Heathpark House – B&B Finance in Blairgowrie, Scotland

Heathpark House is an impressive detached period country house situated on the outskirts of Blairgowrie, near the Cairngorms National Park, in Scotland.

The new to trade B&B owners

In the past it had been traded quietly as a B&B, with the owner trading just three of the six available bedrooms.  Our clients, Chris & Meagan, saw the potential in the property and the business going forward and decided that this was the one for them.

There were some challenges with the purchase. Because previous trading had been at a lower level to what was now planned, the property had not been registered for business and the property had also not been traded for some months. This meant the deal had to be based on projections and a convincing business case.

Stewart Hindley B&B financing

At Stewart Hindley, we are experienced in projection-led deals and understand the lenders’ criteria.  We produced a professional loan proposal and realistic projections and adjusted trading accounts, based on our industry knowledge and the local trade around Blairgowrie.

While we were producing the loan proposal and submitting these to our lenders, Chris had to speak to the local council and arrange for a change of use going forward. We supported Chris and Meagan throughout the process and kept both the sales agent, the vendor and our clients updated throughout the progress.

Despite the obvious challenges in raising a commercial mortgage for “new to trade” operators such as Chris & Megan, we were able to secure the maximum loan to value given our clients’ and the property’s circumstances, and the deal progressed to completion without any hold-ups.

A good result all round!

If you are looking for accommodation in the Highlands, why not visit Chris & Meagan at Heathpark House, where you will be assured a warm welcome and comfortable stay?

What Chris & Meagan say about Stewart Hindley…

“Quite simply, this just would not have happened for us without Stewart Hindley & Partners.

Getting a loan was not straightforward for us. While we have some significant experience in customer service and marketing, neither of us had any direct experience in the hotel and accommodation business. Pitching our transferable skills, and even more importantly the potential in our proposal for a business, was key to the success with lenders’, and Stewart Hindley did this quickly and without any fuss.

Speed is clearly important when you’re buying a property. And perhaps the ‘fuss’ aspect sounds flippant, but knowing someone was genuinely working hard to represent us, after having had some bad experiences along the way, was real breath of fresh air and an incredible relief.

We cannot recommend Stewart Hindley any more highly, if we’re being honest. It was like having a good friend looking out for us – one who answers the phone, gives you the advice you want and need, and then knows how to sort things out. It’s the best investment we ever made.”

Arden House – Kingussie Scotland

It had been a long held dream of Janet & Graham to run their own bed and breakfast.  In preparation and to find out as much information as possible they signed up and attended a “How to Run a Bed and Breakfast” course run by Karen Thorne in Shropshire in the summer of 2017.

Finding out what was involved was extremely helpful and spurred them onto fulfilling their dream.  The course helped them to focus on the location and type of B&B they wanted to run.  Following the course, they joined a Facebook group for course attendees and this gave them the opportunity to meet up with a couple who have run a B&B for a number of years near to Kingussie (the area they wanted to buy in).

The property they decided to purchase was Arden House which is a lovely Highland villa style property in the attractive and popular town of Kingussie in the foothills of the Cairngorms and Monadhliath Mountain ranges.  The property has a total of 8 bedrooms; 5 en-suite letting rooms plus owner’s accommodation.

Stewart Hindley & Partners wrote and submitted a comprehensive loan proposal to two lenders who showed interest in funding the property.  The property had been successfully traded for a number of years and even though the owners wanted to retire and move closer to family they were still trading as much as possible providing a good level of turnover and profit for the business.  This really helps to show sustainable trade and if/where there may be opportunities to improve the trade going forward.

The chosen lender was not always the quickest to respond so the case did take a little longer than hoped for but as with most things the best things are worth waiting for!  Janet and Graham have now completed on the purchase and moved into Arden House on 8 March 2018.

What Janet & Graham say…

We tried initially to secure a business mortgage for Arden House ourselves but this was unsuccessful.  Not to be deterred, we recalled how on Karen’s course she had recommended going with a broker and had suggested Steward Hindley.  Following an initial email, Mike, our broker helped us to revise our business plan and put us in touch with potential lenders.  As we were new to the whole process of purchasing a B&B, the help and support given by Mike was invaluable and we managed to secure funding.  We believe that without Stewart Hindley we would never have secured the funding we needed and can’t thank Mike enough.  It still feels unreal that we now actually own Arden House and have given up the 9-5.

http://www.arden-house.info/

Beaufort House – Loch Ness Views

Glenn and Samantha came to us originally to purchase a different B&B in the region of Lochinver but they were unable to come to an agreement with the vendor so they looked for another opportunity and widened their search area.

Fort Augustus is a lovely small town more or less half way between Fort William and Inverness and is where Loch Ness, the Caledonian Canal and the River Oich meet.  It is a popular place for tourists to watch the many boats go through the canal locks as well as visiting local film locations.  The Great Glen Way passes through the town which makes it a popular destination for walkers.  A property that used to trade as a B&B but was now closed was on the market and was the ideal property for Glenn and Samantha with great views across the town and Loch.  After viewing the property, they could see the potential and spoke to us about a projection led debt application.

It is always easier to secure debt on a trading concern but due to the location and condition of this property it was definitely worth pursuing.  We spoke to some lenders to gauge their interest and found one who was fully supportive so it was full steam ahead with the application.

Glenn and Samantha were new to trade but were fully committed to their new change of lifestyle.  As Stewart Hindley & Partners are specialists in new to trade operators we were able to present a comprehensive application to the lender which we are glad to say was successful.

The only hiccup in the process was the fact that the property did not appear to be registered with the local council as a commercial property (something to bear in mind when looking at commercial property!), this was raised in the commercial valuation report and needed to be addressed by Glenn and Samantha.  Change of use was applied for and they completed on their purchase at the end of September.

Since completion Glenn and Samantha have worked hard refurbishing the rooms and now provide comfortable, modern accommodation for their guests.  Beaufort House is now open for business and is ready to welcome you.

Beaufort House

What Glenn & Samantha say..

Making the decision to give up the regular ‘9 to 5’ life in Leicestershire was the fun part – starting to wade through the extensive information and processes to make buying a B&B a reality; not so fun!

Thankfully we discovered Stewart Hindley & Partners and from there on the journey was, quite honestly, a very positive and confident one. There are few organisations who successfully combine high professional standards with sincere empathy and personality – we experienced both working with Chris and Carol; both of whom were always at the end of the phone any time to advise us, answer any questions and guide us through this process.

If you are planning to go down the route of purchasing a B&B we absolutely recommend Stewart Hindley & Partners all the way – you can’t go wrong with them! 

Samantha & Glenn

Beaufort House Bed & Breakfast, Fort Augustus

Park View B&B – Glen Coe on your doorstep

Johnny Buckland had been running the Park View B&B in Ballachulish for a few months as a leaseholder and the opportunity arose for him to purchase the freehold and make the property his own.

Johnny recognised the value in using a specialist Finance Broker and decided to contact us at Stewart Hindley & Partners.  After some initial discussions it was decided the best way forward was to release some equity he had in another property to help with the deposit for the purchase and to have a commercial mortgage for the rest of the purchase price.

We were able to recommend a residential broker who helped him with his equity release which enabled him to proceed with his commercial mortgage application.  During the process the vendor requested regular updates which we provided on a 2 – 4 week basis.

Park View B&B is located in the beautiful Glen Coe area of Scotland which is a stunning area for walkers, skiers and general sightseers. The B&B offers comfortable rooms at reasonable prices and Johnny has a wealth of hill walking and mountaineering experience he is keen to share with you.  He is happy to provide general safety advice or a range of walking routes to suit all abilities, staying at Park View gets you a little added value!

http://www.parkviewbnbscotland.co.uk/

Stewart Hindley & Partners play key role in acquisition of historic Scottish hotel

The Argyll Hotel opened in 1755 and is located at the entrance to Inveraray Castle in the historic Scottish town of Inveraray. The town’s location on the shores of Loch Fyne means it is a popular destination for international and domestic tourists.

Our client, The Byrne family, approached us for assistance in raising bank finance for the acquisition of the Argyll Hotel. The family intended to expand their business through this acquisition, adding the hotel to their existing Best Western-branded hotel in nearby Crianlarich, just north of Loch Lomond.

http://www.inveraray-inn.co.uk/

http://www.crianlarich-hotel.co.uk/

The lead director of the family’s hotel company, Mr Geaspar Byrne, is based in the Far East, necessitating many early morning Skype calls for the team. These calls were instrumental in ensuring a good flow of communication between our client, us and the lender. This is always an important factor when pulling together a high quality business plan. For Stewart Hindley & Partners the relationship with our clients is the most important thing and the satisfaction of being instrumental in helping a client achieve their goals makes all the effort worthwhile.

One of the challenges for raising finance was to convince the lender that the synergy between the hotels would be a profitable one and that with good in-house management both hotels could benefit from bulk purchasing and centralisation of operating systems. It was also important to show that our client was not only experienced within the hospitality sector but that the plans going forward were affordable, doable and above all manageable. Happily, all this was successfully achieved and we secured competitive financing terms on behalf of our client not only for the Argyll Hotel acquisition but also for a complete refinancing of the Crianlarich Hotel.

Upon completion of the transaction, the family conducted a re-branding exercise and the new hotel is now trading under its original name of The Inveraray Inn.

Geaspar Byrne said: “We as a family are thrilled to be the new owners of The Inveraray Inn. This historic hotel is one of the most iconic hotels in the West of Scotland and compliments our other asset perfectly. We could not be happier with the services provided by Stewart Hindley & Partners and would not hesitate to recommend them to others.”

Scottish hotel finance case study

The Objective

Ian & Rena Watson relocated back to Scotland from Bermuda with the aim of capitalising on their previous experience as hotel owners and operators in Scotland by purchasing another concern.

After viewing several hotels that met their requirements they offered on the Cullen Bay Hotel in Moray. This concern offered the Watsons the opportunity to develop the trades, particularly Weddings and Functions.

The objectives were:

    • To secure debt on the best hotel loan terms based on Ian and Rena being proven hotel operators, returning to the trade
    • To secured the hotel finance within a 6 week period, in order to meet a completion date in time to capture the lucrative summer trading period.

The Solution

Stewart Hindley & Partners:

        • Carried out an in-depth analysis of the trading accounts for the concern going back over three years
        • Compiled a three year profit and loss forecast and comprehensive business plan
        • Made a submission to the commercial property lenders based on:

The Governments Funding for Lending Scheme
A standard variable rate hotel loan term, that met the lenders debt service criteria
Stewart Hindley & Partners set of adjusted vendors accounts restating the actual trading profit.

The Result

        • Hotel loan offers were secured from two commercial property lenders with one offering 2% cash back from Governments Funding for Lending Scheme notwithstanding advantageous rates and terms for the period of the loan.
        • This enabled the Watsons to complete their purchase within the stated time frame, allowing them to:
          • Meet the vendor’s target completion date, as well as
          • To take advantage of the lucrative summer trading period.

Comments

“Stewart Hindley & Partners worked tirelessly to ensure that our tight timescales were met despite the difficulties of the overall conveyancing process and the lenders security requirements.
“They kept us fully informed throughout the entire process and dealt with every aspect of the transaction, which included the valuation report and agreement of the goodwill and fixtures and fittings apportionment. This, in itself was complex and required a full and comprehensive understanding of taxation and allowances to ensure our best interests were met”.

Ian & Rena Watson
Cullen Bay Hotel

Hotel Finance Case Study – Fortingall Hotel, Perthshire Scotland

A Scottish Tourist Board four star, historic country house hotel, with 12 bedrooms under independent ownership. This hotel is a cinematic landmark, having been the location for the filming of the famous 1959 movie, The 39 Steps.

The Objective

This proven hotel operator, with a track record of successful hotel management elsewhere in Scotland, was seeking to raise hotel finance to assist with the purchase and to maintain and develop the hotel’s traditional and historic connections.

The Solution

An initial meeting with Stewart Hindley & Partners ensured a real understanding of their financing requirements and analysed the advantages and disadvantages of the different hotel finance options that would be available to them given their circumstances.

Stewart Hindley & Partners’ track record in hotel lending, provided un-paralleled access to prime and specialist lenders throughout the UK ensured that the owners of the Fortingall Hotel had a funding solution that met their immediate and future mortgage funding requirements.

The Result

A decision in-principle loan offer, subject to valuation, was secured within 72 hours from receipt of the clients supporting information together with a business and marketing plan which included revenue and cash flow projections all compiled by Stewart Hindley & Partners.

A transaction date, of six weeks ahead, was set and the target date met.

Purchasing the freehold freed up enough working capital for the new owners to invest in on-going refurbishment. The Hotel has since received excellent reviews on Trip Advisor with many comments on the beauty of the building and tasteful decor.

Comments

We were recommended to Stewart Hindley by other hotel operators and key professionals within the hospitality sector . We had used other brokers in the past but all in all found these to be quite a mixed bag. First impressions were encouraging – we ran several hotel loan options through Stewart Hindley before arriving at a target purchase. Their input throughout the process was first class – incisive, sharp and immediate.

Thanks to Stewart Hindley, our project won support from the banks . Their preparatory work set us on the right course with an appropriate lender. Good relationships were forged at an early stage and credible honest assessments presented on the potential of our proposed hotel investment . This helped hugely. Winning the trust and confidence of backers in the current market is the key to success and Stewart Hindley have the skills and light touch to achieve this.

Their support and interest did not dry up on completion of our deal. They have stayed with us – maintaining contact and providing encouragement . We will most certainly be considering further projects with Stewart Hindley in the near future – they have given us the confidence to grow.

Robbie Cairns, Proprietor of The Fortingall Hotel