Crieff Hydro - Famous Hydros Come Together As Crieff Announces Expansion

(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - February 4th, 2014 - Crieff Hydro, Scotland’s oldest registered trading company, has announced that it has agreed terms to acquire two well-known Borders hotels from McMillan Hotels later this month.

The new acquisitions, Peebles Hydro and the Park Hotel in Peebles offer the Company an opportunity to establish a presence in the Borders area, bringing the experience, expertise and ethos of Crieff Hydro to create a gateway hotel in this part of the country. The deal is expected to be concluded in the next few weeks.

Speaking about the announcement, Chief Executive of Crieff Hydro, Stephen Leckie commented;  “This is a significant opportunity to develop travel, tourism and leisure opportunities in one of Scotland’s most important tourist areas. Over the coming years, our approach will be to develop and enhance the existing facilities in the two hotels and build on their individuality and personality.  They are very different from Crieff Hydro as a destination resort. In time, they will all share the same warmth of hospitality and independent thinking we have at Crieff. Apart from investing to develop facilities, we’ll have a particular focus on bringing together all of the local elements. Engaging with partner businesses locally in the Borders and surrounding areas and understanding what local customers want from these hotels will be really important to us. The Borders is a great destination and while we aren’t setting out to make these the most luxurious hotels in the area - we do want them to stand as real advocates for this part of Scotland. What we are interested in is generating more new visitors to each of the areas.”

The Company will develop plans for significant investment but the emphasis will be on looking after customers and the teams in the Peebles Hydro and the Park Hotel.  Crieff Hydro has picked up three national awards for its training and development and is highly rated by its own customers.

Crieff Hydro Managing Director John Jennett added; “Food quality is of signature importance at Crieff Hydro and in time we will bring the same ethos and approach that we have at Crieff Hydro to these hotels with an emphasis on quality, distinctive menus, local provenance and offering value for money.”

McMillan Hotels Managing Director, Douglas McMillan said “We have been in discussions with Crieff Hydro for more than a year. We are in the process of restructuring our own business, refocusing and reinvesting in our properties in our heartland in the south west of Scotland. To that end, we have been determined that we should achieve as seamless a handover as possible and that these two much-loved hotels will be developed further. We are confident that Crieff Hydro will provide an excellent fit, and the hotels will continue to prosper and progress.”

McMillan Hotels and Crieff Hydro are working closely to ensure the smoothest handover possible for customers and staff. The change in ownership will have no effect on the team working in Peebles Hydro; there will be no redundancies, nor will it affect any customers with existing bookings or gift vouchers.

Stephen Leckie said; “It’s hotels like Peebles Hydro and the Park Hotel that are the real heart and soul of Scotland’s tourism product and tourism is increasingly recognised as being amongst the biggest economic drivers for the country. So for the sake of the prosperity of our own business and the wider tourism picture I believe we’ll make a success of these. I’m looking forward to working with the Tourism Partnerships, local businesses and suppliers to partner and promote local attractions, eateries, shopping experiences, history and heritage and effectively do all we can to add to the quality visitor experience to the Borders.” 

Part of the Company plans are to launch a Community Engagement programme in the Borders, inviting local stakeholders to participate in developing the way ahead.

John Jennett added; “We’ve been working on these deals in a different transaction climate to the one we’ve been used to in the past. Whilst the approach is different, we have had a positive experience with most lenders and were delighted to get competitive offers from four major banks.” The end result is that the company has re-banked from Lloyds (Bank of Scotland) to Santander both for the core business and to fund the acquisition and development of Peebles Hydro. According to Jennett, “Santander were able to offer a real understanding of our business, short lines of communication and sharp commercial rates – something that was quite different from what was on offer elsewhere.”

He added; “Even with bank support, a good track record and a brilliant management team, deals like this require the best expertise alongside creativity and sheer stamina to bring to a conclusion. We decided at the outset we wanted the very best professionals to advise us and the deals have been facilitated by the experienced leisure/hospitality team at bto Solicitors Glasgow, and the Corporate Finance specialists at Campbell Dallas, also in Glasgow.

Stephen Leckie added; “Investment isn’t something that will happen overnight as it will need careful planning to get it right. What we do think can happen over the next few months is that we can bring a flavour of the service for which Crieff Hydro has become renowned and generate real momentum with our vision of what can be achieved in the longer term for the new hotels and tourism in the Borders.”

Leckie is also Chair of The Scottish Tourism Alliance and was awarded an outstanding achievement award by Visitscotland last year in recognition of his contribution to the tourism industry across the country.

Jennett has been MD of Crieff Hydro since 2011: the first non-family member to take up the post in the business’ long history. His partnership with Stephen Leckie has seen the business defy industry trends and grow by more than 10% since then to more than £18M. The pair were recently listed by Caterer Magazine as being amongst the most influential figures in Scottish Tourism alongside names like Andrew Fairlie and Nick Nairn.

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