SGBGolf_Oct09_p10:SGBGolf_Sept09_p32 21/09/2009 14:37 Page 10
View from the industry
In residence
Gary Silcock is Director of Golf at The Belfry, and here he
explains how one of Europe’s biggest golf operations is faring
in the recession
T
his year has certainly been challenging. custom-fit irons, we started to see late last year the overall golf revenue will probably be flat.
At the end of 2008 we could see a slow that customers were buying less custom-fit We have invested more than £3million in our
down in certain sectors, such as our woods. In a normal year we would expect to courses over the last three years. This includes
corporate business, and so we bought reach a high of 75 custom fits in a week, whereas major redesigns to a number of holes on The
slightly differently for the shop. There has this year the high has been about 55, although Brabazon and we have also turned the PGA
been a stigma attached to corporate the average spend of golfers has remained the National into an inland links. The courses are now
entertaining over recent months, but I think same. Ping will remain our top-selling hardware in the best condition they have ever been in and
that is trailing off now, and I am positive our brand this year, particularly with the introduction thanks to this quality, I am positive we will be very
corporate bookings will rise for next year. of the G15 and i15 ranges – 2008 was a fantastic busy during the first quarter of next year even
The corporate customer tends to pick up more year with the success of G10. though it’s winter golf.
logoed products, whereas residential golfers tend On the hardware side we concentrate on A lot of our competitors have had to reduce their
to be attracted to the premium brand products providing excellent customer service, custom- course maintenance expenditure this year, and so
from the likes of Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren and fitting and the prestige brands. We are not like a the quality of their golf courses has dropped.
Tommy Hilfiger. normal pro shop, that might custom fit one or With golf courses you are dealing with nature,
One of the unique selling points of our shop is two brands: we custom-fit nine brands – we and if course investment is cut-back then the
that we offer golfers a lot of brands they won’t probably offer the largest custom-fit facility in quality will deteriorate and it cannot be turned
see in their local pro shops. We have reduced our Europe. We have 21 golf pros, including 10 around overnight. The Belfry’s owner, Sean
logoed business this year and made a concerted trainee professionals, and in addition to that we Quinn, has insisted we maintain our level of
effort to target residential golfers, which has been have 18 shop staff. investment in the golf course.
a great success; The Belfry’s residential business There are courses that used to charge £100, and
has increased by about 120%. We have also On course now they might be offering deals at £50, but the
made ourselves very competitive with some special reality is that its quality is only worth the £50
offers. We have not necessarily lowered our prices Our green fee revenues in 2009 are probably green fee.
but we have packaged items up in an attempt to going to be like for like with 2008, while the Golf course expenditure is going to be a big issue in
increase the average spend of customers. number of rounds played will probably end 2010. As a golfer, you get what you pay for.
We have also made sure our branded products slightly up on last year – we were four per cent
are merchandised in a really attractive way, so up in August. For the whole year I am expecting
when customers walk into the shop they are our rounds to be up by one or two per cent but www.thebelfry.co.uk
drawn towards the displays. We have done this
with both soft goods and hardware. We stock
nine premium hardware brands, and while some
of our competitors have gone searching for
cheaper brands, we have stuck with the premium
brands, but perhaps taken in some discontinued
product lines, so we can reach lower price points
while maintaining that element of prestige.
Less is more
Over the past three years we have reduced the
amount of stock on display in the shop, and
instead we replenish displays often. The shop
floor is a lot tidier and cleaner than it has ever
been. Less is sometimes more.
We have also made an extra effort to clear old
stock from the stock room at attractive price
points, and so our stock holding now is lower
than it has ever been, which provides us with a Clear view: The driving range at The
strong base for coming out of the recession. Belfry features a row of permanent
Our retail revenue might be down slightly this custom-fitting suites - each one
year, overall. We are very big with custom fitting, occupied by a different brand
and while we have maintained our sales of
10 SGB GOLF OCTOBER 2009
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