Winner's handicap

01 January 2000
Winner's handicap

August was a month of mixed emotions for Nick Brown, general manager and managing director of Henllys Hall, Beaumaris, Anglesey. First there was the visit by Sunday Times critic Michael Winner, an event that Brown would sooner forget. The write-up in the Sunday Times in mid-August could not have been worse.

"We entered the lounge," read the article. "A sense of foreboding engulfed me. The room had an awful, tacky bar in the corner, with two shades of green with poorly painted picture of medieval monks… We went to our room. My heart sank, it was dreary. There was a repro four-poster bed, a dressing table, a chipped chair, a wooden wardrobe and a single upright chair with arms. All seedy. The paintwork on the door was filthy with black fingermarks."

Food also came in for extreme criticism: "Then came the most amazing dish ever put before me," Winner continued. "It was described as roast breast of wood pigeon, savoy cabbage, bespoke bacon with a rich game sauce. John [Rodger, the owner] and I tried to cut it. It was impossible. It resembled a theatrical rubber fake. It gave a bit, but no knife would enter."

It didn't stop there, either. In the following week's Sunday Times Winner made further reference to Henllys Hall, beginning: "I have tried to expunge the memory of my stay at Henllys Hall hotel, Beaumaris, from my mind. I cannot."

Once he had got over the initial shock of seeing Henllys lambasted in the pages of a national newspaper, Brown launched into crisis-recovery mode. The first problem was dealing with staff, most of whom were reeling from the attack.

"I had to sit down and explain to them that we believed in what we were doing and this was an unfortunate one-off situation. I told them where I thought that Winner had a point and that we could do better, and where they could play a role in this." This included items such as double-checking that all bins are emptied, one of Winner's grievances, as he had found rubbish in the bin in his bedroom. To Brown's relief most of the staff rallied round, supporting Henllys throughout the period that the articles appeared. The dish to which Winner was referring is still on the menu but is now served sliced and fanned.

Then came a barrage of telephone calls from anxious prospective guests, and parents who had booked wedding receptions for their offspring at Henllys during August. All Brown could do was reassure them that there would be no problems and that Henllys was doing everything in its power to iron out some of the blips to which Winner had alluded.

But even out of negative publicity good things emerge. Brown received 12 letters of support from local people and satisfied customers, some of whom also wrote letters of support to the local press, which picked up on the story. For Brown, the incident proves the power of the national press. Henllys Hall may be wounded, but it is not dead, and Brown has to be pragmatic. "We are in a business which expects criticism from time to time," he concludes. "I don't mind, as long as it is constructive and not just simply a case of attack, attack, attack."

Now things have died down, and Brown is keen to put the episode behind him. On a brighter note, August trading came in at £65,200 against a budget of £51,706. And, as Caterer went to press, September was on target to take the budgeted £51,000.

With the main tourist season over, Henllys Hall will look to conference and corporate trade to swell its coffers. In September 10 days of residential conferences added £10,000 to the balance sheet. Brown is also experimenting with securing more stable trade during the shoulder months in the form of golf society weekends. The 18-hole Princes golf course in the grounds of Henllys Hall is currently run as a separate entity, although the two businesses are marketed in tandem.

During September Brown gave two golf societies with parties of 24 and 15 the run of the hotel at a package of £130 per person for two nights' dinner, bed and breakfast and golf. But most of the profitability came from behind the bar, which took £1,000 over the two days, including £100 in whisky sales between 7am and 9am on the day of departure. Brown is not sure whether Henllys Hall should pursue exclusive-use events such as these, but because of Henllys's remote location he feels obliged to review all options. Princes golf course is only two years old and will need to be more mature for Henllys to take full advantage of the dual marketing opportunities.

After a difficult couple of months Henllys Hall needs a period of consolidation. The new financial year begins this month, and Brown is looking forward to starting his first full year in charge of the accounts. The financial losses may have been stemmed, but there's a long way to go before the business is firmly in the black.

Next visit to Henllys Hall: 12 November

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