Firle Estate – One day Events audit and Advisory review

ASSIGNMENT

Firle Place is an outstanding privately owned country house in Sussex that dates from the time of Henry VIII. Located in the heart of the South Downs National Park GFG was commissioned by the Trustees to evaluate the current events business model in particular the Wedding business operated from the converted Georgian Riding school. Alongside marquee structures that can be erected on the South Lawn.

Launched in 2014 Firle successfully delivers just under 30 weddings a year however the Trustees sought our advice on how that volume of events could be increased over the next few years. They also asked for recommendations on how revenues could be increased through improved efficiencies for both public events and film location work.

As part of this three-day observational audit one day was spent at Firle which involved meeting key members of the operations team. Following a tour of the Estate, our consultant facilitated a detailed SWOT analysis to identify future opportunities whilst also considering the operational challenges as the House is open to the public 60+ days of the year.

OUTCOMES

Following our visit and after further correspondence with both the Estates Director and external Wedding Operator, we produced a short report outlining a series of recommendations which if implemented could generate additional income for the Estate, these included: –

• Approved suppliers – As the model currently allows couples to source their own suppliers and based on an average wedding revenue spend in the region of £25k, we recommended implementing a policy of ‘preferred contractors’ which indirectly could add an additional revenue of 25% to the bottom line.

• Future Capex – Although the Estate had already recognized that future capital expenditure is required to enhance the Riding School venue facilities we outlined a number of additional ideas. This included amongst others the installation of a permanent kitchen which could be partly funded by the appointment of a sole caterer.

• Operating Model – Due to Firle’s success in marketing the Riding School as a wedding venue, the Estate has recognised that they need to double the volume of weddings by applying for a further planning. If successful, we outlined two alternative operating models which would deliver additional income based on an annual 75+ weddings a year.

• Film location – with an enviable reputation for hosting the annual ‘Celebrity bake-off’ as well as the feature film ‘Emma’ by Jane Austin in 2020, we outlined our thoughts on how to further marketing could engage with ‘Film Location’ audience by uploading enhanced ‘imagery’ of key Estate locations on Firle’s web site.