TALKING BUSINESS Family values
Brend Hotels’ Director PETER BREND SENIOR tells us why family is central to his enduring success.
Tell us about your family? My parents, Florence and Percy Brend, met when they were at school and got married in their teens. They went on to have five children – June, Richard, Patsy, John and finally me. Mum and Dad opened a butcher’s shop in Barnstaple in the 1920s. My eldest brother, Richard, who sadly died in 2010, joined the business after doing National Service and became a master butcher, helping our father expand into a chain of butchers’ shops across North Devon and Plymouth. In 1968, they started a new venture together and bought Taw Garages in Barnstaple.
How did Brend Hotels begin? My father was very entrepreneurial. After the war ended military sites needed to be cleared so he and my mother started to invest in property. They bought The Exeter Motel in 1955, selling it ten years later. In 1969, they bought the Royal Hotel in Bideford, and in the 1970s, they bought the North Devon Motel (later renamed The Park Hotel) and the the Royal & Fortescue Hotel, both in Barnstaple, and The Devon Motel in Exeter. The Royal Duchy Hotel in Falmouth was their first purchase in Cornwall and that was joined by The Carlyon Bay Hotel and Golf Course, including a number of other properties.
As children, were you encouraged to join the family firm? Yes. When we bought the Royal & Fortescue Hotel it was in a very bad state of repair – though the location was excellent. My brother John was asked if he’d like to put it right and run it. He did and we all learnt quickly on the job.
When did you become involved? When I was sixteen I left school and joined Taw Garages (Ford Dealership) to learn about the motor trade. Three years later, my parents bought Saunton Sands after seven years of on/off negotiation. It was the first time they had bought a hotel that was already a going concern and they did it because they’d always loved it. I was asked to leave the garage and work alongside the existing manager as the family’s representative. Nine months later, the manager decided to buy his own hotel and I was left in charge.
How did you cope with that responsibility? Dad was an entrepreneur rather than a hotelier but John helped me as much as he could. I was lucky too because we had some very loyal customers and weekend breaks were just coming in which heralded a different sort of tourism – one that meant we didn’t need to close over the winter which had been the case. The potential benefits were clear and we quickly capitalised on them.
Brend Hotels have just won the AA’s Hotel Group of the Year title – what do you think makes your 11 hotels so special? I think it’s a combination of industry knowledge, traditional values, staying close to our customer base and great staff. We were absolutely thrilled to win such a prestigious title – it’s the supreme accolade after many years of hard work and investment. Sadly our parents aren’t alive to see it but, as a family, we’re very proud of the legacy they left and of our ongoing achievements since.
20 Chamber Profile September/October 2016
How is the business doing? Very well. Since coming of recession, we are seeing a steady annual increase in profits. At the moment our bright stars are the Cornish hotels which are really setting the pace. I believe that’s down to Cornwall being the place to go to thanks to having a clear unified brand and the profile-raising effect of programmes like ‘Poldark’ and ‘Doc Martin’. We would hope that doing the job to the best of our ability also had something to do with it.
Have you got any new developments planned for 2016? Following on from our £1.5m of investment in The Devon Hotel this year, we are planning a similarly major development for The Park Hotel that will include new bedrooms, a new restaurant, updated facilities and a complete re-design. As a group, we believe in continuous re-investment to ensure that all our hotels are of the very highest standard possible.
How many people does Brend Hotels employ? About 1,100. We are one of the top ten biggest employers in Devon and Cornwall and last year launched our own apprenticeship training academy.
How important is family to the company’s success? It’s vital and is definitely what has helped us grow and improve over the last 50 years. Together we agree our priorities and, although we have differences from time to time, our long-term aims are the same.
What do you do outside work? John and I both enjoy the same hobby – being involved with our grandchildren.
A family business: (clockwise from top left) Peter Brend Junior, Justin Brend, Matthew Brend, Richard Brend, John Brend and Peter Brend Senior.
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