A bleak midwinter

With occupancy levels of just 18% in December and more of the same on the horizon for January and February, Nick Brown, director of Henllys Hall on the Isle of Anglesey, has had to make a hard decision.

The seasonality of north Wales makes profitable 12-month opening near impossible, but to close during winter months could spell disaster for the conference and wedding business on which Henllys Hall relies during the peak months of March to October. Brown has therefore reached a compromise.

Henllys Hall will continue to trade throughout January and February, but on a B&B basis, primarily for the benefit of corporate guests, most of whom do not dine at the hotel anyway. For conference business and events such as Valentine's Night it will be business as usual. Full trading will be resumed from March. During the skeleton period the hotel will run on one manager, a conference and banqueting manager, a maintenance man and a general assistant. All other staff will be laid off, with the majority being asked to return in March.

For Brown this has been a depressing decision. But he is mindful that last January the hotel lost £62,000. "We just can't afford to let this happen again," he says. "All our staff are aware of the losses we've been making."

The cuts will shave £11,000 off the wage bill during the period and, with the kitchen shut down most of the time, should see the weekly electricity bill of £300 reduced by half. When a chef is needed for conferences and functions Brown will first consult the laid-off head chef, whom he hopes will fill in the lean period with agency work, or resort to agency staff himself.

On this revised basis, sales for January and February, budgeted to come in at £24,407 and £27,164 respectively, will now more likely hit £15,000 and £18,000. At the time of going to press Henllys Hall was ready to participate in the two-courses-for-£5 offer in The Times, which starts in mid-February. But if the reduced trading strategy does not work, even this may have to be reconsidered.

It all sounds rather gloomy, but Brown is trying to look on the bright side. "Unless we take drastic action we won't survive," he says. "All we've done so far is plug the holes. Now we've got to avoid a cash-loss situation."

At least from October to March there is £120,000 of confirmed business in the form of conferences and weddings. And Brown is already looking to December 1999 to avoid a repeat of this year. Coachloads of old folk in search of tinsel and turkey parties will be the answer. "It's not the route I'd prefer, but I don't think I've any option," says Brown. "How else am I going to get anyone up here?" n

We return to Henllys Hall in March when it resumes full trading