Minutes for Part 2 of the committee meeting held by conference call on Monday
11 July 2022 at 1500.
Present
Committee Members St Mellion Representatives
Andy Martin (AM) Chairman
Matt Pressman (MP) Resort Director
John Dalglish (JD) Secretary
Mark Webster (MW) Deputy General Manager
Joyce Bloom (JB)
Coli Rayson (CR)
- Apologies for Absence: Sarah Yardley. MP joined the meeting around
1415, delayed by an IT issue. - Minutes of previous meeting: the minutes for the meeting held at 1400
on 21 January 2022 had been agreed out of committee. - Review of Documentation Provided by DGM of St Mellion: the
chairman of the committee thanked MW for the documentation and
queried what the strategy is for Time Share at St Mellion. MW explained
that COVID had had fundamentally affected the business; fewer than
50% owners compared with 2020, resulting in the customer base being
close to the economic “tipping point” of 200 owners. In MW’s opinion,
there are 2 options – wind up the scheme or owners will have to pay
considerably more by way of annual maintenance fee (yet to be
determined but see para below re 10-year review). AM questioned
whether TS owners would be able to use hotel lodges, should the lodge
numbers be reduced to 6 (some owners are likely to leave the scheme in
near future, because of age and/or personal circumstances). MW replied
that in this instance there would be no benefit to St Mellion, only TS
owners. MP’s main concern is that the scheme will shortly run out of
funds, whilst recognising that some owners may not wish to leave at all.
Also, MP had to point out that there was no likelihood of Crown Golf
offering recompense to owners to leave. The current policy of allowing
owners to exit the scheme for free, having paid any maintenance fees due,
was likely to be the limit of Crown Golf’s generosity in this respect. - JB raised the issue of the 10-year review, to be held in 2023, in order to
determine the future baseline for the annual maintenance fee, by
September 2023. This would be applied in 2024, with annual RPI
adjustments thereafter. Previously one such review had been carried out
using the services of an independent arbiter, which had proved
prohibitively expensive. Subsequent exercises had been negotiated between the TS committee and St Mellion Management team – the preferred option, given the current state of finances.
- In response to JB’s query as to whether Crown Golf had investigated
breaking the lease to end the scheme, MP replied that they have made
such enquiries but have had different responses from different legal
entities. In sum, the legal advice obtained has not been sufficiently clear
or helpful in this respect. - MP asked the committee members what we would do, as we had all been
around longer than most management. JB said that we need to explain the
situation to members and put forward any options. AM elaborated that
this should include how much it would cost p.a. in fees to make a lodge
viable, plus of course how many lodges could we reduce to and still have
a sustainable business. CR added that we would like to remain as owners
but needed to understand all the facts, as Crown Golf had mismanaged
the situation in the past. In conclusion AM expressed the view on behalf
of the committee that we need a plan of action from the business, not
forgetting the importance of the pending 10-year review (JB). - Other salient points from the discussion were as follows: –
(1) Customers habits have changed this year and they are making last-
minute decisions about holidays (MP); hotel cottage/lodge
occupancy rates this summer are 43% for June, 60% for July, 48%
for August. This matches hotel occupancy figures.
(2) St Mellion management are not too concerned about current
occupancy rates, as the hotel only started marketing the refurbished
lodges actively in April.
(3) Bad debt: Crown Golf reluctant to take people to court; MW has
recovered a lot of bad debt on behalf of the business (JB and MW).
(4) Rest of owners may not appreciate the seriousness of the position
and may decide to leave for free if they know the truth (MP).
(5) Any communication by management to TS owners should make it
absolutely clear that there will be no windfall payment to exit the
scheme (JD), to pre-empt any expectations. - MP said that he is due to present the issue at a board meeting on 27 July.
He undertook to report back to the TS committee after that meeting. A
further meeting of this group would be held in August.
John Dalglish (Secretary)