Record year for country house hotel
A COUNTRY house hotel near Leeds has just completed a record financial year following commencement of refurbishment works with support from Barclays.
Monk Fryston Hall Hotel, a 29 bedroom English Country House Hotel located between Leeds and Selby, was bought by Sharon Mason and her partner Geoff Davies with support from Barclays in March 2013.
Ms Mason recognised the potential of the business but not having had the experience of personally running her own hotel, they were introduced by Barclays to Mike Rothwell and the team from Assured Hotels, a specialist hotel management and turnaround company, who were subsequently engaged to support the owners and the hotel team.
Ms Mason said: “Despite the ongoing challenges within the hotel sector at that time, we recognised that a number of immediate business and financial changes needed to be undertaken.
“A business plan was developed to focus on those market segments that offered the greatest opportunities for growth and as a result of several changes, weddings have since increased from 38 events in 2013 to over 100 events in 2016, room occupancy has grown from 65% to 76% and overall revenue has grown by over 50%. We’re thrilled to be running our own business and we’ve now commenced some refurbishment work that will take us to the next stage of our growth journey.”
Daniella Taylor, relationship director for Barclays, said: ‘’It’s so rewarding working with customers to achieve their long held dreams and support them with not only finance, but guidance and specialist support. Sharon and Geoff have developed the business in many areas and the success they are now seeing is a testament to their hard work and commitment.”
