Talking Business: Coniston’s star burns ever brighter for Bannister
HE may be nearing 80 but Michael Bannister has no plans to retire.
Ian Briggs meets the owner of the 1,500 acre family-run Coniston Estate and discusses early morning workouts, expansion plans and why it’s good to have the ‘nuisance factor’.
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Baker Tilly and Bannister: “Baker Tilly has been incredibly supportive of us,” explains Michael Bannister. “We had to get a good business plan together to help deliver the £5m borrowings (from Yorkshire Bank in 2011) we required.” Mr Parr, a partner at Baker Tilly in Leeds, has acted for Michael Bannister for many years. “Although I’m not a director of the company I do go to the management meetings,” he says. “My job is to be awkward and to challenge.” Management figures include Louise Bolton, who has risen up the ranks to become general manager and Tom Bannister. |
MICHAEL Bannister isn’t happy. He’s just walked into the Huntsman’s Lodge bar of the Coniston Hotel in North Yorkshire and spotted all is not well. He calls a member of the bar staff across to explain his concerns, which amount to a couple of comfortable armchairs not being, to his meticulous standards, in the correct position. Soon moved to a new spot, you might expect a man 79 years young to slump himself into one of them but instead he energetically tackles his next mini project before giving this correspondent a tour of both the hotel and his magnificent home on the banks of the lake which forms the centre piece of the business and holiday hotel’s grounds. This all after a two hour lunch at Leeds restaurant La Grillade, at which Mr Bannister outlined his plans for the estate and explained why his passion for business still burns as bright as ever. The lunch was hosted by Tim Parr, partner at Baker Tilly, who has been Mr Bannister’s accountant and tax adviser for more than 15 years and Paul Byrne, Baker Tilly’s Leeds office managing partner, as part of TheBusinessDesk.com’s ‘Talking Business’ series analysing business practices and entrepreneurialism, supported by Baker Tilly. Mr Bannister is in the gym by 6.15am every morning, a regime which he claims keeps him active and ready to tackle the working day. And Mr Bannister has no plans to retire: “I love what I’m doing. I’m a nuisance factor in the business. I go in and check the loos. If it’s not right I get it right. I love dealing with the facilities and working within the business.” Of his early morning gym visits he says: “I think physical fitness is important as it keeps the mind trim.” Since acquiring the Yorkshire Dales estate in 1968 – when it employed just one person – Mr Bannister has created more than 100 rural jobs and created a £5m-plus annual turnover. Mr Bannister founded the 71-bedroom Coniston Hotel – which now boasts four stars – in 1998. In 2011 a major improvement was made which included an extension of its foyer, bar and restaurants and 20 luxury bedrooms, all overlooking the lake. This was built with support and backing from the Yorkshire Bank. “Baker Tilly has been incredibly supportive and enabled us with the help of Mark Pownall, Baker Tilly’s finance partner, to put together a good business plan to enable us to obtain the £5m borrowings from the Yorkshire Bank” says Mr Bannister. Other initiatives include a falconry centre, archery, fly-fishing, and Land Rover off-road driving. The estate has a clay pigeon shooting ground which is the only Premier Plus Shooting Ground north of Birmingham and hosts regional and national competitions. In 2008, it built a luxury shooting lodge made of teak which was imported from Canada. The hotel is a perfect venue for weddings and the hotel produces around 100 a year at present. He says the success of the estate – which includes two villages – is dependent on it constantly evolving and adding new offerings. “I decided very early on that we had to make the estate viable,” says Mr Bannister. “We started off with a fish farm run by my son Tom (the managing director of the hotel) and then we started a farm shop. That was very successful so then we started a tea room. “Then people said can we have a drink so could they have a bar. Then people said we can’t drive so I built a 40-bedroom hotel. That was when I first met Tim Parr who helped enormously with the structuring of the finance to build the hotel so that it could be achieved using entirely family money. “During that time we were seeing that the corporate market was becoming critical so we also built conference rooms. Ever since the hotel first opened, Tim’s firm has always held their annual partners’ away day at the hotel. “This dates back to Horwath Clark Whitehill days prior to that firm’s merger with Baker Tilly in 2008. In fact Tim’s colleagues were the first hotel guests of the hotel way back in 1998 when they all stayed overnight prior to the official opening to help us with last minute snagging. “The corporate side is very important. We tend to have people coming for meetings and events and to do deals. You can’t stand still. Companies have offices across the country and they use us as a central place – we are less than an hour by road from both Leeds and Manchester.” Mr Bannister believes the estate’s facilities and activities are ideal to help team building among staff and offer a positive contribution to the corporate landscape. “When they first arrive they don’t know each other. They then go into teams and do activities, such as shooting and off road driving and this creates a close bonding and enables companies to work with their associates more effectively.” Despite the downturn affecting the general economy, Mr Bannister is pleased with performance. “We’re 20% up this year on turnover,” he says. “But trading is tough. We have a strong sales and marketing team and you have to go out and get the business. You have to go for it. “People said ‘Michael, you’re crazy to do this (run the estate). It is difficult but we’ve been incredibly lucky because all our staff are great and we are lucky because we live and work in an amazing part of the world. People are important. They matter and if they know they matter they will perform. “You have to be careful and ensure that your people are appreciated because it’s people that are important and without people you don’t have a business.” The Coniston estate is run as a family concern. However, there is a monthly management meeting for the hotel business which Mr Parr has attended since they were started 15 years ago. “We find the input from an informed outsider very useful. Tim’s job is to ask the awkward questions of management. Sometimes management is too close to the action to see what is really going on. “It’s about the family working together to create a business,” says Mr Bannister, who alongside Tom has two other sons, Nick and Richard. A former senior banking figure with UBS and ABN Amro, Nick is now a successful businessman with concerns in China, while Richard runs the Boundary Mills store chain which is also owned by the Bannister family. Michael began his career in textiles, running a number of businesses before selling to mining group William Baird. From there he set up a successful knitting business but kept hold of a mill building which he used as a home to sell surpluses to the public, leading to the formation of Boundary Mills which now boasts five stores. When the opportunity to acquire the Coniston estate came up 45 years ago he took it. Fast forward to 2013 and Mr Bannister is optimistic about the prospects for the economy. “People are keeping their heads down but working harder. For me there are a lot of positive things going on. “There are a lot of opportunities provided you’re prepared to go out and go get them.” More articles in
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