysis and useful ideas to help you run your hospitality business as well and as profitably as you can. We will continue to share with you detailed insight into the experiences of owners of businesses similar to yours across the UK, in order to give you some perspective on your own challenges as well as to let you pick and choose you some great ideas.

There will be some changes in tone. Increasingly for example we will be focusing on the digital marketing opportunities that B&Bs, innkeepers and boutique hotel owners can take to offset any downgrade of the traditional market.

For instance, it is an accepted fact now that the booking services of online travel agents such as expedia and booking.com are not free, and that you must bite the bullet write off the commission rates against the marketing spend you would otherwise have to make and which their channel achieves. The deeper you look into the digital channel the more opportunities tyou may find.

However, the Competition & Markets Authority its continuing is investigation into anti-competitive practices by such participants in the gig ecomnomy. An update on challenges both to the likes of booking.com and Airbnb comes in this issue from B&B Association chairman David Weston (page 10).

We welcome any comments or suggestions you have concerning coverage in this or future issues. Please visit us on www.facebook.com/luxurybbmag, and please send any suggestions to me at bill@miramedia.co.uk. In order to ensure you keep receiving your FREE copy of this magazine, you'll need to subscribe online at www.lbbmag.co.uk/subscribe We've also got some special pricing for advertisers, please see page 50 for details.

IN BRIEF || NEWS

EDITOR Bill Lumley bill@miramedia.co.uk 07710 271 099 NORTHERN IRELAND EDITOR Francis Higney 07710 271 099 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Caroline Sargent 07076 362 082 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Matthew Attwood 07710 271 099 DESIGN & PRODUCTION Stuart West stuart.west@jld-media.co.uk 01892 739 526 PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Dominic Johnson dominic@miramedia.co.uk 01892 711 144

MAIDAID HALCYON CELEBRATES 45 YEARS Maidaid Halcyon is celebrating 45 years as a UK catering equipment supplier, having become one of the UK’s leading suppliers to the hospitality trade of glasswashers, dishwashers and icemakers.

The company was formed as Maidaid Ltd in 1974 to meet the need for under-counter cabinet glasswashers for use in the UK hospitality industry. At the time most pubs hand washed using a countertop rotating brush and dried each glass by hand.

After three years the company entered the mainstream and single orders from pub tenants or owners turned into a regular order stream, resulting in dramatic growth for the company across the hospitality sector including major pub group customers.

The company merged its Halcyon and Maidaid brands before focusing on warewashing, introducing larger rack and flight machines into its regular

range. Maidaid Halcyon claims to be one of only a few warewashing suppliers that consider a rack machine a stock item.

Maidaid Halcyon now provides a range of ancillary products including water softeners and water treatment devices as well as best quality specialist detergents and has received industry-wide recognition, winning awards from CEDA, Catering Insight and ENSE in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Sales Director Julian Lambert said: “We will continue to work hard to add further customer satisfaction. Maidaid’s employees are our company’s greatest asset and therefore every effort is made to further develop their product knowledge and appreciation of the company structure and the key role they all play in the delivery of a service they can be proud of.”

No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system without the express prior written consent of the publisher.

We regret we cannot be liable for the safe custody or return of any solicited or unsolicited material. Contributors are advised to keep copies of all materials submitted.

The opinions and views expressed in Luxury Bed & Breakfast are not necessarily those of Miramedia. Being subject to the Advertising Standards Authority guidelines in place at the time of going to press, all data submitted by advertisers and contained in their advertising copy is accepted by Miramedia in good faith.

Luxury Bed & Breakfast is available on subscription.

UK & Ireland £65; Overseas £98.

Luxury Bed & Breakfast is published bi-monthly.

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Luxury Bed & Breakfast Miramedia, 29-31 Monson Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1LS

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WineGB welcomes MP support Wines of Great Britain (WineGB) has welcomed interest shown by MPs in support for smaller vineyards and is actively encouraging its members across the UK to contact their MPs to highlight the application made on the industry’s behalf to HM Treasury last December.

WineGB believes the scheme proposed would also satisfy EU and WTO rules on state aid for industry while also enhancing the total revenue raised by HMRC. The proposed cellar door relief scheme for wine producers would apply only to wine sales direct to consumers at the cellar door. A duty relief scheme granted in 2002 to smaller breweries and cider producers yielded significant benefits by creating favourable market conditions to enable them to compete with larger breweries.

It has led to impressive growth in the sector. WineGB chairman Simon Robinson said: “During this somewhat turbulent time it is encouraging to see a number of our MPs this week actively behind this initiative, that, if passed, will bring resounding benefits to the UK wine industry and thus to the UK economy as a whole.

“We wholeheartedly support this move and would be delighted to work with any MPs with vineyards in their

4 || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || Winter

constituency to highlight this significant opportunity which is of particular interest to our smaller producers.

By encouraging vineyards to expand their cellar door facilities, the scheme would also encourage tourism more generally as well as much needed rural development and employment.”

WineGB has called on its members to contact their local MPs to raise this issue with them.

In the paper submitted to HMRC to which MPs have responded, Wines of Great Britain made a series of points which included: • Impact on the rural and wider economy. Vineyards and wine production are also potentially very important in the development of the rural economy.

• The export trade. English and Welsh wine is now exported to some 27 countries.

• Current levels of productions. The English and Welsh wine industry produced approximately 5.9m bottles of wine in 2017.

• Impact on the rural and wider economy. Vineyards and wine production also play an important in the development of the rural economy and in the creation of rural employment.

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As we go to press, and the seemingly endless psychodrama of Brexit continues, policy proposals from both Labour and the Conservatives are causing widespread concerns for the hospitality sector.

Amid uncertainty concerning the timing of the next General Election, Chancellor Sajid Javid has promised to raise the minimum wage from its current level of £8.21 to £10.50 per hour, to cover all workers from the age of 21, down from the present 25 years.

Meanwhile new official Labour policy unveiled at last month’s party conference includes the introduction of a four-day week.

The current UK minimum wage rate is equivalent to 60% of median earnings, and under Conservative proposals, this would be increased to a rate of two-thirds. Prior to any such rise, the rate was forecast to be £9.55 per hour by 2024.

The hospitality sector expects a fall in staff numbers if the new wage level comes into effect. According to business information company Ibis World, bar staff numbers have fallen by 0.4% in the past five years.

While this fall is due in part to the number of pub and inn closures in the UK, industry predictions are that this rate will accelerate with the minimum wage hike.

The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) argues that the idea of the proposed national minimum wage rise is good for staff, but that the level of alcohol tax must be lowered for the industry to be able to afford it.

BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: “Increasing the living wage will result in more money in consumers’ pockets to spend in the pub. However, as pub staffing costs are already between 14% and 25% of total operating costs, increasing the living wage will be a significant cost challenge for pubs too.

“Reducing the national living wage from 25 to 21 will have a particular impact on our sector and pub wage bills as approaching half of employees are under 25, and we are major employers of this age-group.”

Labour’s proposal for a four-day week has been met with dismay by innkeepers and independent hotel owners. Manager of the Royal Victoria & Bull Hotel in Dartford told Innkeeper: “A four-day week is ridiculous as nobody will earn as much money. It’s the same

with the minimum wage. The more money you are paying out, the less profit you make. We’re not here to make a loss just so we can put people in jobs.”

He added: “It will put pressure on small businesses like ours. We’ll have to put the prices up, fewer people will come in and there will be fewer jobs to be had. There will be a lot more people looking around for jobs and a of businesses closing down.”

Industry lobby group UKHospitality has called for interim measures to mitigate the change.

“Hospitality is keen to attract British talent and part of that process will be to raise entry level wages. However, the cumulative costs of regulation and taxes over the past three years have wiped a third off the margins of hospitality businesses and this move, if marshalled in too quickly, will hurt business, damage

jobs and not just stifle growth but reverse it. The Chancellor wants to be the party of the workers; the Prime Minister, the party of business – the reality is that this country and our economy need it to be both.”

And reacting to Labour's proposed fourday week she said: “Working to live, as opposed to living to work, is a fantastic philosophy. Promoting flexibility and non-standard working weeks is also a great idea and one that the hospitality sector already embraces.

What needs to be recognised, and what may have been misinterpreted, is that Labour is talking about reducing the average number of hours in a working week to 32; which does not equate to a four-day working week.

Neither does it seek to impose a cap as in France and the focus would appear to be on full-time workers only.”

CURRENT AND PAST MINIMUM WAGE RATES FROM

AGE 25+

AGE 21–24

AGE 18–20

AGE 16–17

APPRENTICE

1 April 2019

£8.21

£7.70

£6.15

£4.35

£3.90

1 April 2018

£7.83

£7.38

£5.90

£4.20

£3.70

1 April 2017

£7.50

£7.05

£5.60

£4.05

£3.50

1 October 2016

£7.20

£6.95

£5.55

£4.00

£3.40

1 April 2016

£7.20

£5.30

£3.87

£3.30

FROM

AGE 21+

£6.70

AGE 18-20

AGE 16-17

APPRENTICE

1 October 2015

£6.70

£5.30

£3.87

£3.30

1 October 2014

£6.50

£5.13

£3.79

£2.73

1 October 2013

£6.31

£5.03

£3.72

£2.68

1 October 2012

£6.19

£4.98

£3.68

£2.65

1 October 2011

£6.08

£4.98

£3.68

£2.60

1 October 2010

£5.93

£4.92

£3.64

£2.50 Source: Low Pay Commission

www.lbbmag.co.uk

Winter || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || 5

IN BRIEF || NEWS

BOTH LABOUR AND TORY PARTY POLICIES THREATEN HOSPITALITY BUSINESS

IN BRIEF || NEWS

AMENITIZ REPORTS RAPID GROWTH Startup website building technology company Amenitiz has closed its first round of financing. The business helps hotel and holiday rental owners to create and manage their digital presence.

The company was created in October 2017 and commercially launched in June 2018. CEO and founder Alexandre Guinefolleau claims Amenitiz is the first website-builder technology geared towards the hospitality industry. It supports hotel and holiday rentals owners in managing their online presence and distribution channels.

"After a very strong first year and gaining over 300 clients, we are delighted to lean on renowned investors to accelerate our growth.

than 300 customers, from villas in Greece to large hotel groups such as Pierre & Vacances in Spain. It has recently begun to offer new services with the launch of its very own prop-

This first round will allow us to reinforce our team with the addition of over 25 new employees and the opening of two new markets, Italy and the United Kingdom," said Guinefolleau.

The company allows hotel and holiday rentals owners to centralise all the digital needs of their property such as the creation of an evolving website, daily updates, integrating a direct reservation system and connection to the main online travel agents.

In its first year the company gained more

erty management software allowing owners to access a complete suite of tools to manage their daily operations.

The all-in-one service allows owners to create the property's website as well as manage their bookings and rooms, enabling it to support the digital transformation of all hotel and holiday rental owners. Amenitiz allows all these properties to retake control on the digital and go more direct by boosting conversion on their own website.

Otium Capital is a family office managing the assets of founder Pierre-Edouard Stérin, a French entrepreneur and investor. PierreEdouard is the founder of SmartBox Group, a pan-European company with €500M business volume in which he still holds more than 90% of the capital. Otium Capital invests the dividends of SmartBox Group into diverse entrepreneurial projects and rests on the principles of risk-taking and ambition — both of which are in Pierre-Edouard’s DNA. The €620.000 seed round led by Otium Capital includes business angels from the travel industry such as Weekendesk XEO Sebastien Venturini, Groupcorner COO Antoine Giraud and Liligo CMO Guillaume Rostand.

BEER CONFIRMED AS BRITAIN’S MOST POPULAR ALCOHOLIC DRINK Beer has been confirmed as Britain’s favorite alcoholic drink, according to research and data published by the British Beer & Pub Association in its 2019 Statistical Handbook.

Using data provided by HMRC, the BBPA conducted analysis which found that in 2018, some 8.5bn pints (48,559,000 hectolitres) of beer were sold in the UK – more than any other alcoholic drink.

In comparison, 7.4bn 175ml glasses of wine (the equivalent to 12,901,700 hectoliters) and 1.2bn pints of cider (the equivalent to 6,804,000 hectolitres) were sold over the same period.

Data collated by the BBPA for its 2019 Statistical Handbook also found that 100 new breweries opened in the UK in 2018, taking the total number of UK breweries to 2,530 – an increase of 2,030 breweries since the year 2000.

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The BBPA argues that although beer is the best-selling and most popular alcoholic drink, it is overtaxed in the UK. At present, Brits pay a staggering 11 times more beer duty than drinkers in Germany or Spain – paying 54 pence in beer duty on a 5% ABV pint of beer. This is despite beer being vital to the UK’s manufacturing sector, with 82% of the beer brewed in the UK being drunk in the UK. Combined, pubs and brewing create almost 900,000 jobs in the UK. For pubs alone, 7 in every 10 alcoholic drinks sold are beer, making beer tax a particular burden.

The BBPA is therefore continuing to back the Long Live the Local campaign, led by Britain’s Beer Alliance. The campaign is calling on the Chancellor to cut beer tax at the next budget to support community locals who sell a higher proportion of beer,

making them particularly sensitive to beer tax hikes. Alongside this, the BBPA is also campaigning to reduce high business rates that also disproportionately affect pubs.

BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: “It is clear from these numbers that beer is the most popular alcoholic drink, but it is without doubt overtaxed. In fact, we pay 11 times more beer tax than Germany or Spain. Because the public finances assume an RPI increase every year, we also face another tax hike on top of that in the next Budget.

“Should tax on a pint continue to rise then drinking in the pub will no longer be affordable for many British beer drinkers, meaning pubs will continue to close. This is why we are backing the Long Live the Local campaign, calling on the Chancellor to cut beer tax and support local pubs.”

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THIS year’s Independent Hotel Show is being held at London’s Olympia on 15 and 16 October, where it will bring together more than 6,500 members of the boutique and luxury hotel community to attend insightful discussions, meet with a selection of 350 premium exhibitors and create lasting connections.

Sustainability will be the theme of in this year’s live installation, The Conscious Bedroom. Many B&Bs, inns hotels are planning to ditch small plastic bottles for toiletries and replace them with larger refillable bottles to help avoid millions of kilos of plastic end up in landfill. Such sustainable polices can be costly to implement and take time to generate a return on investment. The installation will convey to overnight accommodation providers the importance of taking steps one at a time and managing each stage well.

According to the organisers a new report has gathered the opinions of 2,000 travellers sharing their views on hotels’ environmental responsibility, of which 75% are UK based, 64% female and 88% aged between 26 and 66 years old. The report supports the show’s live installation, which will consider, showcase and celebrate both the environmental and social factors that contribute to a consciously designed hotel bedroom.

The Conscious Bedroom Report comes at a crucial time to offer hotels ideas for which areas of developing environmentally conscious campaigns should take precedence, with 76% of holidaymakers feeling that hotels ‘could do more to be greener’, according to a 2019 survey by Taxi2Airport. The research follows a roundtable discussion last month with key sustainability ambassadors in the luxury and boutique hotel sector and divulges exclusive insight into the core areas of consciousness as perceived by the prospective hotel guest and hotelier.

Boutique hotels and luxury B&Bs require high levels of energy to operate multiple areas of the business, from heating water for rain showers to powering stoves to cook breakfast, so choosing to work with a renewable energy supplier is the first step in operating more sustainably and being more conscious about their carbon footprint, show delegates will be informed.

As customers and government push businesses to do more on sustainability, switching to clean energy is a quick win, according to Tim Wynn-Jones, head of energy solutions sales at Good Energy, partner to the Social Business Space at the Independent Hotel Show. Tim believes that one of the most important and easiest things a hotel can do is switch to 100% renewable power and source carbon neutral gas.

“It is critical that hotels understand their energy usage and look to where efficiencies can be made either through raising staff and guest awareness or through wider programme investment,” he says.

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SPONSORED FEATURE || INDEPENDENT HOTEL SHOW

INDEPENDENT HOTEL SHOW DELIVERS SUSTAINABILITY THEME He recommends investing in technologies that reduce energy usage and energy assets such as rooftop solar panels to enable hotels to become more energy self-sufficient.

At Watergate Bay in Cornwall - an early adopter of sustainable energy - electricity demand has fallen by 45%, for example. At the show’s Social Business Space on Tuesday 15 October managing director Will Ashworth will speak on ‘Championing eco-consciousness’.

SOURCING WISELY Hotels must be mindful of where all products, from the carpet used to cover floors, to the eggs served at breakfast, come from and how they are made if they want to take a truly conscious approach to running the business.

An area where sustainable sourcing is most apparent is in food and drink; working with local food producers and even growing food on-site can help cut food miles. But not all food and drink can be sourced so close to home, according to Rupert Lovie of Ellis Wines, wine partner to the Independent Hotel Show, who encourages hospitality business owners to check the provenance of their goods with those supplying it to them to verify their sustainable credentials.

“We always try to communicate these credentials to our customers but if in any doubt, hotels should be asking their wine suppliers, as they would any other type of supplier, if they want to know the provenance and ethical nature of their wines,” Lovie suggests.

Technology company Criton recommends hotels “get rid of the old and dusty guest directory” and digitise all guest information.

"This means that hotels will save time and costs associated to creating and printing the in-room guest information, and will make their business more sustainable,” says CEO and founder Julie Grieve.

Considering sustainability across every inch of the business, not only helps save costs and the environment, it can also help a hotel be more competitive says Good Energy’s Tim Wynn-Jones. “Sustainability concerns will continue to grow in prominence and become central to how all hotels operate in the future. We expect to see more hotels focus on minimising their environmental impact through supporting local supply chains; investing in renewable power and new energy generating, storage and charging technologies. The added benefits to this shift come from a stronger, more competitive offering,” he says.

I N D E P EN D EN T H OT E L S H OW

@ I N D H OT E L S H OW

@ I N D E P EN D EN T H OT E L S H OW

Winter || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || 9

COMMENT || DAVID WESTON

A STEP TOWARDS A

“level playing-field”?

The double standards of regulators to B&Bs vs Airbnb are finally being addressed, says David Weston Chairman of the Bed & Breakfast Association.

10 || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || Winter

ONE of the (many) reasons the B&B Association was formed back in early 2006 was the fact that the fire regulations had radically changed in 2005. “Fire Certificates” had been abolished, and everyone taking paying guests - even in one room, for one night - now had to comply with the fire regulations. Step one was being aware of the change, and step two was understanding the new requirements.

Since then it has been a key part of our role to help B&B owners new and established to understand and navigate the fire regulations and other rules. In 2008 we were invited by the Government to help them make the official guidance document “Do you have paying guests?” as useful and user-friendly as possible.

Meanwhile we were also pressing the Fire & Rescue Authorities (FRAs) to use a proportional, consistent and common-sense approach to enforcing the 2005 law. After some ups and downs, this has improved gradually over the years. Whenever we queried why a very tiny premises were being required to put in expensive fire alarm system, for instance, we were always told that the same rules applied to everybody - we were “all in the same boat”.

Not so: from 2012, the exponential growth of “peer-to-peer” sites like Airbnb has proved that (in practice) there is one rule for us, and another for them. While a two-bedroom B&B was being visited by a fire officer and told they “must” spend many hundreds (or thousands) of pounds on a wired “LD2” fire alarm system with a central control panel, their identical neighbour letting two bedrooms through Airbnb was never visited, and was told by Airbnb (who never checked what they did) that battery smoke detectors were all they needed to fit.

These double standards are highly unfair, anti-competitive and of course, potentially lethal.

Our efforts in this area since 2012 have been focused on levelling the playing-field for our members, and protecting all guests, whatever type of business they choose to book with.

After years of meetings, lobbying, and dialogue, we’re delighted that there do finally seem to be signs of real progress towards that fabled “level playing-field”. The long-overdue review of that 2008 official guidance is now well underway, and as we urged, the initial separate consultations by Government have now been brought together into one process. So on Monday 9 September we sat down with Airbnb and their trade association (the UKSTAA) as well as the other trade bodies representing hotels, self-catering, pubs and others, to thrash out the new official guidance that will apply to all small accommodation providers. That meeting was hosted by the National Fire Chiefs’ Council, the Home Office and DCMS (the tourism department).

It is still early days, but we were pleased with progress so far. The new guidance is due to be published next Spring, and we hope it will (a) level the playing-field and apply the same rules to similar sized accommodation, regardless of business model, and (b) reduce the costs of compliance for the smallest accommodation providers.

THE PARLIAMENTARY PETITION ON “BRANDJACKING” GETS OVER 3,000 SIGNATURES Thank you to all readers who signed B&B-owner Frank McCready's Parliamentary Petition against "brandjacking" by online travel agents (OTAs) of B&Bs' own names on search engines without express permission.

It closed on 6 September with 3,143 signatures - a good number considering this is such a technical issue and very little understood.

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1) Against "rate parity" (narrow MFN) clauses, which prevent hotels/B&Bs from discounting to their own clients from their own websites; 2) Against false discounts created by OTAs to mislead consumers 3) Against false availability statements created by OTAs to mislead consumers (eg "Only 1 room free!" when there are five rooms free) 4) Against misleading, non-transparent and manipulated default search rankings by OTAs, and 5) Against forced (nonoptional contract term) bidding by OTAs on hotel & B&B names with search engines - so the OTAs always get top search listing in the B&Bs own name, taking commission on every click

Frank's petition backs one of our five formal complaints made in July 2017 to the competition watchdog, the CMA. I have written in previous issues of Luxury Bed & Breakfast on why we believe "brandjacking" should be banned (see panel, left).

We are delighted the CMA has already taken action on three of our complaints - against false discounts created by OTAs to mislead consumers, against false availability statements created by OTAs to mislead consumers (eg "Only 1 room free!" when there are five rooms free), and against misleading, non-transparent and manipulated default search rankings by OTAs. But as regular readers know, two of our complaints to the CMA are still outstanding: • Against "rate parity" (narrow MFN) clauses, which prevent hotels/B&Bs from discounting to their own clients from their own websites; and • Against forced (non-optional contract term) bidding by OTAs on hotel & B&B names with search engines ["brandjacking"] - so the OTAs always get top search listing in the B&Bs own name, taking commission on every click.

We will of course be pursuing these two key campaigning issues with equal vigour on behalf of B&B and guesthouse owners. Watch this space for regular updates.

5) OTAs AND SEARCH ENGINES On a Google seacrh for The Chine Hotel Bournemouth, the top result is Booking.com, the second is Hotels.com (part of Expedia), and third is Trivago (part of Expedia).

The fourth result is for the hotel’s own website - it is part of the small family group FJB Hotels.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY: OCTOBER 15 AND 16: THE INDEPENDENT HOTEL SHOW, LONDON Do come along to the Independent Hotel Show in London on 15 & 16 October (see elsewhere in this issue for details). It’s always a good event, with many excellent suppliers for boutique hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs. At 3pm on the final day, I will be on the Hotel Vision Stage in a panel debate with the CMA on “Online Practices: the Good, the Bad and the Illegal”. It may be controversial, but should be interesting – especially to everyone who sells (or is planning to sell) though online travel agents. Come along, ask a question, and have your say!

The Bed & Breakfast Association is the UK trade association for B&B, guest house and independent hotel owners, and exists to inform, support & represent owners. Membership costs £60 a year. The Association is a non-profit organisation with no shareholders, dedicated solely to the interests of its members. www.bandbassociation.org

FJB have actually done very well to get fourth search result, compared with most B&Bs and small hotels, who typically find themselves on page two or three of a Google search.

This illustrates the real practical effect of brandjacking, and shows why hotels and B&Bs are having to pay large OTA commissions on such a large and growing proportion of their bookings.

This 84-bedroom Dorset hotel gets 390 searches a month on average for “the chine hotel bournemouth” - and yet the resulting clicks will give the booking to an OTA and deprive the hotel of some £1 in £5 paid, which in our view they should have rightly had in this case.

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Winter || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || 11

COMMENT || DAVID WESTON

THE FIVE COMPLAINTS:

IN PROFILE || TY CROESO

RISING TO THE Challenge

12 || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || Winter

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HOSPITALITY BACKGROUND Both Alex and husband Cory have an extensive background in hospitality. Her experience began with a three-year course studying hotel an institutional management at Torquay College, now South Devon College.

Every summer course students on the course would work on a placement in the hospitality sector, and on her last placement she worked with Bass Inns & Taverns, pursuing an innkeeper management course through the summer holidays, working in two central Cardiff pubs and one in Bath.

“I loved what I was doing but I was working at a pub close to home the work was full-on 80 hours per week with one day off. So, I took a job in Shepperton at the Moat House before being invited to work as bar manager at the Hilton,” she says.

GRADUATING BACK TO WALES She says she left hotel catering at a time she and a friend were both working at the Hilton. “He would operate the catering function for conferences at the hotel while at the same time taking responsibility for running the bar,” she says. “The two of us would meet and express disbelief to each other at the hours we were having to put in. When a new manager came in, we both left to work for an estate agent in Surrey, Curchods.” It was looking for people who understood what hard work was, she says, so they both fitted the bill.

Alex worked there for a year – long enough for her to be awarded best salesperson of the year – before returning to Wales. “That was where I wanted to settle down buy a house. My parents had a furniture business, and I opened my own shop.” She then worked in retail for 15 years, before she and husband Cory took over Ty Croeso B&B. Having left hotel and catering and moved into retail with her store Alex had resolved not to return to the hotel and catering sector. But she says running the B&B is very different. “We have different hours and different lifestyles. Although here at the B&B it is virtually 24/7 with guests staying in the building, it never feels demanding as it was when we had to do the bar shifts from 7am till 3pm, before taking a break and coming back to work again from 6pm till midnight,” she says.

TAKING OVER Of course, behind the usual challenges the initial introduction and for all future guests too, a new B&B owners concern these days is that guests write anything about your B&B online they will write a very good or better still excellent review. And as was quoted in the press recently, a one-star review really is like a drive-by shooting.

The challenge on first opening up a B&B can feel all the more stressful if your property was previously run as a hospitality business, she says. “You renovate it to your style and put your mark on it but at the back of your mind you cannot help but worry they are going to compare you negatively with the previous proprietor,” she says.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF GUEST Alex says Ty Croeso attracts a different style of guest to the ones that generally stayed in the corporate environment of the Hilton Hotel. “The kind of guests who stay at a place like the Hilton and those who choose to stay at a B&B are totally different. I became disillusioned by the Hilton, but although anywhere in catering everyone wants their pound of flesh meaning you must work hard, I love running the B&B despite

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Winter || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || 13

IN PROFILE || TY CROESO

No amount of hospitality experience can ever prove to be quite enough to absorb the initial shock of opening up your own B&B and welcoming in your first guests. Bill Lumley talks to Alex Johnson, co-owner of four-bedroom Crickhowell Ty Croeso

SITUATED on the edge of the Brecon beacons and alongside the River Usk in the shadow of Table Mountain, the pretty village of Crickhowell has been attracting guests for five hundred years. It was named best place to live in Wales by The Sunday Times in April this year.

Up a hillside overlooking the village and commanding spectacular views stands Ty Croeso B&B run by Alex and Cory Johnson, who both have formal qualifications and extensive working experience in hospitality. Ty is the Welsh word for house and Croeso – pronounced Croyso – means welcome, so Ty Croeso means House of Welcome.

IN PROFILE || TY CROESO

We were determined to open in time for the February walking festival, because the alternative was to just carry on refurbishing and talking about this new challenge. having to work so hard working for my own future and our own business.

Some people say they only choose B&Bs because they are all unique and prefer the personal touch, whereas the Hilton comes across as faceless staff even though there are many lovely people working there,” she stresses.

“But the Hilton is more for business people who are expecting that standard – every room is the same without the personal touch, which some people find too much. A B&B is more about feeling at home and feeling comfortable with the personal touch. That doesn’t suit everyone of course but in a B&B, you do get people who don’t want to talk to you, and you can sell straight away and keep niceties to a minimum.”

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THE CATALYST After 15 years business at her store began to suffer due to a change in the high street, she says. “We rented the premises, and we both realised we had to do something else and make a change.

“Then one day we came to see this property on a cloudy and wet Sunday afternoon, and as we walked into the guest lounge it was bright and we both thought wow, this is lovely! So, we bought it.”

The love-at-first-sight feeling about the property is still there, she says. “We are up on the hills, so we have amazing views, even when it is raining.”

Cory works as a key accounts manager for a company called Fryetts, which produces fabrics that it sells to companies that make sofas. He works in the

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IN PROFILE || TY CROESO

B&B at weekends, when he talks care of the computer side of things and the clerical side, she says.

“At weekends I call him the booking clerk. But it is a joint thing. My parents are retired from their furniture business and often help me when I have the school run to do daily during term time.”

Cory’s weekday work at the fabric company begs the question whether this means they find themselves not having to look far when it comes to furnishings.

Alex says: “When we first came here we changed the materials in the lounge as they were quite cold colours and the new fabrics happened to come from the company he is now working for - a lovely family business - and it happened just by chance. Now if there is a fabric we really like then we buy from there,” she says. “For example, we have recovered various chairs from materials they supply – they do have a gorgeous selection - but we chose the interiors together. If one of us doesn’t like it then we won’t have it. It’s a real mixture to be honest.”

TY CROESO HISTORY Originally built as a Victorian infirmary, many years ago the property had been operated as a hotel. By the time Alex and Cory bought it, the previous owner had split the building in half. She explains: “We live on one side, which is completely separate with an in-between room and a separate reception. One door leads to our dwelling, and the other door leads to the guests’ accommodation. They have their own communal lounge on the ground floor and the guest rooms are over the two floors above this,” she says.

One of the first jobs the couple did was to refurbish all the bathrooms and bedrooms. “They all had electric showers, and we changed them, so they all had both showers and baths, all done in as different manner. They were all colourfully painted and we repainted them neutral colours.”

OPENING CHALLENGES When they opened they had just six weeks to get open in time for a walking festival, the next event on the calendar to draw tourists into the area. “That was February, which is a pretty rubbish month as business goes,” she says. “January can be surprising, but February tends to dip down. We were determined to open in time for the February walking festival, because the alternative was to just carry on refurbishing and talking about this new challenge. Talking about breakfast is not the same as doing it, cooking it and starting the business.”

They conducted a practice run with friends and family, she says. “We stuck to a deadline. You need to, otherwise you just drift on.”

In the event they made it open in time for the deadline only to find they had no guests. Alex says: “The previous owner had not put the property on the market specifically as a B&B, but was prepared to sell it however any prospective buyer wished to operate it," she says. “The previous owner did have some booking still on her books, as they were carrying on until they sold it. We inherited just one couple from her, and then we really had to start from scratch.

“You can still carry on, but you need to stick to a deadline. Otherwise you can drift on with the refurbishment. You think you have a budget but you don’t really have one: you think you are going to do these rooms, recarpet and do what is necessary to spruce it

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IN PROFILE || TY CROESO

up and there comes a point when you have to start to make some money. That’s the most difficult part. You try to stick to a budget, but you must go for quality.

Fortunately thanks to my dad’s business in furniture, I had good contacts and the shop that had given us ideas what we would like in furnishings. So we prioritised things, and knew the first thing we had to do was to upgrade the bathrooms, as they did look tired."

THE GUEST ROOMS When you walk in there is a lounge area with chairs, and at the end is a guest room that runs half the length of the house, with a super king-sized bed. “It had been the previous owners’ own private accommodation and it was one of the rooms we weren’t going to do until we had some more money, but we were prompted to renovate it when there was a leak,” says Alex. “We have had a dozen marriage proposals here, as well as quite a few honeymoon guests." Beside the super king bed, the room has a sofa bed, making it an ideal family room. There is also a zed bed to sit in.

The B&B now has four guest rooms. “As you walk up you see the roll top bath through the balustrade.

The bath has a view out of the back garden. Although nobody can see you in the bath there is a blind. Then there is a separate room which is an office area with a desk and lamp for guests use, although nobody seems to use it. I always say there is an office for them to do some work and Wi-Fi is very good here now as well as we are on a satellite system,” says Alex.

Wi-Fi, she says had been a major challenge until they found the satellite solution. “We would have guests having hysterics because of the weakness of the Wi-Fi signal,” she recalls. “Until two years ago all around the building were those plugs supposedly boosting the signal, and whenever we rang BT they would say oh yes it is working. We were at the end of a line so the signal was weak, and everyone advised us that guests all nowadays expect to have decent Wi-Fi.”

WALKING COUNTRY “It is walking country around here, and most guests stay for that reason. But from time to time you will ask a guest if they have everything they need for their walks and they come back a reply saying they just plan to drive around the area,” says Alex.

There are a number of wedding venues in the area, so the B&B attracts a fair number of guests visiting purely for the purpose of attending particularly for weekends in the summer." We also have the Glanesk country estate just below us, which has a festival in August and other events through the year, and which is good for our business.”

She adds: “It’s always difficult in the quiet months.

Walkers will walk any time, which helps in the quieter times of the year. Ladies travelling for business like the guest lounge as it feels more comfortable than walking into a bar/restaurant on their own,” she adds.

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TWO-NIGHT RULE The couple try to stick to the rule for minimum stay for weekend guests of two nights, but this year that has been a challenge to meet, she says. “As soon as the summer holidays start we are ram packed full but some people ring asking just to stay on a Saturday, and it is so much better to have people stay for two nights at a weekend as it is so much work, washing and preparing everything twice. We have tried to stick to the two-night rule, but realistically you have to be flexible. There are quiet months. June this year for example was quiet after a busy May with the two bank holidays,” she recalls.

Winter || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || 17

IN PROFILE || TY CROESO

EATING IN

STARS

The couple chose not to offer their guests an evening meal from the outset. Alex explains: “We have always been a B&B. When we first moved here the children were one and two years old, and we adapted our lifestyle. If we had chosen to offer evening meals there would have been no way we could have looked after the children as well.”

When the couple first moved in, the property had four stars and they brought this up to five. Alex recalls: “I will never forget the guy who came the first time as that was my first experience and felt like I was in an exam. But he was really nice, and said he didn’t really think we could have five stars as the rooms weren’t big enough.

“After a while we rearranged the rooms and made it appear to have more space. One room in particular now has an en suite and a wonderful view, and it now has the addition of a king-sized bed, which is a minimum I think people now expect. We have been awarded five stars from Visit Wales, who come every couple of years to do a proper visit and surprise us.”

The B&B has another double room that has more room around the bed as well as a beautiful view, as well as an en suite, and the B&B’s end room has a sofa bed as well as a double bed, making it another that can be a family room. “People like it because there is room for them to eat and watch tv from the sofa,” she says. “The en suite there has a shower rather than a bath.”

BUSINESS COLLABORATION When Alex and Cory took over the B&B there was a village restaurant that would encourage them to recommend it to their guests. “If we sent any of our guests to eat there, they would give us a star on a card,” she says. This culminated in them receiving a free meal in return for a certain number of recommendations, she says. “Nobody really does the star system in the village anymore,” she adds.

However, the B&B does receive recommendations from businesses in the village. “There’s a lovely bookshop in the town, Book Ish, recently crowned best bookshop in Wales. The owner, Emma Corfield-Walters recently launched a literary festival in Crickhowell. She has had a lot of authors come to talk about their books,” she says. “Just before the holiday we had One Day author David Nichols come and stay on Emma’s recommendation. But sometimes there is not enough going on for you to work successfully together. We will always recommend people, but it would be nicer to say maybe if that guest comes down on our recommendation they can have a free cocktail. I need to be more proactive with things like that and get in touch with them!” she says.

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FACILITIES Although the B&B unsurprisingly does not offer a 24hour reception Alex says: “People often ask whether we will be open at midnight for them to check in and of course we say yes just fine. I am open 24 hours, but I don’t advertise it.”

The B&B has an alcohol licence and has an honesty bar located in the corner of the guests’ lounge. “Guests help themselves to a glass from the cupboard,” says Alex. “We don’t offer a full range of

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IN PROFILE || TY CROESO

every optic - we offer a variety of spirits including gin, vodka, whisky and brandy, as well as wines, and guests write down what they have taken. This gets a lot of good reviews, although at the same time many guests don’t use it at all. Sometimes it is so popular I do consider getting in more brands of gin to serve with Fever Tree tonics,” she says.

Meanwhile when guests first arrive they are offered tea, coffee and Welsh cakes. “If they arrive later in the day I will offer them perhaps a glass of wine or prosecco,” she adds.

REPEAT GUESTS One of the rewards for delivering outstanding service in a beautiful setting is the booking of repeat guests. Alex says: “I have really noticed it in the last two years. Many people have always said they will have to come back but there are lots of other places to stay. I used to get really excited when people said that and then you wouldn’t see them for maybe two years. But I get it now and it is lovely when people come back. I recognise people more than their names. Someone put on the registration form recently under reason for stay, ‘Stayed before. Lovely place,’ and I felt a bit of a tear in my eye. Cory said I need to get a grip! I foud that nice when they came back.”

BUILDING UP A FRESH BOOK OF BUSINESS Alex says she the of them found it quite nerve-wracking to be putting their own stamp on the place when people who had stayed under the previous owners came back to stay.

“One guest had been quite a few times even before the previous owners staying in the area for business, and when we had taken over he chose to bring his wife because they both loved the village and surrounds. I felt more nervous about that, but I decided no I was going to do it my way. Your own personality is inevitably going to be different to the previous owners. Just give them a real welcome – that is all I can really do,” she says.

Through sheer hard work and determination Alex and Cory have put their stamp on Ty Croeso B&B.

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Winter || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || 19

COMMENT || YVONNE HALLING

SURVIVE IN challenging times?

Airbnb rentals invading everywhere, market saturation, rates spiralling downwards, unsuitable guests, online travel agents’ commissions and a confusing online world can all lead to thoughts of throwing in the towel. Business Transformation Coach Yvonne Halling shows how to survive and thrive in these difficult times.

I asked the members of my Facebook group what they thought was necessary in today’s changing times. Here’s what they said: Service – give great service so your guests will return, Being unique – not trying to compete with anyone else, warm hospitality – the human touch never goes out of fashion and loving what you do – your passion will shine through and guests will feel it.

The challenge here is that almost all of the 50+ comments I received in response to the question, “What does it take to survive in today’s challenging times” were all about the service delivery. I’m not saying that isn’t important, it truly is, but it’s just one element of an integrated system that you need to have in place if you’re going to survive the next two to three years.

There’s a shift going on in this industry right now, and that means change.

After running my own B&B for 17 years, taking it from “hobby” to a sustainable and “professional” business, and helping hundreds of clients since 2013 to do the same, I’ve noticed that there are four stages of running a B&B that most owners go through.

The first stage is the start-up, where everything is exciting and new. Owners typically pour tons of money and time into renovations, décor and creating an experience for their guests, and in the beginning it’s great.

This stage can last a couple of years.

Stage two is a little bit more tricky, as the novelty wears off and reality kicks in. Attracting guests becomes a little harder, and so they list with online travel agents and then have to pay their commissions, so money becomes an issue.

Guests seem to be more demanding, asking for discounts, cancelling at the last minute, and the possibility of a negative review plants fear in the owner’s heart.

Stage three is what I call the “wilderness” when owners are typically trying any tactic they can get their hands on, and some of it

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works, but most of it doesn’t, and they become demoralised and over time burned out. Some years are good, some years are not so good, and they have no control over their life or business. They are at the mercy of external forces.

Sometimes this affects health and relationships, and money is always a problem. They have no certainty of income and they worry about their future.

Stage two and three can go on for many, many years and this is typically where owners are on the verge of giving up. They’ve done everything they know how to do, and they still don’t have the life and business they dreamed of. This breaks my heart because I’ve seen this far too many times, but there is hope.

Then there’s stage four. Stage four is where owners finally admit to themselves, that although they’ve learned valuable skills in welcoming people, cooking a great breakfast, and being great hosts, they know nothing about the business of running a B&B and have not taken the time or invested the money to learn.

If you’re in stage three and wondering whether you have the will to go forwards, then here’s the plan to move to stage four where all the money and fun is: To stay ahead, grow and enjoy what you’re doing, no matter what times we’re living in, good or bad.

STRATEGIC PLANNING Your first key element is strategy; that means deciding what guests you want to attract, who would love what you offer, pay premium for your amazing value and return over and over. These guests never ask for discounts or disrespect your property or you and appreciate all you do for them. They’re your following, your fans, your audience, your market and to them, you’re the best source of information around – a kind of “celebrity” for them – the “expert” in their eyes.

WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO GET THIS RIGHT? When you’re being a generalist, you’re no different from anyone else. You look the same as everyone else, and the only point of differentiation for the potential guest, is price. You don’t want to be in that game, and that’s why you need to be a “specialist” or “expert”. Another reason: experts get paid more, in every walk of life.

So how do you become an “expert in the eyes of your guests” so you can get paid more and have more fun?

Step One - Create a strong online presence with your brand, positioning and message. Your guests need to know that wherever they see you online, they can recognise you.

Step Two - Take a look at your website now and ask yourself this: does the brand and message I’m saying here speak to those guests I just identified as the ones I’d love to welcome?

Be honest about this, because the sad truth is that it probably doesn’t and that’s a great place to start. You can’t solve a problem without recognising there is one first.

Step Three - Take a look at your broader online presence now. Where are you? On Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube? All these platforms have a different purpose; do you know what they are?

Facebook is primarily for conversations and chat, Twitter is for finding journalists, LinkedIn is for finding professional partners with whom you can work, Instagram is visual, and YouTube is entertainment. Have you got them all covered?

I asked the members of our Facebook group if they were regularly producing videos, and the overwhelming response was no.

Your B&B business is a visual product, and lends itself really well to video, so get on it.

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How do you know if you haven’t nailed your strategy?

• Website is generic and bland, with no clear well-thought-out pathway for visitors to take to engage them with your content and lead them naturally to the booking button, therefore you’re needing to use online travel agents.

• No attention to SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) in the form of keywords and blog posts on your website, therefore not showing up well on search engines.

• No calls to action on your website, so it’s unclear what action visitors need to take.

• Random guests coming for all kinds of different reasons, so you’re seen as a generalist not an “expert”.

• Discounts being asked for.

• Hit and miss reviews.

Your second key element is structure, and this is about your service delivery on the ground at your property. This is the part everyone thinks they’ve got nailed, and probably where your focus is.

When you’ve got a strong online presence, with clear branding, positioning and messaging as I covered just now in strategy, you’ll need to deliver on that promise every single time. Until you have a clear strategy, it’ll be hit and miss with your guests.

How do you know if you’ve got this problem?

• Guests' needs not identified, and therefore sometimes not met, leading to anxiety and stress.

• Poor financial management, not knowing what your profit margin is, fixed costs, variable costs, etc.

• Giving too much away and eating into your profit margin without knowing it • Poor time management, because of too much people-pleasing • Little or no help doing low-value tasks, leading to potential burn out Your third key element is systems, and there are three parts to this.

These three crucial business systems are largely overlooked by B&B owners worldwide, probably because they’ve never been taught them. I don’t know anywhere that does teach them (apart from us) and they are essential if you’re going to ride out these challenging times.

I would even go so far to say that if you don’t have them properly installed and working for you, then you don’t really have a business at all.

I know that may sound harsh, but I’m not sugar-coating it for you.

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Your three timeless business systems centred around your own database of guests, past, present and future will insulate you from any outside forces beyond your control, in times that are challenging and in times that are good In going further on this topic, I would say that the reason the OTAs and Airbnb have become so big and powerful is because they know that growing a database is the number one priority for any business in the 21st century, and they’ve done so at your expense, without you knowing it.

TIME TO TAKE BACK YOUR POWER? System One – attracting guests yourself, without relying on online travel agents. This means creating regular educational, entertaining and engaging content for your website and social media platforms, together with a core free piece of content to encourage potential guests to opt-in to your database. Here, you can build a relationship with them and encourage them to book with you, with a small incentive.

How to know if you don’t have this system in place?

You’re relying on OTAs to bring you more and more new guests, because you don’t have a database of guests that you can legally market to, track open rates and click through rates, so you know what works and what doesn’t. Or maybe you’re doing the monthly newsletters but no-one’s taking any action.

Lastly, if you want to properly insulate yourself from all outside forces, then you’ll need to pay attention to the final element: Scale – this is where you create new revenue streams, related to your B&B, your guests and your passions, so that you’re not totally reliant on the core business forever. There are plenty of hidden revenue streams in your business that you can’t see because you’re too close to it.

Let me give you a clue: if you weren’t running a B&B, what else would you love to do? Follow your gut and see where it leads.

SO, LET’S RECAP How to know if you don’t have this system in place?

You’re using online travel agents and you resent it. Have you thought about what would happen if your listing was removed without reason, or changes to the algorithm, software integration issues, booking commission hikes or unaffordable subscription increases? If they disappeared tomorrow where would you be?

System Two – creating more products and services that your ideal guests (identified in your strategy) would love to buy, so you’re less dependent on occupancy rates, but more focused on increasing guests spend which delights everyone concerned.

How to know if you don’t have this system in place?

You’re giving away too much, it’s reducing your profit margin and you feel resentful.

People will happily pay for some of your extras, I promise you.

System three – using your database of past guests, learning how to create compelling offers for your guests to return. This means ditching the boring “newsletter” and making your offers specific to your target audience (which again is why your strategy is so very important) and timed so they have to act when you want them to. There’ll be a bit of “training” involved in educating your guests on this, but over time they’ll get to know how you roll and act accordingly (i.e. book again)

In order to survive through these uncertain and challenging times, you’re going to have to learn new skills or close. There’s a big shift going on right now and there’ll be those who do step up to the plate, and those who’ve had enough.

Which category will you find yourself in?

Far too many owners pay too much attention to the structure and scant attention to the other three elements, and that’s why they find themselves challenged. They take little time or effort to learn how to run a real business, and kind of get by with a little bit of information here and there.

Let me ask you, if you were going to set yourself up as a dentist, would you go about it this way? What about a lawyer or a doctor?

No. You’d be obliged to go through several years of training, costing you a ton of money just to be able to call yourself a dentist, lawyer or doctor.

SO WHY DON’T OWNERS GET THE PROPER TRAINING THEY NEED? Here’s what I believe to be true. They don’t treat it as a “business” therefore they believe business skills aren’t required. They think that it’s easy welcoming people into their home and giving them a great experience. They try to do everything themselves, to cut down on expenses, rather than expanding into more revenue.

This may have been OK a few years ago, but now, times have changed.

Learning how to run a business (any business) in the age of the internet is the most valuable skill set you’ll ever need.

Winter || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || 21

COMMENT || YVONNE HALLING

IDENTIFY WEAKNESS

IN PROFILE || EPSTEIN HOUSE

BEATLES

Revival 22 || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || Winter

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ation, with the building of 600 new homes and the refurbishment of a further 600 properties.

Patrick Duggan says this transformation of the area has resulted in something of a transformation of his own critical views of the local city council. “In the past I have been critical of both Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Football Club, and I haven’t been shy about saying so. However, over the last few years they have stepped up and transformed Anfield so I’m not going to be shy now about saying what a difference they have made,” he says.

Recently he has been looking for a buyer to take over Epstein House enabling him to retire. “It’s a really special property, and we have some incredible Beatles memorabilia here,” he says. “You could argue

that before the area was regenerated it wasn’t an attractive investment for a prospective hotel owner, but that’s certainly not the case anymore,” he says.

He is selling up because he has decided he wants to retire and head off to Spain or Portugal, having run the hotel for the past 13 years. The property itself is now on the market with a guide price of £895,000. It has nine en-suite bedrooms, accommodating up to 25 guests in total, with double, twin, triple and family rooms with bunk beds. It also has a fully licensed bar, lounge, dining facilities and a car park with 20 spaces.

Beyond the gardens belonging to the property is a totally undeveloped piece of land about 40 by 100 feet in area with room for significant development to extend the existing guest facilities. Like the hotel itself, it too has steps leading down into the garden.

Reflecting its history as the home of the Beatles manager’s family, the property is decorated throughout with memorabilia. This collection includes several distinguished features, among them a piano once played by Paul McCartney.

The three-storey detached property is a stone’s throw from Liverpool FC’s Anfield stadium. Besides its

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IN PROFILE || EPSTEIN HOUSE

The owner of a Liverpool hotel housed in the former home of the legendary Beatles manager Brian Epstein has hailed the recent regeneration of its Anfield neighbourhood.

Bill Lumley talks to Patrick Duggan about the property and its Fab Four history

PATRICK Duggan, whose Epstein House Hotel has featured on the television shows The Hotel Inspector and Four in a Bed, is looking for a buyer to take over the business, and he believes its local area has been turned around by recent investment.

Epstein House officially opened as a hotel in 2003. Since then the surrounding area encompassing Liverpool’s famous Anfield stadium has undergone a £260 million programme of regener-

IN PROFILE || EPSTEIN HOUSE

Beatles history, it has a sizeable garden, which has its own access to Stanley Park.

The boutique hotel experienced some well-documented teething troubles in its early years, but it underwent something of a transformation after featuring in 2014 on Alex Polizzi’s Channel 5 show, The Hotel Inspector. The hotel, and its owner Patrick, have since also appeared on the Channel 4 programme Four in a Bed. Reflecting on his TV appearances, Epstein House owner Patrick Duggan tells Luxury Bed & Breakfast: “Four in a bed is a very genuine production team. The only mischief they get up to is getting the contestants to argue with each other a little more than they would in normal circumstances, but that is to be expected as it’s an entertainment show. It was a positive experience, I made some good friends and I have stayed in touch with some of them since.”

In slight contrast, the dynamics of his appearance in The Hotel Inspector were more challenging, he says. “I regard the Hotel Inspector herself as the Hotel Deceptor. She will look you in the eye with her warm attractive eyes and encourage you to believe she is on your side when in fact you are really just fodder for ratings!”

Patrick had hospitality experience prior to taking over Epstein House. Before moving to Liverpool, Patrick had been working for some years as a bar-

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tender in the US. By the time he left America and moved back to Ireland in 2002, he says, he knew that Liverpool was set to be the city of culture six years later. “It therefore seemed a good time to invest in the city,” he says. “So, I decided to go to the city and look for a few properties to buy.”

A fan of the Beratles and their manager Brian Epstein, he says he saw Epstein House was up for sale and walked straight in off the street, fascinated by the opportunity he had to buy the house himself.

He was initially surprised that the owners had only recently decided to sell. “They told me the price they were asking, and in order to secure the property I offered them £25,000 more than they were asking in order to get them to take it off the market and seal the deal,” he says.

By the time Patrick took over the business, Epstein House had been open as a hotel for three years.

Originally the home of Brian Epstein's grandparents, it features one of the largest private collections of Brian Epstein memorabilia outside of the Epstein family. Acquired over many years by Epstein House owner Patrick Duggan, the memorabilia exhibition also includes a model of a proposed Brian Epstein memorial statue.

Brian's grandparents, Isaac and Dinah Epstein, lived at the house for over 20 years. Brian's father,

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IN PROFILE || EPSTEIN HOUSE

BEATLES MEMORABILIA According to seller Patrick Duggan, in addition to numerous original photographs of The Beatles, the provenance that a buyer of Epstein House will receive includes: • Signed detailed letter of confirmation Sir Paul McCartney played the piano. This letter is signed and dated by Mr Gerry Marsden who performed on the same bill as the Beatles on the night the piano was played by him.

• Signed letter from Mr Ray O’Brien, Wirral, Beatles Author verifying Sir Paul McCartney played the piano, this letter states Mr O’Brien witnessed Sir Paul play the piano as part of his set on the 15th September 1961 – this was their final appearance.

Harry, grew up in the house, and Brian was a frequent guest as a young child when his parents Harry and Queenie visited Brian's grandparents many times.

Patrick says: “Isaac was a Russian Jew who came to this country in 1900. The family opened a shop in nearby Walton Road before ultimately ending up with six shops side by side, the last of which they made a music shop called NEMS – North End Music Stores. It was the first record shop the family owned,” he adds.

While he says some of his faith in the local council has been restored after the results of its successful endeavours to regenerate the area, he still has qualms about politicians. Notably he has for some time been trying to get the official Brian Epstein statue located in the north end of Liverpool, but has met a lot of resistance. “The authorities want everything focused on the city centre,” he says.

“The situation has been a fiasco. The local politicians and councillors do not look after the common working-class areas. I received a letter from the mayor who is still the mayor today promising to help me raise the finance for the statue.”

“Gerry & The Pacemakers was the second biggest act managed by Brian Epstein, and his first three records were all number ones; the third biggest was Cilla Black. If I sell the hotel this will come with it – a statue design, with the four Beatles on a plinth.”

After buying the design of the statue he discovered that in order to make the full-size version in bronze made by a top-quality expert it would cost about £60k. “But politicians and skulduggery

They told me the price they were asking, and in order to secure the property I offered them 25,000 more

£

than they were asking in order to get them to take it off the market and seal the deal

• Newspaper articles confirming Mr Gerry Marsden played on the same night as the Beatles.

• A copy of the agreement between Paramount Enterprises, Gerry and The Pacemakers & The Silver Beatles, confirming they both played at this venue on 6th June 1960.

• A signed detailed letter from Mr Cliff Roberts testifying that he played a long side the Beatles in the early stages of their appearances with his band Cliff Roberts and The Rockers and confirms he too witnessed Sir Paul play the piano.

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IN PROFILE || EPSTEIN HOUSE got involved,” he says. “One of them came along purporting to support our statue in our place but he - unsuccessfully - subsequently tried to move the statue to a different location. He raised some money but since then both the sum he raised and the guy himself have gone missing. This means that the statue will be in the property once I get around to paying for the full-sized bronze statue. Although it is not top of my agenda, as far as I am concerned the home of the statue is safe and secure here.”

He adds: The less you have to do with politicians the better, simple as that.”

Describing the property today he says: “The premises are a pretty nice big mid-Victorian dwelling. It could do with some investment now, but it has heritage, nice size rooms, history, and we are right beside Liverpool Football ground, so we have the X-factor to compete.”

TYPE OF GUESTS About 60% of guests stay because they are coming to the football, 40% Beatles fans. He says: “We get a lot of international Beatles fans. The Swedish Beatles fan club comes here about five times a year.”

He adds: “Room by room I am always improving things. It is a never-ending job, changing showers or carpets,” he says. “We are in the process of changing from the Digi quad showers to walk-in showers with no doors.”

He has also submitted a planning application to

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IN PROFILE || EPSTEIN HOUSE double the size of the existing conservatory. “This would make it a very nice-sized room for functions and for a match day bar. There is already an existing bar which is mainly opened when Liverpool is playing home games, and we also have a bar in the conservatory overlooking a nice garden. We host christening events and other functions. With a bigger conservatory we will be able to host wedding receptions,” he adds.

Existing facilities the hotel can help with include flowers, balloon decorations, entertainment, master of ceremonies, car hire and cakes for special occasions.

The hotel also caters for buffets from £5 per head serving sandwiches, barbecue ribs, sausage rolls, pork pies, soup and Lancashire hotpot.

PERFECTIONISM Patrick has one tip he feels the urge to share with other guest house owners. “When someone has got a room ready, you really have to double check it yourself to make sure it really is done. If you find out it’s not been done – for example if there is no coffee in the room or something silly like that - then it’s too late. Then the guests start thinking these people don’t know what they are doing and then they get on their knees to try and find a second problem,” he says.

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Visitors to Epstein House not solely there for the football can also check out World Museum and Williamson’s Tunnels – Friends of Williamson’s Tunnels, some of Liverpool's top attractions.

While in the city they may also experience local shrimp favourites at Panoramic 34, Hanover Street Social, or 60 Hope Street. Liverpool is also known for some great architectural buildings, including St. George's Hall, Liverpool Town Hall, and Port of Liverpool Building.

For Beatles fans there is of course the Beatles museum, The Beatles Story, with replicas of the Casbah, Matthew Street and The Cavern.

BOOKING.COM The hotel is listed on booking.com’s website. He says: “They charge 15% but they are just a very strong dominant company and it is hard to do business without them. We do generate some of our own business but booking.com is a formidable company. However, we could realistically manage without them because of our unique selling point.

“Where else could you get to stay in a place where the man who made the Beatles spent a lot of time growing up with his grandparents? Furthermore the place has a nice feel to it. Everyone who walks into the property appreciates the well-designed Victorian architecture with proportions and the way the light catches you and the cosiness of the place,” he says.

John Gaskell, director at Blacks Business Brokers, adds: “Epstein House has always been a stunning property with an incredible backstory, but arguably in the past it has been held back by its surroundings.

Now, however, the local area has been transformed and, with Liverpool having just won the Champions League, it represents a great opportunity in a district that has renewed self-confidence and is really on the up,” he concludes.

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IN PROFILE || EPSTEIN HOUSE

LIVERPOOL ATTRACTIONS

COMMENT || LOUISE NEWMAN

WINNING THE BATTLE for staff retention

One of the toughest jobs confronting a B&B or guesthouse owner is staff retention. Louise Newman, managing director at critiQuie. com, reveals best practices when it comes to holding on to your staff and making your independent hospitality business smarter

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HIGH turnover of staff can mean not only the loss of expertise but can also impact staff productivity, performance, moral, and team dynamics. It’s not a great advert for your business, possibly impacting guest loyalty, and adding an additional cost, with the hiring process, training and building relationships, which can have a huge burden on time, effort and fundamentally cost.

Small independent hospitality businesses may find this more of a challenge, being less able to offer financial gains and training. However, taking a more personable approach, treating staff as you’d like to be treated yourself, recognising good work, and putting in a support structure to assist, all helps in staff retention. Working in a ‘family’ atmosphere brings loyalty from the bottom-up, and this business structure often is the most successful to reduce absence and retain staff.

I interviewed Robert Richardson (RR), GM at The Grand, Folkestone for his additional words of wisdom based on his breadth of experience, which I’ve placed against fundamentals for retaining staff in the hospitality arena. `These are key areas which make employees look outside of hospitality: • Unsociable working hours: approximately 70% of employees leave hospitality due to unsociable hours. Robert Richardson says: “In 2019 flexibility and perception is key.

For example, there is no job that cannot be tailored to the life style of the recruit.”

• Low pay and benefits: approx. 60% of employees leave hospitality due to pay.

• Lack of career prospects: approximately 40% of employees in hospitality wouldn’t leave if they had career prospects. Robert says he sees the current perception of our industry as “as poorly paid with limited progression creating a ‘barrier’ between potential recruits and business”.

If you don’t look after your staff then you won’t have staff to look after, but it’s not all doom and gloom. These four areas can help retain your staff: • Appreciation over remuneration • Build a positive work culture • Get communication right • Look after employee well-being Further fundamentals are listed below, and adapting just a couple into your business should bring about an improvement in staff retention: Recruitment strategies: Set expectations and gain enthusiastic staff from the start. Hiring the right people from the get-go may sound difficult but following these guidelines can be invaluable: • Set up the job application to fit the role you are offering.

• Look for the right things on a CV. • Ask the right ‘open-ended’ questions at interview.

• Ask for references and check for ‘butterflies’.

• Ask about long term ambitions, goals and motivators, plus previous experience.

You’ll get the right fit of skills and passion to fit your business culture. When you get it right from the outset the effort, time and cost-saving going forward will far outweigh the initial investment.

Career advancement: Hospitality has career prospects. Set goals and make sure you can support what you promise when your staff meet and exceed them. Transferrable skills and responsibilities make work life more flexible and varied which assists promoting internally and raises staff morale.

It’s worth considering engaging with local schools to support and employ pupils so they work with you and continue a career in hospitality.

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Strong positive business culture: Think of the hard and soft skills as both having a huge impact on staff; trust, aspirations, teamwork, passion, personalities and communication skills.

The hospitality industry encompasses a number of different cultures, nationalities and religions so incorporate ‘diversity and inclusion’ into your ‘retention’ planning – especially in regard to specific holidays, dietary requirements and respecting differences in ‘everyday life’ – to make employees feel valued and included.

Developing the right attitude will also drive ‘leaders’ who in turn will strive for better business. Good employee-employer relations can ensure a healthy and enjoyable atmosphere.

Robert at The Grand says: “The beauty of our industry is that to be successful you need to be a people person. That automatically creates a great people-focused ethic that promotes inclusivity and diversity, something I think the world needs more than ever right now”.

Ask and listen to employee feedback: Employees can help ‘problem solve’. You need to be able to take the rough with the smooth, appreciating and acting on all feedback. What do they want and like as an employee? What would they want/like as a guest?

Employees are your eyes and ears on the floor. Make giving feedback a short and snappy experience - not an arduous task.

Feedback is useful, whether it’s used for consumer or staff feedback, training, events or wellbeing. Higher volumes of feedback give you insight you need rather than low volumes which don’t capture enough data to make good business decisions.

Using technology really helps - with fast, inexpensive online surveys there’s little effort for the business or employee but a huge gain in data to act on.

Don’t forget to take actions from the results of employee feedback. There’s nothing worse than giving feedback and finding it goes nowhere. Implement ‘frequent, short and actionable’ feedback - as opposed to just annual surveys - to ensure you are a responsive business. Where you can’t take action, ensure

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employees are told why, and if possible ble e what wh w at could be done instead.

Be positive about all feedback, and dd don’t on’t take it personally – it Is additional knowledge ow wledge to improve your business. Robert says:: “N “No op pererson is the finished article and no person knows on n kn nows everything, therefore feedback is essential nttia al iin n the development of a good business and da good people focused operation. You will al al-ways have louder and quieter voices; the ma mark arkk ar a of a good people leader is the ability to give everyone the opportunity to speak.”

Employee engagement: Ensure your staff know you value them. Wherever possible engage with your staff, and to alleviate some of the pressure from you find mentors in and outside of your business for every member of staff. They can give guidance, support and recognition as well as examples of their own experiences to assist employees.

Robert says he sees staff investment as “not about how much money you put in, it’s about the amount of effort and time. Sitting and listening to someone’s ideas and looking at how to work them into your operation is just as valuable as competing with the payroll offering of your competitors”.

Communication: Don’t leave it to an annual formal appraisal. Continuous communication works wonders – staff feel you’re interested in them. Make sure you have informal chats as well as formal meetings so staff know you’re taking them seriously and also to make sure the goals and expectations are being met. Give praise where it’s due and a support structure where assistance is needed. critiQuie.com can give you the right tools so employees are able to communicate regularly and openly with you, especially where they may lack in confidence to do so.

Empowerment, perks and thanks: invest in your workforce: happier staff means happier guests. Increase motivation and productivity.

Provide flexible hours or working patterns, employee involvement practices, financial incentives and bonuses. Options that increase work/life balance are always a WIN and will help improve productivity, loyalty and reduce absence and increase retention.

Perks don’t have to be a big cost - small things are better than nothing at all.

Recognition and reward for performance and efforts across your teams can bring huge benefits – without a huge monetary cost, social events bring good memories and boost morale.

When your team feel valued you’ll see productivity gain.

Rob R Robert bert sa says ays pe people eoplle “… “…are …are e the he gre greatest reates est 't 'think hin nk ttan tank' k' ttha thatt yyou ou will hav have ve a at yo your our d dispos disposal. osal.

Ha Have ve e th them hem m hel h help p yyou ou arr arrive ive at tthe dest destination stinat ation need arrive at, ass yo you never yyou ou n eed to arr rive e at t, a ou w will nev ver g get th there ere on o yo your ur ow own”. wn .

Be realistic: Some staff willl le leave, matter B e re a istic: So ome sta ff wil ave, n no mat m ter what do.. A part their exit, gain their w hat yyou ou d do As pa rt of th eirr ex xit, ga in tthe thoughts business and on board th oug ts o on yyour our bu siness a an d ttake ake eo nb oard any which willl n not only assist an a ny iimprovements mp ove ements wh ich wi ot on nly ass st tthe he wayy yyo you work with your employees future, wa w uw wo rk w wi h yo our e em ployees iin n fu ture, also guests’ experience.

Ass a but bu b utt a u als so o iimprove mp m prove yyour o rg uests’ ex perience. A silver lining, this positive where can hire si silv ilv lvvve lve ver er er llin in nin ng g,, tth is iiss a p osit ve w wh e e yyou ou ca nh re improved talent, bringing new forr b busirov ro ove ov o vve ed e d tta alle en nt,, b br rin nging iin n ne w ideas dea fo us ness success cce cc ces ess e ssss a and an nd d ke kkeeping ee ep pin ng yyo you uc competitive mpetit ve b by learning new ways experiences ew ww way wa a ays ay ys o ys off working wor wo orking kking and a de exp experien perrien nce e es you can give your guests. our ou ur g ur gu ues ue est e ests ssts st tsss.

Robert says: “Some turnover me ttu me urno urn u ur rno rn nov nover ove ver ve er is is h healthy… ealthy… e alllth h … IIn order to fully develop your professional our ou ur p ur profe pro pr rofe ro offe of ofessio essssi sio iona ona all skill skkill and a an nd experience there is a need to work ow wor wo ork ork or rk ffor or m or mo more ore tha than han one business and, essentially, ga gain experience gai ain ai iin ne exp expe ex xp pe perience p erie er riie en nc nc ce e by by seeing “how other people do it”. A pr progressive p pro ro rrog o og gres gre g gr res ressive re ess sssiv ive ive employer will respect that and will always welays ay ys we ys wel w el ell-come past-employees back to their business.” esss ess ss. ss...””

Well-being: Don’t just pay lip service to it, it doesn’t have to be daunting and your business depends on it. Whilst well-being is focal on boardroom agendas, many are either sceptical or don’t give the time it requires. However, let me briefly explain why WellBeing is important to you, your business and your staff. When we refer to someone’s mental state we’re not trying to psychoanalyse the individual, all we need to know is ‘are they alright?’

If they are then great. If, however, they aren’t then you need to know and do something about it.

Making sure all the parts in your business are functioning well is good for your business overall.

Getting ahead of potential problems, giving your staff an environment where the business is genuinely interested in their state of mind, shows staff you care about them. This leads to stronger relationships, greater respect and increased retention.

Robert states: “It is a fact that the more time and effort you put in to your people, the better your business results… I would recommend remaining open to the topic of wellness and subscribe a few hours a month to discuss and implement initiatives; it really is not an all-consuming process. If you value something you will always find the time.”

Finally, extras: Remember to make the extra effort and take the extra time. Make sure you appreciate employees who are positive, passionate, and have potential so they remain in your business.

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COMMENT CO OM MM ME ENT || LOUISE LOUISE NEWMAN NEWM MAN

Training and development: Continual improvement and investment in development helps motivation. Improve and make a stronger business by building on staff expertise.

Training can be used as a ‘perk’ – growing employee skills and experience makes them happier and from a business perspective you gain more productive employees.

Staff achieving their potential is great: make sure you recognise it and reward it so they don’t go looking elsewhere.

IN PROFILE || ALLENDALE INN 32 || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || Winter

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PREMIUM FARM PRODUCE He elaborates on his plans to harmonise premium quality food and to attract visitors to the village to stay at the inn and to shop in local businesses. He has been seeking a way in which to utilise his family’s asset base in Allendale by integrating a non-profitable farming business with his hospitality business at the inn. “At 70 acres it is not big enough to farm profitably,” he explains. “But it’s beautiful, pristine farmland,

and within it are both an ancient woodland and waterfalls. We see an opportunity to create one single, sustainable hospitality business by amalgamating the farm and the pub together, and then producing our own food,” he says. On his land near the pub graze pure Dexter cattle – “a rare breed, and some of the best meat you can get in the country,” he says.

At the time of my visit to the inn, Richard was awaiting the first beef off the herd, and planning to launch, three weeks later, a new menu: the home-produced Dexter beef, plus Dorper lamb and Tamworth pork. “It is a range of beautifully home-produced meats entirely made up of rare breeds and genetic material finished for the ultimate eating quality,” he says.

As well as offering the new range on the inn’s menu, he plans to launch a box-meat business.

“Guests at the inn will be able to dine and taste the beef, lamb or pork and to relish the unique flavours, then order a box of their preferred meat next time it becomes available,” he says.

Facilitating part of these plans is space within a neighbouring retail premises, owned by the village Co-op, which had until recently been occupied by the village butcher. This business had closed only a few weeks before my visit, having been owned by the owner of a nearby village pub that also closed earlier this year. Running a small business in rural Britain today is clearly not a walk in the park.

The Co-op owner has agreed to allow him to use the existing facilities in the shop for displaying and selling the boxed meats. “There is a lovely walk-in

Winter || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || 33

IN PROFILE || ALLENDALE INN

With regulation growing and demographics on the move, making a success of running a rural village inn can be a major challenge. Bill Lumley speaks to the owner of The Golden Lion Hotel in the rural Northumberland village of Allendale about his plans to integrate the business of his inn with his neighbouring farm

NEARLY 20 years ago Richard Price and his wife Louise acquired The Golden Lion Hotel, a grand three-storey building in the marketplace village of Allendale in south west Northumberland, situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

The couple then spent several years living in Australia, where Richard was appointed the CEO of a national business engaged in agricultural research and publishing, before returning to the inn five years ago.

The inn is not Richard’s only business interest in Allendale today. He owns neighbouring Portgate Farm, and he has great plans to amalgamate the inn with the farm, which has land around the village, into an integrated tourism and hospitality business.

His business strategy is to combine the farm, farm produce and tourism by building a number of lodges on a non-productive area of his neighbouring farm.

“We would thus increase the accommodation we currently have, which stands at four bedrooms in the inn, providing us with more scale, and more critical mass, to be able to maintain the consistency of food trade and sustainable quality of cooking,” he explains.

IN PROFILE || ALLENDALE INN

fridge facility in there. The first lambs will go to slaughter on a Monday and then we will be picking them up on the following Thursday, when our first customers will be receiving their boxed lamb,” Richard says.

There is a parallel to be drawn between what he is planning to do and farmers’ markets, he suggests.

“We are bringing the farm shop to the table.”

The next big stage of his plans for business in the village is the development of the new lodges, subject to final planning approval as we go to press. He has already won the support of the parish council, and he has worked closely with the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty authority to finalise the design, aspect and situation. “We see it as critical to the sustainability, not just of this business but of the other businesses in the village,” he says.

I really don’t think most of them can cope. That’s the bottom line,” he says.

So, are those aspiring to an idyllic innkeeper lifestyle blinded to the realities? “I think they are probably less so now, because most people today who are either thinking about this type of business, or going into one, have access to the internet. They can quite easily do their research. And I think that dynamic has changed: I don’t think there are as many starry-eyed people entering hospitality from a point of view of ignorance,” he says.

The days of running a country pub as a hobby have therefore probably come to an end, he says.

“Information is far more accessible than it ever used to be. Whether that leads to the emotive side giving way to the non-emotive side of running your own pub, I don’t know.”

VILLAGE DECLINE When Richard and Louise acquired the inn in 2001,

INTEGRATED BUSINESS As he awaits final approval for his lodge accom-

the village had five pubs. Today there are three.

“Those stresses and strains have been in the industry for quite a long time,” he says. “I know rural pub closures have accelerated over a long period, but Allendale’s story goes back to the 1980s in terms of a decline in trade. It has been a long, slow bleed for the village,” he says.

It is also not inconceivable that the village may lose yet another pub, he says. “It could be this one, it could be any. I just don’t think currently there is enough trade to sustain three pubs here for the long term.” Causes of this drain stem from a culmination of things, he says.

“If you look at the financial stresses on small family-run businesses, every day you get out of bed and you literally must be everything from the joiner to the business brain and everything in between.

“It is very difficult for small family businesses to have all the skills you need to run a successful business these days, because there is so much that you have to get right on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, down to your marketing material. All these things are extremely expensive things to procure. If you want to draft in expertise, for example in marketing or social media or employment law, or for whatever you care to mention, whether you are a company with a CEO and 1,000 staff or The Golden Lion with 20 staff, you still have to comply with all the regulations, and it’s a big challenge,” he says.

Businesses of this size simply do not have the inhouse capacity, time or earnings to cope with all the external costs, he says. For example, he explains: “We now have 3% employer’s contribution on pensions, meaning wages have gone up sharply. I’m not saying that is a bad thing – it’s great for the country as a whole and for everybody in the workplace. But it’s hard or impossible for small businesses like ours to sustain that without the regular footfall to deliver the client base to pay for it. These financial burdens keep getting piled up on top of small businesses, and

modation development, Richard is working towards integrating his small farm with the Golden Lion in order to create an integrated hospitality and food production business. “We will have multiple income streams from two separate businesses. We aim to pull them together and make them work together more effectively through better land-use in for improved economic returns from areas of poor production. This is land we can’t plough, and land where you can’t really graze cattle terribly well, and it is right on the

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IN PROFILE || ALLENDALE INN edge of the village, just 500m from the pub’s door along a footpath. It means the guests that come to stay will have a fabulous rural outlook, and we plan to open up the farm to these guests. They can also walk to the pub, which is a big differentiator.

“We plan to let those lodges on a half-board basis and guests will come in here for their evening meals; not everyone who stays in a lodge wants to cook every night - more likely they want to go out to the local pub.

They don’t really want to drive: instead they can walk here, which is a potential game changer,” he says.

DISCERNING MARKET The lodges Richard plans to erect on his land will be upmarket, featuring one to three-bedroom options with en suite facilities. “In those we are principally looking to attract families and those customers with discerning taste-buds, who come in and resolve to pay for a Dexter beef joint Sunday roast or Dexter beef steak. That is the end of the market we are chasing, to match the home-produce side.”

He stresses how much more expensive it is to produce meat of the quality he will deliver from his farm.

“There is a high cost involved producing Dexters as opposed to producing a continental breed of cattle that yield two to three times the amount of meat

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Winter || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || 35

IN PROFILE || ALLENDALE INN

per carcass, so the price to the consumer must be higher,” he says.

So how would that sit with the village pub setting, locals coming in to have a beer, locals supporting the inn, and is there a risk moving into this more discerning market? “You don’t do it exclusively,” he says.

“There is a market not being catered for in Allendale that wants that kind of product, perhaps in the ambience we have in the inn itself. But I don’t think you alienate your bread-and-butter market. We are doing 300-400 covers a week at present, so we wouldn’t suddenly deny them a menu and insist they only had the one that cost twice as much.”

The same will apply when the inn brews its own beers, which it is about to start doing again shortly, he says. “We put two or three of our own brews on tap, but we don’t insist to our customers that they either drink our brews or go next door: they have to want to drink it.” And he recalls: “When we brewed previously it was very successful and customers were

model. We need to be able to employ two chefs at a high standard all year round,” says Richard.

The nearest population centres are Newcastle, Durham, Carlisle and Hexham, and there is therefore a lot of competition for hospitality staff, he stresses.

One local businessman and a regular in the pub interjects: “The competition pub-wise here is strong.

You must find a way of differentiating yourself to survive. Don’t over-price yourself. This is not a destination pub – you are not going to get many people coming from far away. Get your pricing right. Make it good, honest, locally produced products!”

often choosing it over national brands. If you do it right, and you price it right, then you win the customer’s support: it’s different and it’s discerning and you can only get it here.”

so you can go onto social media and read all the reviews and get a feel for how a place is run quite quickly by looking at what is going on online. We pride ourselves on trying to do the job right and that is reflected in social media reviews like those on TripAdvisor,” he says.

ATTRACTING STAFF Attracting and retaining good talent is a challenge almost throughout the year for any inn, and the Golden Lion is not immune to this. Richard says: “We have a great team now, but it is not a given in a location like Allendale that you are always going to have that resource of great people and skills. People in the workplace working on hospitality wages are not going to have the capacity to travel very far,” he says. “For example, they are not going to get into their car in Newcastle 30 miles away to spend an evening as the chef at the Golden Lion in Allendale.

You are really looking for home-grown talent, which is not always available.”

It is also a challenge because running an inn requires particular skill sets, attitudes and mannerisms in the way staff operate. “You have to find those that do want to work here in their backyard. You then have to work with them to get them to a level that takes into account the fact that somebody paying 30 for a meal instead of 9.95, expects a certain level of attention and standard at the table, and a chef capable of putting that meal on the plate sustainably, reliably and consistently,” he says.

He adds: “I’m not saying we don’t have all those facets now – and we have a lot of training to do to make sure we can take the next step. Again, he says, such things cannot be taken for granted.”

The inn loses a lot of its young staff after the summer, when many of them return to university after the holidays, and attracting that talent all the year round is a further challenge. “While it is great that our busiest period of the year coincides with the availability of staff, that itself is not a sustainable business

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SOCIAL MEDIA Offsetting some of the challenges the business faces is the emergence of the use of social media, which Richard says is a relatively new and powerful tool when it comes to both advertising and attracting new staff. “People do want to work in nice places with a good culture and where there is a good reputation

REPEAT VISITORS Once people have paid a visit to Allendale, then the village and surrounding countryside tend to infect people, and the Golden Lion plays a part in this, Richard says.

“Our new barman is someone who visited Allendale, fell in love with the Golden Lion and came in here every day they were staying in the village,” he says. “Two or three years later they had just bought a new house in Allendale having moved from Yorkshire. That’s not the first time I have heard of that happening, of people falling in love with the area so much they move here. You have all the facilities you need in the village. Not many others have the range we have here.”

He reflects: “It’s a fantastic story that we have a gentleman who has gone into semi-retirement and moved to Allendale because he fell in love with the place. He told me it was the Golden Lion that sold Allendale to him. He used to have his own pub and is keen to get involved with the brewing and is going to be a great asset.

“He only wants a couple of sessions a week behind the bar to get to know everybody and integrate into the community. That sort of story is fantastic - It enriches Allendale and brings new skills and talents into the area, too.”

It’s not a faceless 100-room hotel where you have unfettered 24hour access. It’s a very different type of venue. It’s more like being in a B&B in someone’s house.

GUEST BREAKFAST Richard says: “Breakfast is a substantial continental breakfast with an option to pay for a full cooked breakfast, and people don’t mind at all. Fewer people actually want a cooked breakfast these days.

Many people are a lot more health-conscious than

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they once were. It’s not uncommon to see guests go out for a morning hike before breakfast, and in fact quite a few of our guests are on walking holidays.

People do not necessarily want a massive, great, big cooked breakfast. Those that do really enjoy it, and don’t mind paying for it. Soon the sausages and black puddings will be home-made from our own pigs produced just 200m from our front door. We will certainly be supporting local business through our own endeavours as much as we can. That’s an exciting story and it is where the market’s at as well.

“We will also be doing farm tours. It’s not been done around here yet and it fits well with the concept of amalgamating the two businesses,” he adds.

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HANDLING DRUNK GUESTS As any innkeeper will testify, problems occur when guests may enjoy a little too much of the alcohol on offer, and with three pubs in close proximity to each other Allendale is no exception.

Richard says: “We have had to assist guests up the stairs after they have gone for a pub crawl around the village and come back in a bit of a state. We try to discourage that sort of behaviour, but it can happen. When they are not in your bar all night you don’t really have any control, nor know how much booze they are drinking.”

If he or the bar staff have an inkling that this is likely to happen, they make a point of informing any overnight guests concerned that the pub will be locked up at midnight and they won’t get back in, so it would be a good idea for them to get back to their room in not too poor a state. “It’s just a civilised discussion about the etiquette of your guests,” says Richard. “At the end of the day I know they are paying to be here, but they are still in your custodianship and on your property.”

“It’s not a faceless 100-room hotel where you have unfettered 24-hour access. It’s a very different type of venue. It’s more like being in a B&B in someone’s house. I don’t think it is too much to expect to say to guests that there is a kind of code of conduct that I’d like to think our guests would adhere to. I’m not frightened to have that discussion with people. You have other guests to consider. They don’t want to be woken up at 3am by drunken hooligans staggering along the corridor and banging on the doors,” he says.

Each year the inn holds a disco after the annual Allendale show, and it is always very popular. “The pub was packed this year - traditionally it is one of our busiest nights of the year. We had young farmers from all around the north-east in the pub. Then all the youngsters trundled off to a locally staged rave at around 9.30pm. They arrived to be told they were required to pay £10 entrance fee. They had gone out of curiosity and our pub just completely emptied because someone had put something on in the village hall which in my mind shouldn’t be competing with the local businesses that are trying to create and sustain local employment in already challenging circumstances.”

In the event, on being challenged to pay, the

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IN PROFILE || ALLENDALE INN

THE ROOMS There are four guest rooms currently at the inn, and if the lodges get the official go-ahead it will more than double Richard’s accommodation capacity.

In the inn are two super king beds, one king size and a single room. Three are en suite and one has a private bathroom. The two super king rooms can accommodate a couple of extra beds for children, and the single room has a bunk bed.

Laundry, meanwhile, is farmed out to a laundry in Hexham. “They run a really good service and get it back to us on time every time,” says Richard.

IN PROFILE || ALLENDALE INN youngsters turned around, returned to the Golden Lion and spent the rest of the night having a ball, “in a very controlled environment,” Richard adds.

DEMOGRAPHIC REVIVAL Like villages the length and breadth of the UK, Allendale has suffered from a youth drain for many years.

“We have literally lost generations of youngsters,” says Richard. “The affordability to stay in Allendale and the limited job choice have been quite tough.

The draw for the likes of our younger staff to go off to university and chase their dreams academically creates a drain.”

It also creates an employment opportunity when they are back from university, he says. “Often when they have had a taste for being in a livelier environment they choose to stay there, and they don’t come back home for a multitude of reasons. Social engagement, employment opportunities and affordability all come into it. Allendale, like many other places, really has suffered from a regular’s perspective too, for you don’t then have the numbers to make the darts teams and so forth.”

However, he has noticed that dynamic beginning to change in Allendale. “Suddenly we are seeing more youngsters heading back to the village,” he says. “I can’t quite put my finger on why that is, but we are noticing in this pub a lot more youngsters happy to stay in the village for their night out rather than all jumping into a minibus or taxi and going off to Hexham or Newcastle.”

Not only are they congregating in the pub, but it is holding them during the evening more than it used to, he observes. “Only the other night I was talking to a couple who said isn’t it fantastic to see the youth in Allendale coming out: where have they been? Yes,

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they were a bit rowdy and doing what youngsters do, but I think youngsters in the village that come to the pub do have a healthy respect for the business, and they don’t tend to overstep the mark. It was lovely to hear some of the older customers saying how nice it was to have youth disturbing their quiet pint, rather than saying what a pain it was,” he says.

The statistics bear out his observations. In the early 2000s the village population fell by 10%, but in the past few years it has begun to swing back, and with it an increase in the number of younger residents.

Local activities are helping this demographic reversal. Richard says: “The local sporting clubs have really ramped up in the village in cricket and football and are performing at a very high level, and they have one of the largest youth development programmes in the north for young people in and around the area.

That is down to a handful of individuals in the village that are really driving that retention and helping people to move back here with their families.”

GOVERNMENT POLICY As we went to press no end was in sight to the apparently never-ending psychodrama of Brexit. If Britain exits the EU, for better or worse, it will exit the scandalous protectionism of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Richard says there is a need for a government that understands and implements proactive policies to mitigate the cost centres that are experienced uniquely in the rural pub industry.

“We’re not on a high street in the middle of a city where the footfall lands,” he says. “You can put the best flag out front, but if you don’t have the footfall you don’t have the business. Government policy needs to recognise that, and it needs to put measures in place that help mitigate those cost centres.”

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DESTINATION OF CHOICE Planning permission for the lodges was still tantalisingly unapproved as we went to press, but if his planning application does not get approval it won’t be the end of the road for his business integration and village revival plans, he says.

He reflects: “To be honest I’d been in an MD and CEO role in national businesses in Australia for a number of years when I got to that stage in my life when I was ready to go back to working for myself, not being on planes and having stressful board meetings throughout the week. I was ready for the change, and for Louise and me this was coming back home. This was home, all our family are here, so we were always going to come back to Allendale at some point.”

He is planning expansion very much on the back of the anticipated growth in tourism to Allendale and other surrounding Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. “We have looked at the market, done a lot of research, spoken to Northumberland Tourism and to local tourism operators. All our research indicates that Northumberland is one of the destinations of choice now. All the signs are that is not going to stop any time soon – on the contrary it is growing. So, we are in a growth market location nationally and I think the Allen valleys have been, relatively speaking, a bit undiscovered. You’ve got the [Hadrian’s] Roman Wall, which is a massive attraction. We are well-positioned here with the Dales – the two Allen valleys (East & West Allen) – and then you are just a short hop over into the Weir Valley, and the lakes aren’t that far either. It’s a spectacular drive from Allendale over Hartside to get there.

We are finding that guests who have been staying with us have been happily basing themselves here and then darting off and seeing other such attractions,” he says.

Allendale is situated in a pristine, beautiful landscape. As a farm-owner himself, Richard says: “We all work hard on the land to keep it that way. All the farmers in the valleys are extremely committed to that. But then so are a lot of other places in the UK: extremely natural environments. You must have that differentiator. Some have historical or geographical differentiators. We don’t necessarily have so much of that to talk about from a promotional perspective in Allendale, and it’s here that we are going to launch this latest Allen Valleys initiative.”

The Golden Lion Hotel itself exudes an air of quality.

The staff are helpful and professional, the food of an outstandingly high quality, and when I was there the inn had just been awarded the Club Members Award for Timothy Taylors Landlord, in recognition of excellence of service. “The punters say we provide a good Landlord pint compared to other places, so we are now proud members of the Champions Club,” he says.

“If we can develop the Taste Allen Valleys concept and have all this local produce, which really has its own distinct characteristics and taste on the plate, then I think it will give visitors a reason to come here as opposed to anywhere else equally beautiful,” he concludes.

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IN PROFILE || ALLENDALE INN

Intimately intertwined with this is the CAP, under which massive rural subsidisation is going into land but virtually none into the local economy – the small rural businesses that are really struggling, he says. “These businesses are the ones that are really providing the employment in rural areas,” he says.

“There has to be a repositioning and when Brexit has gone through, if it does, there is an opportunity over the next five years to reposition CAP more into a rural framework policy,” he says. “We are no longer talking about the environment but about the living environment, and the way in which government policy can add financial support. It can thus have an impact helping to stop rural youth depopulation and to enhance skills development and opportunities in rural areas, help small businesses be more sustainable and survive through training programmes and support – it could be a whole range of measures.”

He stresses: “There is a real opportunity to reposition that public support for the rural sector beyond the farm gate. Even with farm support on our small-scale farm it is not enough to make a material difference in the viability of that farm holding. But if we now start talking about vertically integrated businesses – literally paddock to plate…”

What must be considered is the regulation overheads, bureaucracy, support and the employment his integrated business and others are creating, he says.

“We, the co-op and the Allendale Brewery will be the three largest employers in Allendale. Can we sustain that? Probably not now, but as an integrated business, wouldn’t it be lovely if instead of a common agricultural policy there were a rural policy that recognises businesses that are doing something quite amazing for employment in a rural area where there are very little other employment options?

“How can we make sure businesses like ours have the support measures in place to ensure they can get to the next level? We’re talking about those animals over there making it to a plate right here. Yes, they have to go to a slaughterhouse far away because there were so many regulatory interventions that we lost our local slaughterhouse in Allendale many years ago. But we have now lost the butcher, the gift shop (which was Louise’s parents’ business), and there are no takers to come and buy and take on businesses like them, because they struggle to see the financial viability with all the cost centres on the top of the business itself. It’s just too much for people to take in.”

IN DEPTH || SAVE OUR PUBS

Inns and pubs across the UK are closing at an unprecedented rate, with an estimated two dozen pub closures now happening every week. Bill Lumley speaks to campaign groups dedicated to forcing the government to recognise the injustices of the business rate system for licensees

LAST CHANCE saloon

THERE are plenty of underlying reasons attributed to this decline in businesses that are at the heart of rural, village and urban communities alike, ranging from the smoking ban to demographics to punitive alcohol levies. But the biggest single contributing factor is arguably the business rating system that has seen many pubs’ business rates rise by 100% or more.

In 2017 the UK government dramatically increased rateable values for many pubs, and did so unfairly according to the campaign group Save Our Pubs.

The rateable values for pubs are derived from factors including turnover, or ‘fair maintainable trade’.

Last year the lobby group, which started out as Save St Albans Pubs, comprising a number of the town’s pub landlords, spearheaded a campaign to address the unreasonable impact of business rates on pubs and successfully called for case studies earlier this year to present to the government to bolster its case for a change in rates assessment.

Members of the campaign group met the then Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Robert Jenrick MP, in February this year to urge the Government to review pubs’ business rates, and have since produced evidence of pubs that have seen an unfair increase in business rates since the last Budget.

The business rate relief announced in last October’s budget provided one third off business rates for businesses with a rateable value of £51,000 or less, but this reduction was not enough to help the majority of pubs in St Albans, which saw a sharp increase in their business rates.

The group told the Treasury Minister the cut in rates was putting further pressure on their businesses rather than proving to be of any help.

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RESULTS EMERGING The biggest achievement of the campaign group so far is that it is now consulting with government on the 2021 business rating system. Spokesperson Mandy McNeil tells Innkeeper: “The whole issue with taxes is that they are too high. We have highlighted to the government that they failed to implement the policy in accordance with their own guidelines.”

There are supposed to be rate tests with regard to pubs on the basis of fair maintainable trade by a reasonably efficient operator, she says. “If you are in St Albans for example and you have a Michelin-starred chef in your inn’s restaurant then the incremental revenue you get over and above that should be discounted, because the next person that comes into the inn might not be able to sustain it.”

Some 50% of pubs saw their rates fall, but 30% saw them rise by 50%, and around 10% saw rates rise of more than 100%, she says.

There are 49,000 pubs in the UK. “We looked at the rateable values of all of them and calculated that around 8,000 pubs had business rates rise by more than 100%.”

She adds: “This is the biggest factor affecting the decline in the number of pubs.”

NATIONWIDE SUPPORT Save our Pubs won the backing of nationwide consumer organisation CAMRA a year ago, providing it with access to the national reach of the consumer lobby group. The real ale lobby group campaigns on behalf of those who enjoy drinking beer, cider and perry and going to pubs to do this.

CAMRA chief executive Tom Stainer tells Innkeep-

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viability of pubs and inns, but obviously it is of equal importance to beer consumers. Pubs are closing across the country, and sadly we are still seeing dozens of pubs closing every week and consumers are losing out as they don’t get that great choice of pubs and that great value for money,” he says.

As an organisation CAMRA is heavily lobbying government too for reform of the business rate system, he says. “We feel it is penalising licensees, preventing investment, management and employment particularly of young people in local areas and is therefore stopping money going into the local economy. A lot of our lobbying is focused that way,” he stresses. “We

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support the Save Our Pubs campaign, and we have been helping out with the campaign in whatever way we can and providing advice to them,” he adds.

Tom also commends the lobby group not simply for having successfully lobbied parliament but also for having organised activities such as tours of pubs by MPs to hammer home the unfairness of the current business rate system to the lawmakers.

He says: “These tours really open their eyes to the real situation, taking these MPs around pubs and demonstrating how successful they are, and how they are being absolutely nailed by an increase in business rates. In some instances, it is necessitating licensees having to sell an extra 20,000 pints of beer per year just to break even under the new business rates.”

Much of the work the two lobby groups are doing in demonstrating to decision makers and politicians that what they are actually doing is driving very special pubs to the wall. “Many of these are pubs and inns that simply cannot cope under the current business rate system,” he says.

IN DEPTH || SAVE OUR PUBS

er: “In order to give consumers best value for money and the best experience when they are enjoying the drinks we have evolved to campaign for issues like business rates and beer duties. For this reason, we have become more focused on campaigning for pubs as well as consumers: we recognise that if you like real ale, you like to drink it in a good pub.”

He says that while the Save Our Pubs campaign is not organised by CAMRA, his organisation is very supportive of the campaign, which he says has been highly successful in its own right. “They are addressing an issue that is very important to us both as an organisation and to licensees across the country,” he says.

The issue of business rates is of vital importance to innkeepers and licensees because, he says, while they only account for about 0.5% of business turnover, they are paying close to 3% of total UK business rates.

“Estimates are that licensees are now overpaying in total around £500m a year. This issue is vital to the

NATIONAL COVERAGE In addition to the St Albans campaign, CAMRA has a national lobbying campaign to copy the blueprint for success established in St Albans.

“The campaign now has a national feel to it with national press coverage, and the licensees behind it have been very successful. We are helping to spread that message because it is a life support for pubs across the country.”

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IN DEPTH || SAVE OUR PUBS

He stresses that it would be very helpful to the cause if pubs and inns in other regions of the UK would take a look at what Save St Albans Pubs had achieved and consider whether they too can replicate the achievements by the same means on a local basis elsewhere.

“Anything innkeepers for example can do to add pressure to politicians by raising the issue, for example by writing to their local MPs, contacting the local press down to organising a fully fledge campaign like the Save St Albans Pubs, will help and add to the pressure,” he says.

They can mobilise their own customers too, he says. “One of the great successes licensees Sean and Christo at Save St Albans Pubs have achieved is actually making their own customers aware of the impact the skewed business rate issue has on them.

They are making their customers aware that if pubs are facing huge business bill hikes, the only way they can survive is by increasing the cost of beer. That obviously impacts on the customers. So, you can also

campaign on their behalf at a national level. Raising awareness of this and other issues such as the duty paid on every pint of beer served where one third of that goes to the Treasury. If we could reduce beer tax and allow retailers to keep more of the cost of the pint that wold in turn encourage more investment and more money into the local economy and make the whole trade more viable,” he says.

Although the statistics are not available he says there are probably many thousands of members of CAMRA who also run pubs. “We don’t claim to represent the trade in that way, but we are obviously campaigning on issues that affect the trade from a consumer point of view,” he says.

CAMRA has carried out a vast amount of campaigning on beer tax on business rates and issues such as the pubs code and planning law. “If anyone in the trade cares about beer, real ale, cider, perry as well as the viability of pubs, there are industry bodies that represent them. But I think CAMRA does a very good job of representing consumers,” says Tom. “We are listened

mobilise your bar’s customers through various means, whether social media or traditional media.”

For example, the UK’s oldest pub Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Albans run by Christo Tofalli has produced a newspaper for his customers that details the issues of the campaign and helps inform his customers about the huge difficulties that he and other licensees face.

to by government because we have a large membership, and we have a long history of campaigning.

“If licensees want to add their voice to what we are doing we welcome them as members,” he says.

Much of the campaigning undertaken by CAMRA is conducted via social media, but the group also runs many campaigns such as its Summer of Pub campaign.

The campaign kicked off during the May bank holiday weekend this year with the simple aim of encouraging pub-going throughout the summer. The consumer organisation wrote to thousands of pubs across the country encouraging them to host celebratory events to help more people rediscover their love for the great British local.

CAMRA MEMBERSHIP Caveating the following with “I would say this, wouldn’t I?” Tom says: “Encouraging customers to join CAMRA helps the ultimate goal, because the more members we have, the more we can represent the voice of drinkers and pub-goers, because we

Great British Beer Festival 2018, Olympia London

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IN DEPTH || SAVE OUR PUBS

Campaigner of the Year 2019, The Boot, St Albans

Encouraging customers to join CAMRA helps the ultimate goal, because the more members we have, the more we can represent the voice of drinkers and pub-goers

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“Licensees signed up and we sent them graphics or beer mats and we listed their events on our website and got our members to like them. Licensees should keep an eye on our website and social media CAMRA official or camra.co.uk.

“In due course I am sure through campaigns such as Sumer of Pub we will introduce posters and beer mats to raise the issue,” says Tom. BUSINESS RATES “I think we have a really strong argument,” he says. “It is an argument based in facts. You can point for example to the fact that pubs account for a tiny proportion of business turnover. They are paying a much higher proportion of their revenue on total business taxes.

“While there are numerous examples of pubs that are hugely successful and continuing massively to their local economies, they are being hit by business rates that either potentially close them down or in some cases have done so.

“When we talk to MPs and show them the way the pubs are being affected, we think they get the argument. We are therefore confident that MPs are listening and that they understand the problems.”

He says: “At the same time, we do understand that the business rate system is very complex, but I think for all sorts of reasons it needs reform, and not just in regard to pubs. It needs to be fairer to everyone involved, not least to encourage investment and employment. At the end of the day more is going to be brought into the economy if they get it right rather than will be achieved by putting successful businesses out of business.”

More than 30 of the 50 pubs in the St Albans areal

alone have been impacted, and they will need to collectively sell approximately 180,000 pints per year to cover the hike, according to Mandy at Save Our Pubs. “A discount revealed in the October Budget gave a third off business rates for retail premises, but many St Albans pubs do not qualify because they are valued above £51,000.

“Additionally, turnover is part of the equation used to calculate business rates - a sore point for successful establishments,” she adds.

TRADE ASSOCIATION The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) estimates more than 20 pubs are closing each week. Chief executive Brigid Simmonds tells Innkeeper: “At the 2018 Autumn Budget, then Chancellor Phillip Hammond cut business rates for high street and other small business by a third for two years. This news was very welcome to the pub sector and we estimate it will have saved pubs a tax bill of £120 million, securing the viability of many community pubs. This did not help larger pubs, however, who have higher rateable values, but are not necessarily more profitable businesses.

“Without doubt, the current business rates system is obsolete and needs vital reform. As a whole, pubs are still paying 2.8% of the entire business rates bill, despite accounting for just 0.5% of business turnover,” she says.

Thanks to the hard efforts of the Save St Albans Pubs, the Save Our Pubs campaign, CAMRA and other industry associations and lobby groups the UK government is finally starting to listen. It can only help if other regional groups are formed to hammer home the message to the Treasury.

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IN PROFILE || VAN MANSION

NEGOTIATING the castle walls

Van Mansion also known as Castell y Fan or Y Fan is a 500-year-old mansion set on the outskirts of Caerphilly just north of Cardiff.

Restoring a listed building doesn’t come without its snags. Bill Lumley speaks to Christine Tallon who tells of the switch from City rat race to luxury country dream

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IN 2017, a high-flying couple quit their life in central London in 2017 to embark on an ambitious project to convert a neglected 500-year-old mansion house built from the ruins of Caerphilly castle into a luxurious year-round B&B. Christine Tallon was a partner in a central London law firm, and her partner, Adrian was finance director.

After spending much of her adult life around Cardiff Christine had moved to London in 2005, “in something of a now-or-never move,” she says.

Two years ago, the couple decided they had had enough of “the rat race” as Christine puts it, and they decided to take on a project to overhaul the habitable but neglected seven-bedroom mansion house.

“We clearly recall arriving on that March evening to horizontal rain, in the dark having spent several hours on the M25 and M4 from London, unable to find light switches, looking at the state of it and thinking that it was like arriving in the Adams family house! But it was ours and the start of a new adventure,” she says.

“Although we have both renovated houses previously, those were nothing in comparison to the scale of Van Mansion, and the term ‘DIY’ doesn’t really express the enormity of this renovation. It has been a complete lifestyle change, a challenge and a massive learning curve, but it’s an exciting prospect for us after living in the rat race in London,” she says. As far as lifestyle changes go, she adds: “Adrian is a true Londoner, so the change of scene to here has been a lot more dramatic for him. Having spent more of my adult life in Wales, the move to Caerphilly felt like a move ‘home.’”

They both knew the project would involve a steep learning curve, and quite how steep became apparent when they began to confront the technicalities

that arise from the fact that the property is grade II-listed. Fortunately, good planning means that while they have a full-time project manager in the form of Adrian, Christine is still earning a freelance income as a legal risk and compliance consultant and assessor.

Co-ordinating the different trades and getting the timings right is frequently a logistical nightmare, she says. “Days just vanish and the ‘to do’ list just seems to get longer rather than shorter!”

SURVEY REPORT Their first shock was the property survey report, she says. “It came back the size of a book, and its concluding sentence was: ‘This is not a project for the faint-hearted’,” she recalls. “I do like a challenge, but before long it ended up being far more dramatic than the survey had suggested.”

Even at such a detailed level, it did not convey the full extent of the restoration that was necessary, she says. “We have had to take down all the internal walls and rip out every floor and ceiling, to replace everything with soundproof materials. Removing showers revealed rotting floors underneath.”

Another treat in store was the discovery that the original stone walls had been covered by concrete render - entirely the wrong product for a 500-yearold stone building, as concrete doesn’t breathe. “We have hacked off all the concrete render both inside and out. All the internal stone walls are now being re-rendered in lime, so we are using the correct product. It means the building will dry out and breathe. You can almost hear the building breathing a sigh of relief!” she says.

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IN PROFILE || VAN MANSION

Meanwhile, she says, they will have to wait a year or two for the outside to dry out before re-rendering, although many people have commented on the fact that they feel it looks far nicer now than it did with the render.

It does seem manifestly unfair that, having meticulously followed all the correct channels to obtain the property and to seek all planning permission, the couple are now finding various regulatory authorities to be suddenly taking an interest in the former mansion where in fact no attention had been paid to what was happening to it for the last 25 years whilst it was inhabited by previous owners. “We are doing everything by the book, researching products and materials carefully and engaging with the authorities but it does sometimes feel as though hurdles are being placed in the way unnecessarily - particularly given the lack of interest in it previously” she says.

Partially built from the stone from Caerphilly castle under licence from Henry VIII, most of the building had been a ruin for 200 years before it was taken over by the previous owners, she explains.

“The last owners of the property had no real interest in the character or history of the building.

They just wanted to live in a castle and be lord of the manor,” says Christine. “All of the work that they undertook was done badly and wrongly, with no reference to the Welsh government’s protected sites authority, CADW, which in turn had paid no interest in the building while it had been under the custodianship of the previous owners.”

When she and Adrian came to buy the property, they went through the proper channels, employing a historic architect specialising in old buildings and cathedrals. Although it took them 10 months to get planning approval, they were awarded it on their first

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IN PROFILE || VAN MANSION

official attempt - but with no fewer than 23 conditions attached. “Eight of these were ecological conditions, including consideration for bats, which has has probably been the most onerous and frequently illogical part of it,” she says.

The conflict between ecological regulation and listed building status is great, the couple have learned. For example, Christine says: “Getting a licence to fell self-seeded and non-indigenous sycamore trees growing on top of a listed wall is an ongoing nightmare, because the two corresponding planning departments do not speak to each other.

On the one hand, we need to preserve the 500-yearold listed wall in the back garden, and on the other hand, the trees are under a general TPO. The two are not compatible as the trees are damaging the wall, and at some point the trees will fall anyway bringing the wall with them.”

She adds: “The planned public terrace where we had hoped to be serving afternoon teas or tapas on the terrace has had to take a back step until next year as the

we will be providing toiletries in the rooms, our intention is to steer clear of plastic bottles, because that results in an awful lot of plastic wastage. We will source that sort of product in an ecologically sound form and will put notices in the rooms suggesting guests save water and energy on washing towels.”

And when it comes to breakfasts, the plan is to serve local produce, she says. “Our intention is to source local Welsh products including bacon, sausages, black pudding, eggs. And we plan to work with and refer guests to other local businesses within the county borough, whether that is local restaurants or places of interest, riding activities, climbing centres, mountain-biking etc to help encourage tourism to Wales and all it has to offer,” she adds.

Christine and Adrian will be applying for an alcohol licence to serve guests so that they can enjoy a glass of wine in a cosy environment in front of the woodburner.

budget has been completely blown out of the window.

We simply have to focus on getting the actual house up and running and getting the front of it looking nice.”

Even without regulatory intervention, the very nature of restoring the 500-year-old building means many of the costs have been higher than they were expecting.

For instance, she says: “We have truly beautiful bespoke-made doors in much of the property now, made by a joinery in South Wales. Because of the sizes of things like doorways, nothing is off-the-shelf. We find ourselves constantly having to look at things that are slightly more unusual and specialist.”

themselves on the edge of Gwern y Domen, which forms part of the mere three percent ancient meadowland that remains in the UK. For those arriving by train, the station at Caerphilly is just at the bottom of the hill, about a 15-minute walk, and it takes 15 minutes by train into Cardiff – “it’s quicker to get a train than it is to drive,” says Christine. “Guests can get to events such as the big concerts or rugby matches in Cardiff whilst staying out in the country being able to go for a walk in the morning before or after breakfast. We are just outside Caerphilly town but are within easy walking distance. And yet when you are up here at night it is silent but for the sounds of the owls.”

When the regulatory authorities are giving the couple a hard time over a couple of trees, it seems a bit rich that they have been considering approval of the building of 650 homes on Gwern-y-Domen itself.

Christine and Adrian have both been actively involved in the objection for the houses on what is left of such rare ancient meadowland. “We have just won the first stage of a fight against the local authority but the war is not over yet. This beautiful countryside needs to be saved from the greedy developers,” she says.

THE ROOMS Christine and Adrian had originally been planning to open their doors this summer. This has been pushed back to a later date of December this year, a target that may yet slip on to January. All the guest bedrooms will have ensuite bathrooms, three of which will have a bath and shower and the other three of which will be walk-in shower only. “They are well-proportioned bedrooms and bathrooms,” says Christine. “We have made sure we have used high-quality products that look luxurious, and the rooms will all be tastefully decorated. We have tried to keep colours in keeping with historic colours, and we have used specialist breathable natural mineral paints.”

Every one of the guest rooms is of good double size, she says. Two will have four-poster beds in them with en suite bath and shower – the third of these is their own - while the other rooms have king-sized beds, and one room has two large single beds that can be put together to make a super king-sized bed.

“They are all brand new beds, and we will have new carpets throughout the property – with the amount of dust that the renovation has generated and the poor state of the carpets in any event they would not have been reusable,” she says. “It is our intention to be as green as we feasibly can. Although

46 || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || Winter

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION Guests will walk out of the B&B’s doorstep to find

LIE OF THE LAND At the front of the B&B is a car park, which will offer a charging point for electric cars, and a courtyard leading to the turret entrance, while a good-sized back garden leads to a higher level garden that in due course will become a terrace overlooking the castle, the town and the valleys. “The intention is this will be open to dog walkers and horse riders who can stop to have a drink or an afternoon tea. But that has to wait till next year due to budget,” Christine says.

The B&B won’t be a dog-friendly hotel, but the longer-term plan is to convert the top floor of the attached barn and convert that into a dog-friendly self-catering apartment.

www.lbbmag.co.uk

www.lbbmag.co.uk

A two-storey kitchen wing was added behind in the mid sixteenth century. In 1583 Edward Lewis' son Thomas obtained the lease of Caerphilly Castle and used dressed stone from there to rebuild Van House with a new stair block on the East (rear) side and a gatehouse and walled court to the West overlooking the valley and Caerphilly Castle. The house had a first-floor and an unheated ground-floor hall.

In 1616 Sir Edward Lewis transferred his seat to St Fagans Castle and after 1628, when the main line of the family was no longer settled in Glamorgan, Van House became relatively insignificant. In the early seventeenth century the kitchen wing was extended by a further unit and became a separate farmhouse. The remainder of the house may have been largely dismantled after 1736 when the Lewis estates were inherited by the Earl of Plymouth. The stair block also became part of the farmhouse and its stair was removed probably nineteenth century. In the late eighteenth century or early nineteenth century the farmhouse was extended again by the addition of a cart shed.

Van House remained part of the Plymouth Estate to 1991, by which time the lower storey windows had been robbed from the main range and nothing more than the bases had survived of its attic windows.

Winter || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || 47

IN PROFILE || VAN MANSION

YEAR-ROUND ATTRACTION There has been huge local support for the new B&B, she says. “Everyone who walks past asks how we are getting on and when we are going to be open. It really is interesting when people who know it is going to be a B&B walk past wanting to know when it is going to be open because they have a birthday for example, and they need somewhere for people to stay.”

She says: “We are anticipating a fairly even allyear-round attraction because Caerphilly has several business parks, and a lot of people travel to south Wales for business meetings. We will have Wi-Fi throughout to ensure that guests are able to work if necessary. We are hoping that whilst we will attract businessmen during the week, they may then want to come back with their families one weekend.”

Although they have not yet opened, Christine says she is aware of the “astronomical fees” that the online travel agents charge. But she says she is confident of achieving decent footfall. “We already have our own website, although it is not yet live, and we are already featured in the Caerphilly visitors’ guide for this year, which went out in January when we were a bit more optimistic about opening by the summer,” she says. “We anticipate that business will be generated by of word of mouth, and we will have Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. We have family and friends across Europe and further afield, and we are hoping that will generate interest as well, which is effectively free marketing.”

She adds: “We are hoping to attract solicitors and barristers from London through our network of contacts, visiting local judges judging at local events. The Big Cheese Festival which takes place in July in Caerphilly each year attracts thousands of visitors – often from further afield.”

Looking back at the original idea, she says it was not spontaneous. “We had toyed with the idea when asking ourselves if they really wanted to carry on working in the fiercely competitive environment of London for the rest of our lives,” she says. “We reached a point where we were working massively long hours and we both wanted a better work-life balance.” Although the restoration has been and continues to be hard work with much of the labouring, painting etc done by us to save on cost, we are now out in the country and it is a completely different lifestyle,” she says.

A house on the site of the Van is first mentioned in 1529 when it was purchased

by Edward Lewis, a sheriff of Glamorgan, and was mentioned by John Leland a decade later. This probably consisted of a groundfloor hall with storeyed porch, which survive partially as the present porch and the North and East walls of the main range.

IN DEPTH || FINANCE

FINANCE WHEN YOU really need it Whether you require financial backing to renovate or refurbish your property or you need urgently to restructure your loans, there are lenders out there awaiting your business. Bill Lumley examines some of the approaches hospitality business owners can take when a cash injection is needed

ROB MCCANN, M&A PARTNER, BDO

48 || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || Winter

HOWEVER fantastic your business may be, how superb your service, unexpected, unbudgeted issues can always emerge. With Spring just a few months away, now may be the time to begin the process of underpinning your plans to spruce up your business ahead of next year’s high season.

The approach to raising finance is seldom straightforward and can depend on the nature of your property. For example, one unique problem for many B&Bs compared with hotels is that they may have residential mortgages, being primarily a family home.

Often this can cause difficulties when an additional mortgage or loan is sought for business purposes.

B&B Association chairman David Weston says: “Different lenders have different criteria for business loans, but we know of one instance when the owners of a Somerset property with a residential mortgage applied to their bank for funding for an extension for a guest dining area. The lender then demanded the repayment of the whole property mortgage on the grounds that they did not realise the extent of the business activity. A business mortgage would have been unaffordable, so the owner felt it necessary to close the business and sell the whole property.”

A SECTOR VIEW The pubs and restaurant sector has experienced a high level of appetite from private equity and trade investors for well over 10 years, according to M&A partner at BDO in Manchester Rob McCann. He says: “These groups were typically attracted to concepts and chains offering the consumer experience-led eating and drinking and were able to demonstrate something different to their competitors. For example, we have seen a strong trend towards local and authentic trends, particularly in the gastro-pub and country dining space.” Meanwhile in towns and city-centre locations, premiumisation of drinks has been a factor in their success – for example, the craft beer revolution, and the trends towards botanical gins or cocktails, which show little sign of slowing, he says.

Other factors that remain a constant on the checklist for investors are a strong and dynamic management

team, a scalable concept model, and appropriate arrangements in relation to their property estate, he adds.

Private equity groups will typically look to acquire small independent bar or restaurant concepts and roll these out to wider locations. Therefore, those chains successful in attracting private equity money have typically been those where the concept has relevance to a wider or national audience, together with having an in-house strength in identifying and negotiating good property deals with landlords, he explains.

But he says: “While the sector has traditionally been a buoyant one, the pubs and restaurant space has faced economic challenges of late. It is difficult to draw a trend in the causes of these failures, but one might observe that overly aggressive roll-out strategies combined with inflexible property arrangements and very high levels of debt could be factors here. Therefore, those operators attracting capital at the current time will be those who continue to work hard to differentiate themselves, but do so in a cost-effective, simple and very flexible fashion, such that they may adapt to changes in economic sentiment and to changes in consumer tastes, which are frequent and far-reaching.”

If your business is trying to attract investment, preparation is key, he says. “Investors are looking for an experienced and ambitious management team with a well-considered roll-out plan. Preparing a flexible and integrated financial model enables investors and lenders to easily review and analyse the business plan ensuring momentum is kept up during the process,” he concludes.

PRESENTING YOUR CASE TO THE LENDER Whether you are in financial difficulty or your business is doing well, the approach to being awarded a loan is the same, according to B&B consultant Yvonne Halling. In order win the bank’s approval, you must have a solid plan, regardless of the circumstances.

She tells Luxury Bed & Breakfast: “In my own case in 2010, when the bailiffs were at the door I was really financially strapped. The gas had been cut off and I found out the mortgage had not been paid for a year.”

www.lbbmag.co.uk

www.lbbmag.co.uk

you are a bit strapped for cash then a small finance company can provide you with a convenient drawdown facility that will simply be approved, she says. “You have to be careful as the interest rates can be quite high. If you are doing a refurb and you need longer to recoup your money then I’d suggest you go to the bank and get a business loan,” she says.

MERCHANT CASH ADVANCE If B&B owners wish to renovate their property to increase their value and thus their guestroom prices, there are certain considerations to bear in mind.

Head of marketing at 365 Business Finance Martin Kennington tells Luxury Bed & Breakfast: “We see a lot of B&B owners taking our merchant cash advances for this sort of renovation, be it a simple update of a room or two, or a full refurb of the building. It’s important to keep the building and rooms up to date, as guests’ expectations have changed in recent years and they are ever more demanding (and willing to make their opinions known!) Replacing old furniture, ensuring the beds are of the highest quality, improving the aesthetics of common areas and – essential nowadays – ensuring there’s a strong Wi-Fi signal throughout the property are all key considerations, even before embarking on the larger renovation projects or expanding the building,” he adds.

From a financial perspective, it’s important that the B&B owner considers the impact of renovation on short term cash flow, he says. “If any number of rooms are out of action for refurbishment, it means a potential loss of income from those rooms. This needs to be weighed up against the post-refurb gains, namely greater demand for the higher-spec rooms and increased nightly rates – not to mention the upside of having ‘instagrammable’ rooms to aid in marketing efforts.”

There are some key differences between a merchant cash advance and a traditional bank loan. A bank loan is set over a fixed period, with fixed repayments regardless of how well the B&B is performing financially. A merchant cash advance has no fixed period and the fee is agreed up-front, so it doesn’t cost any more regardless of how long it takes. There are no administrative charges and no late fees and payments are made as a small percentage of the business’ card sales. This means if you have a slow month, you’ll pay back less; the repayment amount depends on the performance of the business. A bank loan typically requires security and a business plan, whereas a cash advance requires neither. A cash advance is also a much faster way of getting capital for your business, with funding in as little as 48 hours, unlike banks that typically take several weeks.

THE MERCHANT CASH ADVANCE PRINCIPLE There are other finance options, many of which involve giving away or risking equity in your B&B. Credit cards are another option, however the costs can spiral once repayments are required and the debt only rises over time.

Martin says he has witnessed a 44% growth in demand from hotels and B&Bs over the past six months alone, as owners are seeing a need for finance in order to improve their premises, expand, pay VAT bills and maintain a healthy cash flow.

“Our merchant cash advance was designed so that there could be no debt spiral.

Repayments are flexible according to how well the B&B is doing. For instance, if January’s bookings are lower than other months of the year then the repayments over that month will be lower. The business is thus not throttled for cash when takings are down,” he says.

RISKS TO CONSIDER It’s important to understand what the money is needed for and to weigh that up against the expected returns on that investment in the form of more bookings and more money into the business. You should also be wary of companies that offer unrealistically large loans and putting yourself at risk of borrowing more than your business can comfortably repay.

Martin says: “We lend up to maximum of the monthly average card takings. If a B&B takes £10,000 per month on card sales, we could lend them £10,000. Our minimum advance is £5,000 but we can advance up to £200,000 if the business is generating that much in monthly card sales. The key stipulation is that the B&B must have been trading for a minimum of six months.”

There are cheaper options he agrees, but they will always require security and fixed terms, plus set monthly payments, he says. “It is all too easy to get caught in a debt spiral, compounding loans on top of loans. A merchant cash advance is designed to be flexible and not put financial strain on a business.”

B&B Association chairman David Weston offer a tip to B&B owners. He says: “Do look into your entitlement to capital allowances, as you may be able to apply for these in respect of some building work and/or equipment purchases, and save tax. The savings can be significant, but this is a complex and technical issue, so you do need to consult a professional,” he says.

The key lesson here is not to worry unduly when you are strapped for cash but you know you have a sound business model. As Yvonne says, banks are there to lend.

Winter || Luxury Bed & Breakfast || 49

IN DEPTH || FINANCE

She says she wrote a long and considered letter to the bank. “I explained precisely why we had got into the situation, what I was going to do about it, and why I was confident I could do it,” she says.

“I had no tangible evidence it would work, but I understood how business worked and how the internet worked, and I knew exactly what I was going to do.

“Even if you have no proof you must be confident in your plan even though you may have no clue it will work,” she stresses.

This does not mean putting together a complex spreadsheet plan, but rather telling a convincing story backed up with some knowledge, determination and passion to follow it through.

One of her clients, whose business was doing well, wanted some capital to refurbish her B&B, an old property that needed a comparatively high level of maintenance. “I advised her to do the same: tell the story behind why you need the money and how you propose to pay it back. Explain you know what to do and why they should back you,” she says.

The biggest challenge for B&B owners is they are not typically business people, she stresses.

“They have no idea what their product is, nor why people would buy it from them. They don’t think like that, and therefore banks often won’t lend to them, because they don’t come across as professionals and business people.

“You don’t need a ton of spreadsheets to back it up – just need a simple one, setting out what you did last year, where the opportunities are in the market, and how you are going to reach those people and turn those opportunities into money.”

Nowadays the UK has few if any small business lenders, and hospitality owners must generally deal with big commercial banks, she says. “One of my clients in Dorset is restructuring her loan to get some cash for refurbishment, and the lender has been fantastic, not least because they have come out to see her property. It’s a good idea to get the bank manager to come out and see you and your business in your habitat, for then you have the upper hand. You are in your own domain and the energy of that will transmit in the form of confidence to the bank manager. They are a new lender and have been out to see her.”

Unfortunately, most B&B owners are not professional business people, she says. “They almost have the attitude of a beggar when they approach a bank, when actually the banks are helping them do what they are supposed to be doing: If they don’t lend, they will go out of business.”

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# #@( % @ @ % !#@ %! @ @ ! @ # @ @% ' # @ !! ! @

@ :12,14/8@ @ 549-498@ @ :814-88@ 49-77:69154@ 5;-7@ @ :*21+@ @ 3625>-78@ 1)*1219>@ @ :814-88@ -/)2@ =6-48-8@ 5;-7@ ? 5<@ =+-88@ 57@ 2)138 ? & @$0-.9@ @ ++1,-49)2 )3)/-@ >@ :-898 ? @"-+:719>@ 54,191548 Running a B&B or guest house is hard work and ringing around for days on end getting insurance quotes can be hassle and stress you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really need.

Hodgson Insurance Services are an independent family run insurance broker based in Bude, Cornwall. We have been insuring guest houses all over the UK for over 40 years and understand the needs and insurance requirements of the modern-day B&B owner. You wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ever be dealing with a call centre, you will always be speaking ZLWK WKH VDPH RU WUDLQHG VWDÎ? PHPEHUV (YHU\ EXVLQHVV LV GLÎ?HUHQW VRPH RÎ?HU D IXOO EUHDNIDVW RWKHUV allow guests access to cooking facilities. Some provide an element RI KROLGD\ OHWWLQJ PD\EH XVH RI D KRW WXE VRPH HPSOR\ VWDÎ? :H take time to understand how you run your business, as independent brokers we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just use one insurer, we have access to a number of specialist guest house insurance schemes and will search the market

WR Č´QG WKH EHVW PDWFK for your business, so you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to.

We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just sell on price, we make sure the covers are adequate for your needs. All guest house schemes have GLÎ?HUHQW WHUPV VRPH require security on doors & windows, some donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t, some include full Theft By Guests and some RQO\ RÎ?HU WKHIW FRYHU by forcible or violent entry. What excess do you have to pay in the event of a claim? All policies vary!! A burst pipe causes water damages to rooms which you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t now rent for 6 months, will the policy compensate you for lost business??

An insurance broker should always fully explain the main conditions of a policy to ensure it meets your requirements.

As general insurance brokers we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just do guest house insurance, although hospitality is a large part of our operation and we can look at quotes for holiday homes, restaurants, public houses etc, we also insure many landlords, shopkeepers and private motor vehicles.

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