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00:00I've run hotels most of my working life so we've got 23 rooms in-house tonight
00:07thank you very much all of you so I know all too well how brutal the
00:11hospitality industry can be that's terrifying we've put everything that we
00:16have into this and this year the situation truly is dire you got me
00:20worried about that now I have a lot of pressure to make sure that I deliver
00:25with businesses facing spiraling energy food and wage costs I have a big sense
00:31of responsibility and customers who have less money to spend frankly sweet Fanny
00:37Adams from country pubs careful of the dog to seaside hotels this is going to be
00:43done for Friday I have somebody in here Friday night shepherd's huts you've got a
00:48big one thank you to family guest houses makes me think of Scarlett O'Hara they're
00:53all in desperate need of my help she's just pulled up and I'm terrified I'll
00:58be getting my hands dirty and delivering some hard truths I think you're bonkers
01:06hello to help owners across the country get back in the black something has got
01:13to change we're very silent why you're the expert before everything comes crashing
01:19down we're just hoping we can catch it before it's too late that is my challenge
01:26should I choose to accept it and I do there's a couple of things here that I
01:34loathe this time oh my god whose taste is this an airport hotel struggling to stay
01:41airborne we only made a net profit of 15,000 pounds run by a mum and dad eyeing up
01:47their retirement what's what's holding you back holding me back your future and a
01:52son feeling the pressure to step up to lose it I don't want to go down that route
01:56I'm a bit worried about how on earth I can help this lovely family there's a lot on my shoulders
02:05mom with eggs ready no no no because I'm sat on a busy road in the commuter town of Hawley
02:13is the
02:14Gatwick turret a budget bed and breakfast run by 62 year old Ram 61 year old and are you right
02:21and
02:22their 37 year old son Rye I we don't disagree about anything me and mom you know get on like
02:27house and fire
02:33former mechanic Ram and airline catering assistant and got into the hotel trade 22 years ago Rye was
02:3915 when they moved into this 10 room Victorian guest house and after working in airport security he moved
02:46back in and joined the family business a decade ago okay thank you so much my parents come from a
02:52generation if it's not broken why fix it the carpet we've had is the same carpet we've had 22 years
02:58ago I like white white is good I like this color this is a beautiful color a mile down the
03:10road is
03:10Gatwick Airport where over 250,000 flights carry up to 46 million passengers every year for business
03:17and pleasure that's a lot of people needing somewhere to stay and Gatwick turret is one of over a hundred
03:23hotels including big chain brands fiercely vying for their business it's not really a luxurious boutique
03:31hotel they just want to press their heads for maybe even four or five hours because they've got an
03:36early flight in the morning so they don't want to spend the money here they want to spend the money
03:39on a holiday I have a safe journey okay rooms generally go for 50 to 80 pounds breakfast is
03:46extra most guests often families stay just the one night which nudges up overhead costs on bedding and
03:52cleaning all the cost all adds up money is coming this way and going another way this is it you
03:59working
03:59so hard when you check end of the month isn't really wrestling with those overheads in a highly
04:06competitive market the family are having to run the hotel almost single-handedly to keep staffing costs
04:12down you've got to do everything yourself here really otherwise you are lost but despite their
04:19hard work the business is barely breaking even and the family are struggling to pay themselves we don't
04:25really have the energy now you can see the physical side of the the business you know and and ram
04:30have
04:31moved out from the hotel to live down the road and want to retire but with limited savings they're relying
04:36on the hotel's non-existent profits to see them through their sunset years you've got to cut off
04:42time basically you know when you're in the business 22 years now hard working 24 7 you know not holidays
04:53click insight and it should be their earnings and they show us that all on our three months with the
04:57running of the hotel having recently passed to rye it's all on him to turn things around for mom and
05:03dad
05:03to find a way of making a profit i have a lot of pressure to make sure that i deliver
05:09because
05:10that's what's going to help my parents into retirement they work so hard for
05:16we don't want to be the leader anymore let ray take over and then you give my son a chance
05:21to take
05:21step forwards the sad reality that could happen if i can't make this business profitable or just have
05:28to sell it and i don't think my parents will like that because they work so hard
05:35this is where i'm stuck i need someone like alex to say look let's make some money here um
05:42because there's a lot on my shoulders
05:53i am just arriving in leafy hawley there's a lot of business to be had here but enormous amounts of
06:02competition oh here we are
06:08no vacancies it's a good sign
06:18i play cricket it's like when you walk into the crease ready to bat facing your first ball
06:24already in my first boxing match you know you're just like waiting around or your opponent
06:30i really struggle with these guest houses it's very hard to find solutions
06:35you know i'm sure there's probably six or seven down the street or all offering the same thing
06:40at the same price i suppose i shall call reception
06:48hello hello this is alex polizzi hi there be right with you
06:56hi alex how you doing very nice to meet you
07:00all right here we are thank you you still have the covid screen up yes yeah it's uh pretty pretty
07:07handy
07:08why it's not exactly going to protect you against irate guests is it so are most people coming who
07:17stay with you transiting flying off in the morning you know how does it work pretty much all our guests
07:22are like that they're checking late and they're flying out early so what's the occupancy like it's
07:26around 80 good yeah yeah why do you need my help well profit margin is not particularly great
07:35and parents are retiring right i will look after them good boy so it's just really tight it's a lot
07:42effort for um for not much money not much money yeah i think it's a common problem yeah yeah so
07:50is it
07:50too early or can i check in i can check you in right now i'm managing my expectations just how
07:57budget is
07:57my budget room going to be don't follow me
08:04here we are room number seven thank you very much so how much would this room be for me tonight
08:11single occupancy would be 69 fine yeah okay yeah great i'll have a look around the room poke my nose
08:19in another couple of bedrooms and i will come back and find you is that all right absolutely
08:28first of all i wish i bought my sunglasses the glare of this light is fierce let's put it that
08:36way
08:37um this is pretty much exactly what i expected it is very basic but very generous bottles of water
08:47which seems like a unusual expense i mean that's a top brand of water very basic tea tray so there's
08:55already a little bit of a disjunct that i'm not entirely sure about you know is it this or is
09:02it
09:02this only you can decide good luck oh no we're ready yeah straight to the point that's good that's
09:11what we want yeah what we like yeah so straight to the point
09:22this makes me think of the kind of dress and gone with the wind that should have done a party
09:28dress
09:30scarlet o'hara oh my god whose taste is this there's clearly something of a mismatch going on around here
09:43oh so there's a couple of things here that i loathe what is the point of having a headboard
09:49in front of a window i mean i'm quite grateful to be spared the guantanamo bay strip lighting
09:55at least that um you know what i hadn't even noticed the purple ceiling you know i'm kind of obsessed
10:02by the fact this is always shoved in next to each other aside from the odd purple ceiling it feels
10:11like
10:11a lot of this place hasn't changed much since ram and and moved in two decades ago very nice to
10:17meet
10:18you i'm alex nice to meet you hi alex very nice to meet you so tell me about how long
10:25you've had this
10:25building we owned it for almost 22 years now worked here lived there raised the kids here the way
10:32forward for us is really to step back now to be honest it's not easy yeah yeah so how long
10:38has ride
10:38been here with you he actually got involved with the business 2014 yeah um but this last two years
10:45is taking more seriously now so if you want to exit this place we need to pass on all the
10:51information
10:51okay um well i'm looking forward to working with you very much you appreciate that thank you so much
10:58first impressions are it's exactly what it says on the tin you know very few frills it's hard to see
11:07how there's room for these kind of traditional family places anymore and really they only survive
11:13because they are cheap i mean i hate to be brutal but i'd rather go and say it's a big
11:18chain hotel than here
11:20if rai can't turn things around selling the hotel may be their only option if someone comes the right
11:27offer would you consider selling it well we'd like we quite easy what's what's holding you back holding
11:33me back your future we had a good life you know i want to think about your future you would
11:39like to see
11:39this pass into next generation and to keep the you know family business going it's not an easy decision no
11:46no
11:59this is gatwick turret hotel just a mile from the airport boasting some interesting room stylings
12:07oh glitter everything that glitters is not gold despite high occupancy they're making almost no money this
12:16business needs a lot of updating otherwise it's just not worth it we will just sell up and say goodbye
12:24to it overworked owners ram and and are desperate to retire yeah thank you that's all right bye bye
12:30but that relies on their only son rai either making the business profitable or giving up and selling the
12:36place to lose it hopefully it won't come to that and we will keep fighting until you know until we
12:43can't
12:44really some big changes are required to keep this family business alive
12:52aha hello hello explain to me the funny mismatch of styles that are in this hotel i've got the idea
13:00online with the purple ceiling i thought i'd just give it a go i don't mind the purple ceiling oh
13:06really
13:06there's lots of things i mind more than the purple ceiling let's put it that way okay i mean i
13:11can't
13:11understand why you've got a bed with its headboard against the window yeah i can't understand this
13:17which has completely nothing to do with anything else it's a conflict of my ideas with my mums ah so
13:23you
13:23know what's your mum and what's you that's you i know yeah this is you i want things to look
13:29a bit
13:29more instagramable i've got some ideas even for this room go on what would you do i'll knock this wall
13:34out
13:34i'll put a steel beam maybe put a bathtub here a nice king-sized bed perhaps um i think you're
13:45bonkers
13:46to even think of that the market is incredibly price sensitive yeah rye shouldn't be thinking about
13:54expensive extensions he needs to be making sure every penny counts and when i arrived at the hotel i
14:00spotted an instant fix to help with that rye's massive car park where guests can leave their
14:06cars before grabbing a bus to the airport so you've got an enormous car park yeah how many cars can
14:14you
14:15park here 20. okay we charge eight pounds a night for the car parking because car parking around here
14:21is really expensive isn't it yeah but not a lot of people know about the guest houses here that we
14:26do
14:26on-site car parking i think is um it's a good add-on for the business a brilliant add-on
14:31i don't
14:32disagree with you parking at gatwick airport itself is around 30 pounds a day so i think rye's badly
14:38understanding himself at eight right now his 20 space car park averages seven to ten cars a night with
14:44only 15 of his customers actually using it we can definitely up that but first things first i want to
14:51dig down into the numbers what kind of percentage profitable are you we don't make huge margins i
14:58don't thought you were a liar if you said you did in our previous year we did a turnover of
15:04quarter of a million yeah but we only made a net profit of 15 000 pounds they had a turnover
15:10of a
15:10quarter of a million pounds but made only 15k that's a paltry six percent profit even a budget hotel
15:16should be making 15 or 40k i'm sure that quite a lot of your profitability goes on commission doesn't
15:23it yeah i mean a big chunk of our bookings are through the agency is it 18 that they charge
15:30they're
15:30charged 15. tell me about what it costs you to put on the room each room costs around four pounds
15:3620
15:36for the linen there's tea coffee tray a bottle of water expensive water mom didn't like it i wouldn't put
15:44a very expensive bottle of water in the room i agree with you yeah go on so what is it
15:49cost uh three
15:50pound 20. 320 and probably two quid of that is the water adding to the cost per room are roughly
15:57six
15:58pounds on housekeeping nine pounds towards the 350 000 pound mortgage 24 pounds on utilities and taxes
16:05and nine pounds commission for those pesky online booking sites so the grand total of that my dears is
16:1456 quid lucky lucky you all this work and all this headache and you're making a profit of about
16:21four pounds a night per year not quite enough to retire frankly sweet fanny adams yeah so there is
16:31it obviously a problem do you pay yourselves a thousand pound each a thousand pounds each yeah yeah yeah
16:40gosh darling i mean i'm surprised the government allow it you're not even making minimum wage
16:47have you tried putting up the room rates we put the room rates up then they don't sell the room
16:52rates that we sold 22 years ago is pretty much the same as they are now but in the olden
16:56days you
16:56weren't being paying 15 commission exactly that yeah the other realistic thing which is like the nuclear
17:03option is to spend two years and pay as much as you can of the mortgage and then sell it
17:08and make some
17:09money yeah what weds you to this business i don't know what to do afterwards you know it's going to
17:15take a lot of reinventing but darling you're young and it's possible is this place what you consider
17:21your pension that's what i was thinking yeah so we either need to make more money or sell it off
17:27yeah
17:29i'm gonna go and sleep on it i don't often deal with hotels who have to be so focused on
17:35one type of
17:36customer it really feels like there's no wriggle room here i'm a bit worried about how on earth i
17:43can help this lovely family it's quite a difficult conundrum you know they know that they can't put
17:49up their prices and they almost have 100 occupancy and those are the two things you can alter to make
17:56more money so i'm going to have to be inventive hopefully a decent night's sleep might help me
18:03come up with some solutions
18:18poor brandy look at you oh look at his face he's not allowed in here
18:24i set remarkably well so i can't really complain i mean it's just not a destination
18:33it's just a transient spot and we all sometimes need handy places like that
18:39but maybe there's a way of making it more of a destination i've had a few ideas i mean i've
18:46got
18:46to come up with a solution for them and a solution that they can afford a first thought is to
18:52make
18:52things around here more useful for those transient customers and that brings me tastily to breakfast
18:58good morning thank you so much that looks lovely ah thank you so i'm alone here in the dining room
19:06do people usually have breakfast or not have breakfast sometimes we can turn breakfast a day
19:12then sometimes isn't not even one yeah depend on the flight as well okay i understand that okay
19:17enjoy your breakfast i will yeah thank you cooked breakfast is 10 pounds 95 serving between seven
19:24and nine but that's only earning them around 35 pounds a day more flexibility for those earlier flyers
19:31could help it's absolutely delicious the other thing i spy is their posh coffee machine which they serve
19:37for free that feels like another missed opportunity but i'll get to that later i've got a bigger plan
19:43to pitch i've asked my host to meet me in their grand floor family bedroom i've hatched a scheme that
19:49feels a little like making a deal with the devil but as ever i'll do whatever it takes come on
19:56in my
19:56darlings so this is a conundrum isn't it i think there's a few basic housekeeping things that you could
20:03do which are that every time someone books a room you could email them and make sure that this is
20:08the
20:08positive choice for where they park and i also think you could put up your car parking prices a bit
20:13but i'm wondering whether we do a gimmick which i don't normally go for okay which is to try and
20:21encourage families to book here i'm wondering if we could make it like a first class cabin so they walk
20:28into this room and the children's bed would be like a fold out you know like you do when you're
20:34going in a first class cabin we could do little fake passports that the children get stamped at the
20:39front desk and this would make it a bit more glamorous nicer room so you could charge a bit of
20:45a premium for it whether it was with or without children i think it's a fantastic idea if we can
20:51advertise that a bit more and also it might just see if there's room in the market just to tweak
20:57the
20:57prices because actually that bottom line thing is very intractable yeah i agree okay well we'll give
21:04it a go i will do my best for you and when i come back i hope we'll have got
21:09rid of the very expensive
21:10water yeah i'll drink it all okay i think these changes will give a holiday atmosphere from the moment
21:18guests arrive and could let me up this room's rate from 80 pounds a night to maybe 120. plus if
21:25this
21:25works they could turn other rooms premium too i was feeling very anxious about it until i thought of
21:32something that we could try and now i've got a project to get my teeth into and i will as
21:38always
21:38there's lots to do before i come back you know and i've got a lot of other projects on so
21:43it's never
21:44straightforward but i'm glad i've got a plan to go at
21:48all right here we go ready okay if rice parents want to retire change is needed here fast i've left
22:04the family with a load of all-important homework i'll take the headboard to realize our vision of an
22:11airline themed room for the lucrative family market get it all rubbed down and change go to a charity
22:16shop as well as clearing out the dated mismatched furnishings i've also asked rye to make more of
22:23one potential gold mine alex recommends that i should be upselling my car parking so everyone who books now
22:32we're getting instant email saying do you know that we offer on-site car parking and rise upping the
22:38parking rates from eight to ten pounds a day still way below airport rates which i hope will add 20
22:44percent to their desperately low margins over in our would-be premium room i've told the family to put
22:50an old friend out of its misery my parents are quite passionate about net curtains that's for you
22:56look after so seeing that go i can see in their eyes they're not sure about it but for me
23:01i like these
23:02big windows i like to see them replacing the old window fittings with frosted decals gives a brighter
23:08more modern look every single detail is crucial if we want to bring in the revenue to save this family
23:14business to lose it i don't want to do that it's become a part of us as much as we
23:20become a part of
23:21the business it's taken us four hours to just fit one how long it's going to take us to do
23:26the rest
23:28this is a high pressure situation it's now or never you know it's do or die
23:45changes in the air at the financially challenged gatwick turret bnb my team have been busy on our new
23:52airline themed room and i'm keen to check in it is a mere two weeks since i was last here
23:58and i have
24:00a lot to do in a very short space of time you know it isn't my usual bent to suggest
24:06that someone should
24:07make a themed room normally i'm taking theming out of everything but it's got a two-pronged effect it will
24:14help them hopefully stand out from the crowd and it will allow them to charge more money and hopefully make
24:20more profit this is a tough one that premium room could earn them an extra 40 pounds a night
24:26as much as 14 grand a year but before i lend a hand with that makeover i want to work
24:32on the air
24:33to this empire rye hi hi how are you thank you a lovely day yes brilliant out there parking let's
24:43start
24:43with that yes have you put up your prices at all yes oh we now charge 10 pounds very good
24:49then the
24:50car park is a lot busier than before do you have a figure to put the amount of money you've
24:55made on
24:55parking 350 pounds since we last met well that's two weeks ago yeah you no need to thank me dear
25:02boy
25:02it's an absolute pleasure to have been a sister yeah that's 150 pounds more than they were making
25:09before across a year that could add up to nearly 4 000 pounds of additional pure profit so that's
25:16one reason to be cheerful but what about that bloody water aha um much better yep what's your cost
25:24difference from what it was so we're saving over two pounds so we're saving a lot more every pound
25:30every pound counts yeah it's mad but that could save them up to 10 grand a year and i definitely
25:35think there's profit to be made in the breakfast room too right so the obvious thing is to make some
25:42money out of your coffee machine yeah which costs you how much a cup 45 pence a cup okay if
25:48you had a
25:49kind of coffee machine that you could charge people for yeah then you'd make a nice little sideline
25:53yeah i think it's a great idea there are so many smart little touches that can make a hotel more
25:59profitable and i've arranged for us to meet with the local hotelier who has that nailed
26:03this is oak tree lodge run by former flight attendant david hello david very nice to see you
26:11my friend i have warned him he may be feeling a bit envious by the end of today this is
26:18meant as
26:18inspiration come follow me down like rye david caters to gatwick airport travelers with guests
26:26leaving at the crack of dawn but he's opted to be super flexible with their breakfasts
26:32people go in early in the morning we offer this packed breakfast
26:38and in there you just got cheese and ham croissant fresh fruit cereal bar and i just put a little
26:46biscuit in there compared to rise five percent profit david's making 21 every year partly because
26:52he encourages customers to book direct rather than through online travel agents or otas what percentage
26:59of your bookings come through an ota i would say about 20 through an online booking platform wow
27:07yeah that's impressive in contrast rye gets 80 of his trade through the otas but david has focused
27:14on creating a premium experience come on in thank you that lets him charge a bit more per room as
27:21well as building loyalty with returning direct customers hopefully when people walk into the room
27:27they notice little things like the sweets at the side of the bed so many comments people say i love
27:34your
27:34sweets that's really thoughtful yeah and if people would park here with us i like to leave just a
27:40goodie bag in their car for the journey back and in there two bottles of water mini cheddars
27:47a bag of sweets and business cards the all-important business card we get a lot of people who say
27:57we are recommended to you people who are like sat next to somebody on the on a plane coming back
28:02oh
28:03where did you stay or yeah you know people next to them on a sunbed it's amazing what people talk
28:08about on holiday but yeah it works thank you darling for your time i really appreciate it
28:13you're very welcome and good luck yeah thanks so much
28:19was that useful that was brilliant there's so much in there that i can take from and learn the fact
28:26he's so thoughtful to his guests and they'll remember that and take it with the journey and
28:30it always will come back which is what you want yeah and i think ultimately that's what really makes
28:35difference to his bottom line it's really inspired me so even a transitory spot can feel personal
28:43enough to stand out plus inspired by david's dodging of booking site commissions i've got another suggestion
28:51when people come you get them to fill out their details and then if they book directly with you
29:00you can give them a cheaper price anyone booking through an ota is going to cost you 15 at least
29:06yeah so someone booking with you directly will save you money so you can afford to give them a bit
29:11of a discount on the published rate okay rise losing 25 000 pounds a year to the booking sites if
29:17all
29:17those guests book direct even with a five percent discount he could be saving a fortune that's a
29:23brilliant idea i think i needed some sort of incentive to get people who do fly from gatwick
29:29frequently to come back and book directly with us good yeah he's starting to learn this young man
29:34time to check in on our airline themed premium room hello how's it going yeah good i think aha the
29:43film looks great on the windows that already is going to make a big difference pull down a blind let's
29:49have a look oh that's a thing of beauty this room needs to prove it deserves a premium price tag
29:59so i've arranged a little test for tomorrow night i have a family coming to stay oh wow and so
30:05they will be the first to road test the room hopefully give us some encouraging feedback wow i'm
30:10excited for that we've got two brief days to get the blinds up to get the paintwork done to get
30:15the
30:15carpet in to get our other bits of furniture in i'm hoping that you're going to see it and you'll
30:19go
30:20oh why did i not think of this yeah reviews are everything and this will be our new rooms first
30:25but the clock is ticking we'd better get it cleared for the carpet fitters right let's go where are we
30:31going uh in my bedroom lovely
30:39i feel as if this place has been in stasis for ages mind the pint work
30:48nice and clean i'm hoping that i've started showing them away you know just a bit of energy
30:54a bit of enthusiasm a bit of vim and figure just want to
31:01go
31:03if we can pull this off it could be the miracle this family need to keep their business going
31:08we were hoping that the carpet fitters were going to come today but i don't think they'll manage it
31:15so i'm now a bit more anxious than i was because it's all timed quite tight as it is
31:22how bravely on what's the option i have to have faith don't i
31:36it's my penultimate day in hawley and i'm relieved to say that the carpet fitters were in bright and
31:41early and our new fold-out furniture has been delivered hello my darling hiya
31:48oh i like these yes look at this
31:59that's very nice yeah i mean isn't that nice very nice beautiful and then the pièce de la
32:08resistance oh my goodness that's a turret oh that's good isn't it yeah yeah what
32:18we have basically done is quite a big change on quite a big room for about one and a half
32:23grand
32:24so there's no need for rye to knock down walls our new fold-out chairs give the room plenty of
32:29space
32:30but there's still lots to do let's go some of the more tasteful furniture is being reused all right
32:36okay the chuckle brothers are back that's it yeah to me i've got a family coming in to road test
32:43the
32:44new product and i really want it to be as nice as it can possibly be it's very chic actually
32:50it is
32:51quite a lot still to do i don't want them to arrive but they're still faffing it's always last minute
32:57lastminute.com is my whole life good right
33:13come and see the room
33:17the old thoroughly depressing family bedroom has been transformed
33:22the cramped conditions awful curtains and mismatched decor are gone
33:29in their place are modern fittings posh carpet and handy new furniture that can be an armchair
33:37or a child's bed the all-new airline themed family room is ready for takeoff well done that looks very
33:43nice it gives you a little point of difference and i think that's very nice this is good very good
33:49thank you very cozy very nice thank you
33:57i'm going to leave ryan his parents until the morning this next step they need to take on their own
34:05the family are just about to arrive to road test the room and i suppose what i really want to
34:10find
34:10out if this is a premium product that's worth a more premium price i don't know i want us to
34:17get a
34:18good review from this family and know that we're on the right track so that all the efforts have been
34:51worthwhile
34:53and rye's got some surprises for them at the check-in hi hi how you doing we've got a little
34:59passport
35:00for you before i give you your room i think you need to check in passport i'm hoping these memorable
35:07little details will encourage return customers well welcome to the turret guest house and you'll be
35:14staying in the turret air premium one suite here is your room key have a lovely stay thank you bye
35:23bye
35:24this is the advantage of being independent you'd never get this kind of individuality in a big chain hotel
35:33oh that's nice yeah what do you think you like it yeah
35:40do you want to help me yeah okay wow oh that's cool
35:50straight now
35:54the kids seem to approve of our new rooms theming and there's another add-on to come that'll help with
36:00our publicity
36:03concierge all right this is your case hope you have a good night sleep you've got a nice little uh
36:08sticker here oh brilliant there you go you want to stick this on your bag
36:12oh go on then there you go try the side there we go around the baggage belt you know what
36:20turns
36:20yours now perfect i've asked our guinea pigs to record the experience of their stay are we having a
36:28good time yeah oh how easy was that what do you think is it comfy yeah
36:41good time i'm six by the way goodbye are you comfy yeah ready for bed yeah cool say night
36:59good morning do you have a good sleep what would you like to have
37:04because uh yeah yes okay thank you thank you so you're welcome i am back here in gatwick for my
37:10last
37:11day i've had a family to stay in my new room this is for you i'm hoping that they're going
37:19to agree
37:20that it is a premium quality room and it deserves a premium price tag
37:29good morning hello hello hello you were the first people to stay in the new room so i'm dying to
37:37hear
37:37what you thought of it i absolutely loved it oh good yeah i think it's great it gives you sort
37:43of holiday
37:43vibes from the very second that you step into the room oh god you're so nice darling i mean i
37:48could have
37:48written that line for you i'm so pleased great and what did you think of the fold out beds kids
37:55good i'm glad if you were going away where would you like to be flying off to turkey oh i
38:02love it
38:02international traveler right then time to talk cold hard cash what would you be prepared to pay for
38:10a room like that do you think i was thinking about 150 maybe even up to 180 for peak times
38:15thank you
38:16because we think that our price point would be 120 pounds that's better feedback than i could have
38:23hoped for and taking inspiration from the oak tree lodge we're adding to our premium family experience
38:28with complimentary goodie bags this is an idea that we've got for kids before they go to the airport
38:35one for you just a croissant on a juice in case you need a little pick me up and one
38:41for you young
38:41lady thank you thank you at my suggestion rye's going to take a similar approach to breakfasts
38:49with takeaway boxes for early risers i always knew more flexibility would help plus he's finally got that
38:55coffee machine sorted at two pounds a cup yeah so if people can actually pay why is it wanting a
39:01coffee
39:01before they head to the airport or just during the day so i just gotta keep bringing in the caffeine
39:07but none of this matters if you don't get the word out there and this is where the novelty of
39:12our new
39:13family room helps i've invited mark to come in who's a journalist working for sussex world and surrey world
39:20they have a quite astonishing leadership and i'm hoping that he's going to help me promote the new premier
39:27air rooms and generate some traffic to rise own website and that'll be crucial if we're going to
39:35save ride that 15 commission charge i've come to visit the new premium turret air room and as you can
39:41see it's really cool so it's got wonderful little touches like you get these on the back of a airport
39:48seat with the um instructions in if you're looking for a stay before you fly away and you want to
39:53get
39:54the kids excited why not stay here at the gatwick turret in horby so maybe gatwick turret has finally
40:02broken out of its holding pattern let's see what the finances say it's come down to a numbers game
40:08hasn't it it's all about a pound here and a pound there so let's say for example the room that
40:15we've
40:15just done is 99 pounds if you had 15 pounds a child for two children the base rate it is
40:21is 129 pounds
40:23then you're suddenly making by my calculations with 85 occupancy you're making about 11 grand
40:32profit a year a year yeah so 11 grand profit for just one room with the option of turning other
40:38rooms
40:38premium too that's a nice prospect for a hotel crawling by on 15k profit and if they can keep on
40:45with the
40:45car park be more flexible on breakfast and encourage more returning customers to book direct
40:50that could add up to a six-figure sum definitely a wake-up call for us you know what you've
40:57done in
40:58that room we're going to do that some rooms yeah i really like that idea when i first met ryan
41:05his
41:05family the talk was of preparing a retirement plan for mum and dad at the moment there's not enough money
41:12for them to retire and so it's essential that they spend the next few years working really hard all
41:17of them together to ensure that there's a proper retirement fund if they can achieve the changes i'm
41:22suggesting mum and dad could retire within the next few years leaving rye to stand on his own i think
41:29what i learned in this process is that premium means better interaction with your customers yeah you
41:35know make them feel special and starting their holiday here at the guest house rather than at the airport
41:39that's a brilliant tagline start your holiday by staying with us a genius idea darling i'm hoping
41:46i've inspired rye enough and given him the tools he needs to succeed time will tell all right my darlings
41:52it's been an absolute pleasure thank you alex thank you thank you thank you bye bye see you soon
42:01been a great journey from start to finish the turret actually got some attention that it needed i'm really
42:07chopped to what we achieved in such a short period of time this has been a really difficult one to
42:15work out what to do to be busy and not to be making money is a kind of unusual problem
42:22i think i just needed to remind the family to analyze everything to work out where they could make
42:28a better margin hopefully this is a plan that they can take forward
42:41hi alex just update since you left we've been making an extra 140 pounds a week in our breakfast
42:48room for the takeaway boxes also we're getting some great feedback on our premium room we've got some
42:55great press and there's a whole article here about how we've updated our rooms and being more engaged
43:01with our guests the business is now heading in the right direction
43:27so
43:32you
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