Haven for heroes
It is a quartet of four- and five-star country house-style properties that have singing breakfast bar staff. Its petits fours are sprinkled with that spacedust stuff that crackles in your mouth. It has a design ethos that blends traditional values with quirky design features and ultra-modern facilities. It is a chain whose strategy of developing hotels with great leisure facilities has helped one of its properties, Pennyhill Park, become the home of choice for the in-training England rugby team. It is Exclusive Hotels.
When it comes to defining the Exclusive way, managing director Danny Pecorelli says fun is a vital ingredient. "You've got to have a sense of humour in this industry," he says. "It's all about the little things." Hence Pennyhill Park sports a stained-glass window bearing a mock coat of arms for England rugby coach Clive Woodward and a confession box in the foyer that doubles as a telephone kiosk. There are even TVs in the bathrooms, complete with waterproof remote controls.
Like all hotel companies, Exclusive has had to ride out a few tough years recently, but it appears to have weathered the storm well - something Pecorelli attributes, in part, to the company's private status. Exclusive is a family-owned company, set up Pecorelli's father, Giuseppe, the current chairman, in 1981.
"A private company can take a long-term approach, and if you're in this business you have to be in it for the long term," Pecorelli says. "I'm not saying we haven't had a tough time, but we've still managed to do good business. And we keep investing."
Apart from general capital expenditure on its properties, the firm has invested some £10m on its spa at Pennyhill Park - a project that has taken five years to come to fruition. However, Pecorelli expects the spa to be "comfortably" turning over £5m a year in three years' time and anticipates a return on the company's investment in five years.
Exclusive has strived to create a multi-faceted approach to its business. Conferences make up 50% of the group's turnover, but a key part of the company's strategy is to reduce the reliance on this revenue over time through growing other sectors, such as spas and weddings. A lively events calendar helps fill spare capacity in the bedrooms and dining areas, and Pecorelli says the company has benefited from a noticeable trend in corporate business moving out of London.
Benchmarking the company against its competitors is "a constant process", Pecorelli says. For hotels, he looks to Four Seasons; on the leisure side he looks to Chewton Glen and admires One&Only Resorts; and then there's Pétrus for food. For conferences, where Exclusive aims for "the top 5-10% of the market", he benchmarks the company against the likes of the Grove. "It's also very important to benchmark against other industries. I think that's one of the areas where this industry goes wrong," he adds.
Exclusive's physical product is "spacious, with attention to detail and without that standardised corporate look", Pecorelli says. He lists upmarket hotel properties that are more like "bedroom factories" among his pet hates. Exclusive's bedrooms are big, individually decorated and make good use of quality materials such as reclaimed teak in the furniture. The widespread use of dark woods and warm colours, combined with the soft, plush furnishings, gives the rooms a homely, relaxing feel. There are also lots of random paintings and tapestries dotted around. Comfy sofas and big beds, many of which are four-poster, add to the relaxing feel. Huge marble showers and luxury baths complete the look.
Pecorelli points proudly to a track record of innovation. Some years back the company put heated floors and TVs, complete with waterproof remote controls, in the bathrooms. Manor House has hotdesks in the conference rooms and the park benches in the grounds have broadband access. Technology adoption - an area where Pecorelli feels the hotels industry has been "backward" - is a key focus. In addition to the guest databases for the different sectors, such as conferences, which can be mined for customer relationship management purposes, all sites offer broadband access via a leased line that links up all the properties. Pennyhill also sports wireless hotspots for cable-free surfing and guests can even surf the internet using the personal monitors on the gym machines. Computer programmes control the lighting and music in the spas.
Last year the company overhauled its website to make it easier to update information such as promotions and upcoming events. A key aim is to drive as much traffic through its own website rather than through those of third-party online booking agents. "The hotel industry has to be very careful," Pecorelli says. "If you give room stock to these guys you are cutting off your nose to spite your face really. We make sure the cheapest deal is always on our website."
A big differentiator in recent times has been the connection with the England rugby team, which uses the hi-tech rugby treatment and training facilities at Pennyhill Park. "The association has helped us hugely," says Pecorelli. "It's really helpful publicity. Rugby has catapulted us into the spotlight."
Like most hoteliers, Pecorelli emphasises the role played by his staff in creating the atmosphere and culture of the hotels. "We believe it's much better to employ people with a good attitude than to look for technical skills," he says. Every year about 20 of the company's best and brightest receive coaching in areas such as motivation and management skills.
Exclusive has a nine-point list of company values, which Pecorelli carries around with him in a leather wallet. As well as undertaking to "employ, respect, develop and support the right people", it aims to "trust and promote personality, individuality and autonomy". So characters such as Doris, who works behind the breakfast counter at Pennyhill and sings every morning, are encouraged. Just because it is a five-red-star hotel doesn't mean it has to be stuffy and formal, Pecorelli says.
Another one of those company values is, "provide guests with what they want, not what we think they want." To this end, the company carries out customer feedback sessions and focus groups in all its key areas - although Pecorelli is "very anti questionnaires". He also encourages input from the staff.
So what of the future? Pecorelli aims to build further spas and grow the company through investment and acquisitions. "If good opportunities come along we'll go for them. I'd love to have two more hotels in the next five years," he says. "There are certain locations we favour, but I'm not ready to discuss that at the moment."
Exclusive in a nutshell
Brief history
Exclusive Hotels was born in 1981 when Giuseppe Pecorelli, the current chairman, opened Pennyhill Park - then a three-star, 17-bedroom hotel. The business has since grown into a four-strong group of hotels with strong leisure facilities.
The properties
The jewel in the crown is the five-AA-red-star, 123-bedroom Pennyhill Park and Country Club in Bagshot, Surrey. Set in 120 acres of parkland, the property also features a just-opened, state-of-the-art spa complex.
The four-AA-red-star Lainston House near Winchester, Hampshire, has 50 bedrooms and suites. The 17th-century country house property is set in 26 acres of grounds.
The four-AA-red-star, 48-bedroom Manor House hotel at Castle Combe, Wiltshire, dates from the 14th century. It is set in 365 acres of parkland and features a golf course designed by Peter Alliss.
The four AA-red-star South Lodge in Lower Beeding, West Sussex, has 39 bedrooms and dates from the late 19th century. It recently opened a £7m conference centre and plans to add another 30 bedrooms this year. Exclusive's Mannings Heath Golf club is nearby.
The restaurants at Pennyhill Park, South Lodge and Manor House all have three red rosettes, while Lainston House has two. Even the Mannings Heath golf club has a red rosette. A key focus is to get another rosette for Pennyhill.
Key people… Chairman: Giuseppe Pecorelli; Managing director: Danny Pecorelli; Group financial controller: Duncan Mayes
Financial data… Turnover: £25m; Net profit: £5m; Employees: just over 500 Website… www.exclusivehotels.co.uk
Rugby Talk
A synergy that is advantageous to both parties is how David Broadhead, general manager of Pennyhill Park, describes the well-documented relationship between the England rugby team and the hotel. The three-year contract is worth some £750,000 a year. For this, the rugby players train for 16 weeks of the year at the hotel, staying in the rooms and using their own private wing of the brand-new swanky spa. In return, Pennyhill Park gets to send people to Twickenham and to place its brochures in the corporate boxes.
Before their success in Australia last year, players mingled seamlessly with guests. Since they have become overnight sensations it might be more difficult. "The dynamics have changed," agrees Broadhead. "Security will undoubtedly become more challenging. But I don't want to turn the hotel into a place with barriers and security guards everywhere. That goes against the grain of hospitality."
Of course, not every hotel is lucky enough to be able to forge such a prestigious relationship. Nonetheless Broadhead feels other hotels can get involved with local sporting clubs for mutual advantage, although "it has to work for the business".
