Franchise Focus The Skye life
The Camping and Caravanning Club has enabled one couple to realise their business-owning ambitions and live a completely different lifestyle
INVESTMENT LEVEL: £35,000*
faith and moved from the urban south-east of England to the other end of the UK and the glorious open spaces of Skye to start a Camping and Caravanning Club franchise. David says: “I had been restless and needed a new challenge, having been a director of our family plumbing and heating business for many years. It was started by my great-grandfather in 1895 and had grown and diversified, so we were selling all sorts of DIY, building, hardware and garden items, as well as tents and other outdoor equipment.
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“I worked very long hours and weekends and so saw very little of Nicky, who then had a job caring for children, latterly those with disabilities. We both felt under pressure. Losing close family members made me realise you’ve got to do things while you can, seize the moment and take the opportunity – I believe you’re only here once and I didn’t want to get to retirement and regret not doing what I really wanted to.” While they were mulling things over, Nicky and David took a camping holiday in Scotland, which David had visited many times before and knew well. Keen outdoor people, they love nothing better than camping, walking and being outside on mountains or in wild countryside. On Skye they looked at small hotels, B&Bs and other properties that had the potential to be both a home and business base. Driving round the island, they stopped one day to admire a stunning view and instantly fell in love with what they saw – a campsite on a 200-acre croft and with three-quarters of a mile of loch frontage. “We both wanted this place as soon as we saw it,” says Nicky. “You’ve got to want to live on site, as well as work on it.” Convinced this was the way forward, they approached the owner about the possibility of buying and they were surprised – and delighted – when he replied with, ironically: “How did you know we wanted to sell?”
hen Nicky Sellier and David Weller decided they wanted to change direction, they chose to buy a campsite and took a leap of
David Weller and Nicky Sellier
organisation which has an instantly recognisable brand achieves much better results than an individual trying to do it alone.”
Nicky adds: “Because someone assists us with publicity and taking bookings, we can use our skills more effectively and focus on the aspect we love best – looking after our visitors, who come from all over the world to enjoy our magnificent scenery, diversity of wildlife and fascinating local history. They all have one thing in common: they thoroughly enjoy being here. “Visitors, particularly children, love our
growing menagerie – we inherited some of the animals and have acquired others so now we have Highland cattle, sheep, hens and ducks. There’s never a dull moment. We plan to expand and hope to have a proper rare breeds farm before too long,” she enthuses.
It took six months for the sale to go
through. Nicky and David became proud owners of the site in December 2007 but with the thought of applying to become part of the Club’s franchise network as soon as possible.
As a Club member for many years, David knew about the franchise opportunity with its training and support and understood the benefits it offered, particularly national marketing, centralised bookings service and enhanced brand recognition.
“Because someone assists us we can use our skills and focus on the aspect we love best”
Nicky and David turned their attention to making improvements on site so that it would conform to standards required by the Club. David explains: “Club members are familiar with the Club’s ethos and expect their campsites to be better managed, in better locations, to be cleaner and have better facilities than the competition. Also, Club members tend to go camping more often and stay longer than a casual visitor. The Club has a clear set of policies, which members know and respect.
“Being part of this franchise has many advantages,” he continues. “The most important is the Club’s marketing expertise, with the opportunity to be listed in its nationwide directory of campsites and to have a presence on the web. Being part of a professionally-run and well respected
Nicky has a natural affinity with children and young people, while David’s 26 years’ retail experience has been invaluable in looking after visitors and ensuring that they get what they want. It also enables him to run the campsite’s licensed shop with expert ease and efficiency.
They conclude: “It has been great finding our niche. We love the place and what we are doing. We spend all our time together now but we have never been happier. We are delighted with our bookings for this year and are really looking forward to the future. Long-term, we would like ours to be the best campsite in Scotland.” Nicky and David’s vision and hard work has paid off as their site won the AA Scottish Campsite of the Year 2012 award, a testament to their success so far. Continuing the standard for excellence across the Club, four sites were awarded gold rosettes from the David Bellamy Conservation Awards in 2011 after demonstrating their exceptional commitment to protecting and enhancing the natural environment. Bob Hill, the Club’s sites director, says: “As we continue to expand and develop our network site, conservation is very much at the forefront of our minds and we will endeavour to continue to practice and promote green tourism.” n
* To acquire a site on a freehold or leasehold basis, the Camping and Caravanning Club estimate that you will need to be able to invest a minimum equity stake of £800,000. You would be expected to provide around 50 per cent of the total investment; this should be available in liquid assets before borrowing.
CAMPING AND CARAVANNING CLUB
WEBSITE:
www.thefriendlyclub.co.uk EMAIL:
franchiseinfo@thefriendlyclub.co.uk PHONE: 0870 128 7240 CLASSIFICATION: Travel and tourism
June 2012 |
Businessfranchise.com | 81
Investment: £20k-£50k
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