A major resort on Arran has highlighted hopes of a rebound in winter occupancy with the arrival of Caledonian MacBrayne’s Glen Sannox ferry, after posting significantly higher losses in its last financial year.

And the resort revealed hopes that it could, if ferry services proved more reliable over the next 18 months to two years and enabled year-round occupancy to return to pre-pandemic levels of 90%-plus, then consider further expansion.

The employee-owned Auchrannie Resort at Brodick saw its pre-tax losses widen to £474,260 in the year to March 31, 2024, from £111,447 in the prior 12 months.

The results are revealed in accounts for Auchrannie Holdings filed with Companies House.

Finance director and company secretary Colin Morrison described the rise in turnover, from £10.44 million to £10.64m, as “marginal”.

And he attributed the widening of losses mainly to higher staff costs, noting there had been a 10% rise in the real living wage during that year, and increased interest costs.

Mr Morrison said the occupancy rate had fallen to about 80% in the year to March 2024, from 86% in the prior 12 months.

And he described the loss in the 12 months to March 2024 as “far bigger” than the previous year.

However, he flagged hopes of an improvement in the financial performance in the current year to March 2025, which is on course to be significantly better than expected, through containing costs as opposed to revenue growth.

Mr Morrison said: “We originally forecast this year would be a [pre-tax] loss of £355,000 - 2024/25. We have done a lot of work on containing costs this year. We are hoping we will finish 2024/25 not quite break-even but hopefully a lot closer to it than we originally thought - that is due to savings in both spend and staff costs, rather than generating extra revenue.”

He observed that occupancy in the current financial year was likely to be similar to the 80% recorded for the 12 months to March 2024.

Mr Morrison said: “I think occupancy will be fairly flat this year.”

The resort comprises the 28-bedroom Auchrannie House Hotel, the 57-bedroom Spa Resort, 14 “couples’ retreats”, and 30 lodges, 25 of which are timeshares.

Auchrannie Resort’s current workforce is between 160 and 165. Staff numbers rise to about 180 in the summer.

The long-delayed and over-budget Glen Sannox, built by Port Glasgow shipyard Ferguson Marine, entered service on the Troon to Brodick route earlier this month.

Mr Morrison highlighted generally positive publicity around the ferry’s arrival on the route.

Commenting on the increase in losses in the year to March 2024, he said: “Probably ferries have been a bigger impact than the economic climate. There has been a lot of ferry disruption over the last few winters. It has obviously knocked consumer confidence a bit. If people have come one winter and have been hit, they are less likely to come the following winter.”

He expressed hopes that the arrival of the Glen Sannox would mean disruption is “reduced quite considerably”.

Read more

Mr Morrison, noting the new vessel’s greater capacity and ability to operate in weather conditions in which the smaller Isle of Arran vessel could not, said of the Glen Sannox: “It is good to see it in service. Certainly in the first couple of weeks it has been sailing in winds which would have prevented the Isle of Arran from sailing.”

He observed that, as well as disruption and cancellations, some people had been unable to book the ferry slots they wanted, with the Caledonian Isles having gone off the Brodick route for servicing in January last year.

The Caledonian Isles, he noted, is due back in operation at the end of March, for Caledonian MacBrayne’s summer timetable.

Mr Morrison said of the Glen Sannox: “I know what CalMac have said: the masters who have sailed on the Glen Sannox - they have said it seems to be powerful and manoeuvrable.”

Asked about the view on the island of the Glen Sannox’s arrival, he added: “I think everyone here is just pleased to see it in service. Hopefully, it will start to be back to a more reliable ferry service, which will increase confidence of people to come to the island [and] also get more capacity.”

Mr Morrison noted the past “two or three” winters had been “particularly bad” for ferry disruption.

Read more

 

He said: “The resort had worked hard over the years to build up its winter occupancy. Even with the levels we had got to, we lose a lot of money over the winter. It had got down to a more manageable amount.”

Mr Morrison said: “I think everyone is just now hoping the ferry situation will stabilise. It has been a difficult time. It is not only the disruption. It has been all the negative publicity. All the publicity about that has amplified [it].”

Asked for his view on consumer confidence, Mr Morrison replied: “I still think there is quite a lack of confidence. People are still being very careful about their money.”