DESTINATION SPA
severe injuries are fl agged up they’ll automati- cally see a wellness consultant. T ose on short stays get a quick health check, while guests staying for a week also get an initial consul- tation as well as one mid-week and before leaving. T e consultations are just one way of not overwhelming people, says Davis: “We don’t throw a brochure at people and tell them to read it. We’ll go through their objectives and recommend the most appropriate thing. “People can be skeptical so we don’t force
them to try anything diff erent, but we hold therapy talks and workshops and oſt en in a resort environment it’s more word of mouth
– guests like to hear about treatments from those who have tried them fi rst-hand.” At a time when many spas are jumping
on the wellness bandwagon, Davis feels the Lifehouse off ering stands out because: “We don’t pay lip service to it. Many spas say they off er wellness, but really just have spa treat- ments. We are delivering a wellness service
– an off er that looks at all aspects of health in terms of emotional, mental, physical and the external and internal.”
ROOT INTO THE COMMUNITY
Hawkins believes that involving the local community is key to the success of Lifehouse. Ninety-fi ve per cent of the 220-strong work- force are from the surrounding areas, as are the suppliers. “It’s great that we’ve been able to do this,” she says, “I really thought peo- ple would be our biggest challenge but it was almost the easiest task.” She’s worked hard on developing local ties by getting involved with surround-
TANGRAM LEISURE LIMITED The signature two-hour experience culminates in specially designed sleep pods
ing business network groups and creating a robust membership off ering starting at £600 (us$970, €700) a year for the 6 to 10pm weekday Twilight package to the £3,000 (us$4,850, €3,500) Wellness Membership that includes 240 minutes of treatment/ activity time, four consultation sessions and discounts for stays. T e number of mem- bers will be capped at 350 and so far 160 have been sold; and now locals have seen what the spa entails there’s apparently been
“a phenomenal upgrade from standard mem- berships to the wellness one.” Hawkins says: “We have a very loyal cus-
Tangram Leisure Ltd was set up in 2000 with the purpose of developing a destination spa in the grounds of T orpe Hall, Essex, 85 miles from London, UK. It had three founding directors: development director Paul Cronk; fi nance director Peter Tory; and operations director Martin Woot- ton, who is no longer on the board but remains a shareholder. While Cronk and Troy have a fi tness industry background, Wootton was the spa man – having previously been the MD at UK destination spa Ragdale Hall Health Hydro 20 years ago. With 12 acres (9 hectares) of historic, listed gardens
and vast conservation areas, the 130-acre (53-hectare) site was a planning permission minefi eld. Aſt er seven years, construction of the Lifehouse fi nally began and in December 2010 the £30m (us$48.5m, €35.2m) development had its soſt opening. Investment mon- ies came from private shareholders, Hotbed – a UK-based syndicate of private investors, while debt funding was provided by Clydesdale Bank.
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tomer base because for nine years there was a beauty studio here. Also, for generations, people have lived next to and played in the gardens and woods of T orpe Hall [which Lifehouse has been built in the grounds of ]. Often members are seen as a necessary evil. But to me they’re the root into the com- munity, they’re my ambassadors, my bread and butter and they will be treated like royalty.” She also has a wide remit for
other potential guests: “We’re very much a resort that happens to major in spa, but we don’t just want to attract the stereotypical spa-goer, we want the leisure- goer, the holiday-goer, the young, old, fat, thin, national or international traveller for whatever it is they want to do and not what we tell them they should be doing.” A particular plan to attract
international customers is to link in with Babor’s customer following, subsidiary compa- nies and travel agents – to let them know that the Lifehouse
is Babor’s UK partner; and trips to its insti- tutes in Russia, the Americas and Sweden have already been set up.
DELIGHT AND SURPRISE
For the three months after opening, the plan is to closely monitor the packages, breaks and off ers that work well. “We’ve put together a group of packages that we think show off all aspects of our product and we’ll be analysing them on an hour to hour and day to day basis,” says Hawkins. Next on Davis’s list is to create a take-
home programme for guests. “We want to educate and empower people, but hopefully this will also be a way of pulling customers back in,” she says. “T e fi rst time someone comes will probably be on a one- or two- night taster, but my goal is to get them to stay longer on their second visit so they can have a more deep and meaningful stay.” While Hawkins is reluctant to disclose
her KPI aims, she does say that her goal is to get 50,000 customers through the doors in 2011. She also hints at other possible new spa experiences to sustain customer interest. She says: “I’ve saved a space in the spa which could fi t in 15 more treatment rooms. How- ever, I think the market’s going to change and I’ve already got an idea of what I’ll put there – I’d rather delight and surprise and be the constant innovator in the industry.” In addition, a roll out of the Lifehouse
concept is also on the cards. “We’d love to roll out and we will,” she says. “We’re not saying whether we’ll rollout the concept in its entirety or if we’ll just pick independent components. We’re not writing off acquisi- tions either. It’s a blank piece of paper. At the moment I’m absolutely delighted with everything [now it’s open]. It is beyond my wildest dreams and joining the Lifehouse is the best decision I have ever made.” ●
SPA BUSINESS 1 2011 ©Cybertrek 2011
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