INTRODUCTION Leeds Castle and its estate is a national treasure, which not only provides the window to nine hundred years of English and British history but also delivers both a haven of tranquillity and excitement for more than half a million visitors each year. Leeds Castle Maidstone, Kent ME17 1PL Tel: 01622 765400 Fax: 01622 735616 enquiries@leeds-castle.co.uk Leeds Castle Enterprises Ltd Is wholly owned subsidiary of Leeds Castle Foundation, a registered charity Registered Office: Leeds Castle Registered in England No. 1413563 VAT No.303 8709 66 The Leeds Castle Foundation has been responsible for this special place since its creation as an independent charity in 1974. Our vision, set out in this document, is to maintain and preserve the castle and its estate for this and future generations to enjoy, and to provide as wonderful and as uplifting an experience as we can for every one of our visitors. It is seen as one of the top visitor attractions in the United Kingdom, and we want to build on that making sure it is recognised for its history, beauty and the amazing experience it provides. Sir David Steel Chief Executive Mr Niall Dickson Chairman, Leeds Castle Foundation
WE WILL ACHIEVE THIS BY: Providing an excellent, authentic and inspiring experience for every visitor. We will meet our charitable purposes, and aspire to welcome 650,000 visitors a year by 2020. LEEDS CASTLE WILL BE GUIDED IN ALL THAT WE DO BY: Using our professionalism to create a wonderful experience: Making sure that every visitor is made welcome, that their expectations are exceeded with unforgettable memories and that they receive the highest level of service from each member of staff. Our staff will receive the best possible training every visitor should leave feeling rewarded and uplifted. OUR VISION FOR LEEDS CASTLE To be recognised as the loveliest castle in the world. Our aim will continue to be: The preservation of the Castle, its collections and interiors, and its estate for the benefit of the public. Teamwork Working together, across every part and at every level of the Foundation and its commercial enterprises, fully engaging our suppliers and sponsors in the charity s wider purposes, all of it focussed on delivering the highest quality of experience for every visitor. Innovation Continually finding ways to do things better and do better things, working in the most effective, efficient and business-like manner. Safety Making sure that the safety of our visitors and our staff is paramount at all times.
OUR FIVE YEAR STRATEGY: WHAT WILL BE DIFFERENT? By April 2020 we will: Deliver a major capital investment programme to develop hospitality, retail, entertainment, education and sporting activity. Continue to invest in our stonework restoration of the Castle, its batter and curtain wall. Make our car parks resilient to use throughout the year. Transform the presentation of the Castle s interior, bringing to life the Castle s amazing history, especially the Lady Baillie era, in ways that engage, educate and entertain our visitors, using the latest interpretation techniques, and by restoring and improving the condition of the rooms and collections. Install new business systems to improve efficiency and the quality of service for our visitors. Improve logistics and administrative support to provide a safe environment for our staff and visitors. DELIVERY We will deliver each of these through six principal work programmes. Within each programme we have set detailed management objectives with the following overarching priorities: 1. The delivery of the capital investment programme, including further restoration of the Castle, renovation and transformation of Battel Hall, and the creation of a new Visitor Reception and Retail area. 2. Repair and restoration of the collections and interiors of the remaining state rooms on the ground floor of the New Castle, as well as improvements in the decoration of other areas of the Castle. 3. A new and greatly enhanced interpretation of the Castle, which will bring the Lady Baillie period to life while enabling each visitor to see it in context and appreciate the long and varied history of the Castle. 4. The introduction of a fully funded maintenance and improvement programme, which presents clear timescales for upgrading and improving visitor accommodation and dining facilities. 5. Improved marketing and the use of social media with selective changes to branding, as well as improvements in information technology to allow better interpretation of management information and financial analysis. 6. The continued development of our remuneration, reward, recognition and benefits strategy, which will meet the statutory requirements for a Living Wage by 2020 and provide attractive benefits for our staff.
IN PARTNERSHIP Our aim is to build even closer relationships with local enterprises and charities, with Kent County Council and Maidstone Borough Council, and with Visit Kent. Our partnerships with Visit England and the other Treasure Houses of England, and through the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, will also remain vital in taking forward the business of the Foundation. We will seek to engage with grant making organisations where their particular assistance will allow us to deliver our aspirations for development of the estate to ensure an enhanced visitor experience. WHAT WE WILL DELIVER: OUR FIVE YEAR STRATEGY A. Offering an exciting and informative experience for our visitors: 1. Making the experience of each visitor as engaging, informative and relevant, as we can. 2. To make the Castle more accessible for those with disabilities. Improve the quality and presentation of the collections in the Castle and enhance the interpretation to allow the visitor to fully understand how the Castle will have felt during Lady Baillie s lifetime and those of earlier owners. Review the visitor route to make sure that the story of the Castle is appealing, easy to follow and presented logically, and enhance the collection and interiors to create an authentic and engaging experience. To enable access to the first floor of the Castle for those with mobility difficulties or, if that is not possible: Install an improved means of projecting a view of the first floor rooms to those unable to gain access to the first floor with ease. 3. To improve the decoration of the ground floor state rooms in the Castle. 4. Progressively to open up those areas of the visitor route not currently available for viewing. 5. Gardens enhancement. 6. Children s play areas. 7. Events. A rolling programme of major restoration, principally to include in priority order the Yellow Drawing Room, Thorpe Hall, and the Seminar Room, but also other rooms in accordance with the interpretation strategy. Increase the opportunities to experience areas of the Castle not previously open to the visitor, especially those areas of the bedroom suites and other private facilities. Recognising there may be constraints in terms of space, explore how we can reveal the world below stairs, and thereby tell the story of the lives of those who worked in service. Continue to deliver the gardens development plan, including improvements in the Barbican garden. To create a reputation for horticultural excellence. A rolling programme of maintenance and replacement to enthral and excite younger children in a safe environment. To build on the current events programme and invest in new projects to attract new and more visitors.
B. Preservation and renovation of the buildings and estate and further development. C. Deliver improved hospitality, retail and catering facilities. 1. The Castle. To continue the scheduled stonework restoration programme for the New Castle, the batter and the curtail wall. 1. To deliver Battel Hall and Castle View. To refurbish the interior to allow the highest possible standard of accommodation and hospitality facilities, with a minimum of nine en-suite bedrooms. 2. Battel Hall. To repair and renovate Battel Hall and to create a five star venue which will attract guests and contribute significantly to the net income of the Foundation. To update and landscape the gardens in a way fitting for such a high standard hospitality venue. 3. Irrigation systems. 4. Estate Yard and Park Farm. 5. Ancillary Buildings. Repair and improve the irrigation systems on the golf course and Castle Island, including the Maiden s Tower garden and fountain. To develop a strategy to create the best return on investment and value from our estate, disposing of some properties to enable reinvestment in land and buildings to improve returns or in the visitor experience. To conduct a review of ancillary buildings and where possible to rationalise estate services to release current buildings and offices for wider public use. 2. To renovate and open the Pavilion. 3. To deliver a new Visitor Reception, Catering and Retail Centre. Part 1: To deliver a series of improvements that will allow basic use of the building as a service outlet by June 2016. Part 2: By April 2017 to introduce improved services (plumbing, kitchen and toilet facilities) to allow enhanced catering and hospitality. To replace the existing reception and sales centre with a purpose built building which provides the ideal venue to receive visitors, issue tickets, offer retail and hospitality facilities and to promote forthcoming and special events. The building may also accommodate additional office space and further educational facilities. To conduct a review of the availability of space for offices, maintenance and logistics functions to make best use of the space available. 4. To create a new golf shop and club house. Following consultation with golf club members, to create a new or developed club house and shop that meets the requirement of members while also meeting the wider business needs of Leeds Castle, capitalising on the existing retail and hospitality offer. 6. Car Parking. To improve the drainage qualities of the main car parking areas to provide greater tolerance to extremes of weather. 5. To deliver a fully funded improvement programme for hospitality accommodation. To implement a funded and agreed programme of enhancements and re-decoration such that each bedroom suite is refurbished at least once every three years.
D. Deliver educational programmes and facilities to inspire visitors of all ages, and to promote health and other charitable purposes. E. To manage the charity effectively and sustainably, building our reputation, valuing our team and our environment. 1. Develop further our learning programme drawing upon our expertise and using our buildings, stories and collections to inspire a wide range of potential audiences. Building upon current success, continue to develop programmes of new workshops that will attract the widest range of attendees, not just those of the youngest generations. 1. To manage risks effectively and to provide a safe environment for all our visitors and all who work on the estate. To review and update compliance and assurance practices and records, seeking external specialist review where necessary. 2. Improve our engagement with local schools and colleges. To increase our partnerships with local schools and colleges to enable their greater use of the estate for education and development benefits. 2. Introduce a new accounts management system to assist in the overall management of the enterprise. Based upon specialist advice, to build an accounts and IT package that delivers efficiency in the management of the enterprise and allows for ease of management information interpretation. 3. Support a major national or international gathering. To offer work placements with a view to assisting school and college leavers into the permanent employment market. At least every three years offer to host a high level summit to tackle a major national or international issue. 3. To recognise and value our staff in delivering the best outcomes for our guests and visitors. To introduce and build upon professional training courses that lead to professionally recognised qualifications for all who work for the Foundation and its primary partners. To develop a trusted and beneficial performance review process which allows for succession planning and personal development. 4. Explore and introduce new ways to offer public access to the parkland and our facilities, to take exercise in an unparalleled setting. 5. Support to other charities. Develop running tracks and walks around the estate, and continue to support sponsored activities on behalf of our own charity and others. Explore the possibility of installing cycle routes around the edge of the estate. To support three external charities a year with an event to raise the charity s profile and revenue. 4. Explore greater use of renewable energy and reducing our carbon footprint, working in a way that is environmentally responsible. To conduct staff opinion surveys and to raise satisfaction levels to 80% overall by 2017, with improvements each year thereafter. We will strive to reduce energy costs by 10% per annum through improvements in control, as well as in upgrading existing plant to higher environmental and efficiency standards.
F. To generate the financial resources needed to deliver the mission. 1. To generate an operating surplus of at least 400,000 each year after general maintenance and capital improvement programmes. By managing our costs effectively and capitalising upon revenue earning streams, while continuing to invest in high quality, brand enhancing opportunities. 2. Grow the contribution from the trading company to 1.5m per year by 2018, with greater improvements annually thereafter. Continue to develop the partnership with the catering contractor, offering greater support and opportunities for improved quality and potential for growth, with a strong financial return. 3. Continue our strategy of innovation and diversification. Continually to explore new opportunities against sound business cases, balancing risk and reward effectively. To only pursue events and exhibitions that add to our reputation, our brand value and which can achieve high customer satisfaction. 4. Develop and implement a limited programme of fundraising to enable enhancement of our facilities and setting. To build a fundraising strategy to embrace both national and international beneficiaries that will allow Leeds Castle to implement ambitious programmes of development for the benefit of our charitable purposes. 5. Attract conferences of national and international importance. To engage with Government and national or international organisations to promote the benefit of Leeds Castle as a venue for major conferences, summits and meetings. 6. Release the potential of the Chegworth site, delivering new opportunities and attracting a diversified audience. To build further on our hospitality and entertaining experience to provide another new and exciting attraction (s) that will attract new visitors and also those returning.