I’m fed up with talking about the weather, but I can console myself with the fact we have grabbed every opportunity so far and progress is not too bad.Branching out into the luxury hotel business
BARRY ALSTON meets up with a farmer pursuing a diversification venture that will be the envy of many.
NORTH Wales beef and sheep farmer Iain Roberts, has the perfect excuse these days when he declares he is “off to the pub” - he owns it!
But Ty Newydd, in the tiny village of Aberdaron, on the Llyn Peninsula, is looking to be far more than a pie and pint joint.
On top of the purchase price, a £600,000 on-going refurbishment scheme promises to turn it into a four-star luxury hotel and restaurant catering for tourists and locals alike.
It certainly represents a major change in direction for Mr Roberts, his wife, Wilma, and their daughters, Sharon, 16, and Bethany, 14.
But for Mr Roberts, the off-farm diversification venture marks the realisation of a dream stretching back to his younger days both in Wales and in Scotland and a yearning to get his hands on the beer pumps.
To a large extent, the move into the hospitality industry was something of a spur of the moment decision – made while on holiday visiting other members of the family, who live and work in Kuwait.
Over a drink or two with his brother-in-law, Huw Evans, they decided there and then to buy a pub together – and when back at home another chance remark led to the discovery that, providing the price was right, the owners of one of the village’s two pubs might be prepared to sell.
Within a couple of months Mr Roberts was putting his behind-the-bar skills to the test.
That was 18 months ago. Since then, a great deal of modernisation work has taken place, with the bar, lounge and dining room all undergoing a considerable transformation that has given a much more friendly and cheerful ambience to the surroundings.
That, though, has only been for starters.
Situated virtually on the beach and with panoramic views stretching across the sea to Ireland on a good day, a much larger refurbishment scheme is well under way.
An extended veranda, which will overhang the beach, is being installed to provide additional seating and tabling areas only yards from the high tide mark and upstairs the existing 12 bedrooms will become 11 – each with full en-suite facilities.
Two rooms will be specially equipped for disabled visitors and a lift installed.
“We are aiming to attract visitor types right across the board, from couples with young families to middle aged and retired people, but in order to do that these days you have to offer high class facilities,” says Mr Roberts, who recently hosted an NFU Cymru-arranged diversification fact-finding visit.
“Quite simply, if people do not like the look of what they see, it is just as easy for them to turn around and walk out. You cannot run a successful business on that basis.
“Every aspect of modern day hospitality has too be spot on – from the food on offer to the standard of facilities being provided.
“It is in our own interests to be up there among the best and whereas previously the hotel would close a couple of days a week during the off-season, we will be open every day, all year round.
“With the spectacular scenery, walking, golf and a range of other leisure activities available in the area, we believe the potential is there to invest as heavily as we have.
“Hopefully, all the work will be completed over the winter months and we will be fully operational from May onwards.”
What he did not realise, however, before taking the plunge was just how tiring running a hotel can be – stressing that having to be on the premises seven days a week is not a reflection of his need for liquid refreshment.
Fortunately, with his parents and brother, Kevin, living at the family-owned 100-acre Solfach Farm, he knows that the 35 suckler cows, 200 pure Welsh Mountain and 50 pure Texel ewes are in good hands.
Lambing runs from mid February to mid March, while calving has now all been switched to early spring as the previous system of double suckling calves has been dropped in favour of producing Stabiliser-sired calves.
They are regarded by Mr Roberts as the ‘ideal’ easy care suckler cattle, with only two calves having needed to be ‘pulled’ over the past two years and well capable of reaching 680kg off grass alone at 19 months old.
Additional rented ground takes the total area being farmed to around the 180-acre mark – only half of it ploughable.
Hopefully, with his hotel partners planning to return to Wales, and the refurbishment programme at an end, there will be more time available for a return to a more normal work routine.
He was only four years old when the family bought Solfach and for a time he was fish farming in Argyle, Scotland, before returning to his native roots.
Between 1994 and 2001, together with two other local farmers, he also co-tenanted the 450-acre Bardsey Island, running 400 ewes and 10 Welsh Black cattle between them.
A policy change by the island’s trustees meant the occupancy was instead let to a single farming family actually living on the island, which is only accessible by boat.
It was a knock-back decision. Mr Roberts’ grandparents had farmed the land there for 40 years and as a child he would spend the summer months with them. His two daughters were also baptised in the island’s old abbey.
Source:
Business - FG
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