Bulldog wants a bigger bite of the market

Edward Walsh joins Bulldog as finance director after a £20m investment from Commer Group, of which he is managing director.

Walsh, whose company now has 20% stake in the currently seven-strong Bulldog group, told M&C Report​ that they were looking across the country for sites.

He said: “If you look at the current spread we have places in Darlington right down to the Cotswolds. I think we are looking across the whole of England – Scotland and Wales aren’t areas we are currently looking to go in to. Maybe if it was as far down as Devon or Cornwall that might prove difficult but we are certainly spreading our net wide.

“We would look at a group acquisition if they were the right sites. We are very specific about what we want and it would be about finding a group that fits in with that. We want town centres because of the footfall. We are looking at 25 rooms at least and would get very excited about sites with 40/50/60.

“One thing we have to weigh up is whether we take on sites that need a lot of work and investment or if we target those that are in a better position and allow us to assimilate them quickly and move on to the next target.”

Three income streams​

Walsh said the key to the Kevin Charity-led company’s success was its focus on three income streams – food, drink and accommodation.

He said: “There’s really no one else doing this at the moment. Hotels tend to see F&B as an afterthought, while pubs with rooms tend to be very much in that order of priority. What Kevin has done so well is create an outstanding offer in all three of those areas.”

Walsh said the group’s growth strategy was fluid but was based on growing to at least 15 sites by 2020.

He said: “We will probably do three sites this year and three next year but if we can grow quicker then we certainly will.”

The group currently has hotels in Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire and County Durham.

Revitalising the offer​

Managing director Kevin Charity said: “We’re delighted Edward is joining the Bulldog board to lead our investment programme. His extensive financial experience as an investment banker and business knowledge and contacts through the Commer Group, will help us realise our ambitious growth plans.

“Our successful business model is based on selecting high quality coaching inns and revitalising their offer across food, drink and accommodation. While many individual hotels can only afford to focus on just one area, we have the resources to ensure excellence across all three income streams and give guests and customers an all-round better experience. This is proving attractive to couples and families for holiday breaks, but also to the corporate market for meetings and conferences.

“The regional hotel market, and particularly the coaching inn sector, remains highly fragmented and with this investment we have never been better placed to take advantage of the acquisition opportunities that we continue to see and allows us to grow the estate from seven to fifteen by 2020.”