Appointed during the height of the pandemic to provide operational management to an insolvency practitioner, Licensed Solutions deployed to Cornwall to take control of this sizeable, full-service holiday park. Combining self-catering lodge accommodation, sizeable grounds and a central guest facilities offering, the usual operational challenges were only compounded by the trading restrictions and lack of contractor availability associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Licensed Solutions team worked closely with the insolvency practitioner’s team to immediately review and address serious failings in key areas including:

• • Operational integrity
  • Commercial outlook to continue to generate revenue even in the midst of the pandemic
  • Statutory compliance
  • Local Authority compliance
  • Licensing challenges

Due to the rural location of the site, additional challenges needed to be addressed including close liaison with the Environment Agency to ensure full compliance with water management and waste disposal regulations for the wider site and its collection of fishing lakes.

Advising one of our investment clients, Licensed Solutions worked with their team and our extensive contacts in the property sector to source and acquire a sizeable asset in the Cotswolds in 2021. Post acquisition, the hotel was closed and has embarked on a full top to bottom renovation process, with a reopening date scheduled for Spring 2024. This detailed and complicated process has been overseen by the Licensed Solutions team who continue to work closely with various professional stakeholders to ensure that when the property is reintroduced to the market, it will be one of the premier upper market offerings in the Cotswolds. 

The Licensed Solutions team have worked on all areas of the renovation and reopening plan including:

• • Detailed input to the design process in all areas from kitchen design, public areas and bedroom and suite offerings
  • In depth analysis of market metrics and forecasted product positioning exercises including compilation of a 5-year trading and investment return budget for the client
  • Sales & Marketing pathway from closure to reopening, including all aspects of brand development and action selection
  • Product selection and procurement in all areas including PMS system, guest technology rationalisation, F&B offering and guest amenities

As well as helping to lead this exciting development project, Licensed Solutions have also been retained on a long-term management contract to operate the hotel when reopened and to work extensively with the client investor to actively source additional assets for purchase and potential development and repositioning

Our team were appointed to operate a diverse portfolio of sites in the North West on behalf of an insolvency practitioner with whom we have worked for many years. The sites ranged from large city centre hotels to a nightclub and a country house hotel, specialising in weddings and events.

Our team needed to quickly get to grips with multiple building control, compliance and reputational issues which were hampering trade and recruitment.

By working with the insolvency practitioner, the funder and the incumbent management teams, we have continued to work to turnaround the various properties in the portfolio, resulting in increased profitability for the hotel estate, achievement of statutory compliance in all areas, and a successful sale of the nightclub business to return value to the investor. The key actions headed by our team included:

• • Liaison with numerous contractors to drive statutory compliance in areas ranging from electrical certification, legionella and asbestos management systems
  • Review and revision of management structures in all sites resulting in a more commercially focussed senior team with better information and analysis generation
  • Intensive reputational management exercise to publicise distance from the previous operators
  • Liaison with a number of Local Authorities to build relationships which had been lacklustre under the previous operator
  • Introduction of proper systems and processes in areas ranging from service provision to financial accounting and rate management
  • Revision of key collateral to better drive revenue conversions