Hotels and Conference

Client:LLYS Y LLAN Trust

Brief:Business plan in support of proposals to develop a 5 Star Bunkhouse to cross-subsidise a proposed heritage attraction

What was undertaken?

LLYS Y LLAN is an ambitious project that will see a new bunkhouse, heritage and community facility, developed in a decommissioned church at Llanuwchllyn. The inclusion of a bunkhouse is an innovative development, meeting the needs to local walkers, cyclists and providing a residential dimension to education uses, as well as potentially cross-subsiding other activities and the operation of the visitor centre.

With this cross-subsidy crucial to making the overall development stack up, a detailed set of financial forecasts over a ten year period were prepared to support a submission to the HLF and make the case for the development as a whole, and not just the heritage visitor attraction. Accordingly, a review of local market conditions and consultations with existing operators suggested a potential market opportunity for a twelve berth five star facility. This was supported by a detailed profit and loss account built on a detailed analysis of the local user catchment and further supported by a sensitivity analysis.

The outcome

We provided a robust set of detailed financials for the development, projected over ten years encompassing development, launch, maturity and reinvestment. The scheme was successfully awarded £1.1m in HLF funding in March 2015.