Monday Interview - Peter Taylor: Revamp of RAC Club in top gear

Published on Sunday 28 September 2008 21:31

NOT everyone is letting the current state of the global economy get them down. Peter Taylor, the unassuming chairman of Edinburgh boutique hotel group the Town House Company, is still fully confident his new project to open Glasgow's best hotel will be an unparalleled success.

He is clear on where Blytheswood Square, the 20 million hotel he is creating out of the former Royal Scottish Automobile Club in the city centre, will fit into the market. "We see ourselves being in a league with Gleneagles and Turnberry," says Taylor.

"People talk about the economic climate. It is not that we would be completely immune to that, but it is such an exciting development and such exciting news for Glasgow that it will do well."

Some may say that now is perhaps not the time to develop a luxury hotel with a marble-clad spa. Already the project has hit delays. Originally due to open around now, the launch has been pushed back to next spring. In addition, Town House's long-standing backer, HBOS, is facing its own well-publicised problems.

But Taylor laughs – perhaps a bit nervously. Yes, HBOS is his banker. No, the news of its potential takeover by Lloyds TSB does not worry him overly much. Taylor is pragmatic: he knows he is good at what he does and what he does is good.

He is prepared to accept banking with Lloyds. As a stalwart in the Edinburgh business community, Taylor already has the key contacts under his belt. Susan Rice, chief executive of Lloyds TSB Scotland, for example, is practically his neighbour, often staying a few doors down from the Bonham at the Lloyds TSB flat on Drumsheugh Gardens. So far, his banker is still keen on seeing his vision for Blytheswood Square complete.

"My experiences with Lloyds in Scotland are very good. Susan Rice is a genuine person, very involved in corporate social responsibility and not doing it just to get a tick in the box, is my view. At the end of the day, their business is lending money. It is about relationships so, hopefully, that won't change."

Taylor jumped at the chance to buy the RSA Club at the beginning of 2006 for 5m from developers who failed to turn the building into flats. There will be 88 rooms, plus suites. Although it is much smaller than the 138 rooms planners had originally bargained for. When complete, it will be the biggest property in the Townhouse portfolio, which also includes four Edinburgh boutique hotels: the Bonham; Channings; the Edinburgh Residence and the Howard. Taylor estimates it will double the size of his company turnover from about 6m to about 12m a year.

Where Taylor's Edinburgh hotels are redolent of beautifully preserved Georgian character with dashes of striking modernity, Blytheswood Square will be different. It will hark back to its 1927 heydey, with the preserved architectural features Taylor insists upon, along with added touches of Monte Carlo, French Riviera glamour and rally memorabilia.

Its main focus will be the Rally Bar, which had been the club's main attraction, now relocated within the building and improved. "There is nothing like a building with character rather than newbuild," insists Taylor, even though the project is taking longer than anticipated.

"Inevitably with a lovely old building like that, it is not straightforward. We are going the extra mile with stonework repairs while scaffolding was up, but it is on track to open in April or May. It is going to be stunning."

A good proportion of the hotel's energy will come from renewable sources – giving it a virtuos edge – but also meaning that the hotel will eat up no more than 60 per cent of the energy it would otherwise have used, which with the cost of energy rising precipitously looks like a stroke of genius. "We took those decisions two years ago and, boy, are we pleased," says Taylor.

Financial advantages aside, Taylor is deeply committed to renewable energy and conservation. He built an eco-dream home for himself and his wife in Cramond with geothermal heating and speciality insulation. He thinks the hospitality industry, including Visitscotland's Green Tourism Business Scheme, could do far more than it does.

He sayd: "We are committed to moving forward on an environmental front. All the hotels are involved in the green tourism scheme. I wouldn't want to knock that, but that is just a starting point. There is a lot more we can do. It is not easy in an old building, but we are exploring a whole range of things which not only will help the environment but will help us financially in terms of costs."

His respectful but pioneering way with fine Scottish architecture has won him the admiration of Historic Scotland, which kept a beady eye on the Blythes-wood Square project.

As a result, Historic Scotland suggested Taylor when the architects working on anothe hotel project, Ayrshire's Turberry, needed advice on how to make the best of the grand old railway hotel. He graciously agreed. The property was bought by Dubai World this year for 60m.

Taylor, a neat and compact man, is one of the handful of hoteliers in Scotland to have the title of master innholder, along with Gleneagles's Patrick Elsmie and Peter Lederer and the Old Course's Debbie Taylor.

"It is an elitist thing. I don't talk about it much," says Taylor with typical modestly. "We have the freedom of the City of London. I used to be able to drive sheep across London Bridge. They have stopped that now. I never got round to doing it."

Earlier this year Taylor ceded his title of managing director of the Townhouse Company to Hans Rissman, the son of Hans Rissman senior who runs the Edinburgh International Convention Centre. As chairman of the company he founded when he bought Channings over 20 years ago, Taylor can now take a more strategic view as Blyths-wood Square comes to fruition.

In an age where hotels are more often owned by a property investor and managed by a company such as Hilton or Marriot, Taylor's firm stands out. Being all three – owner, manager and developer – was what allowed Taylor to move quickly to get the RAC Club in the first place, beating out consortiums that were slower off the mark putting their own deals in place. His model means it is more challenging to grow the business , but Taylor relishes the independence and the ability to keep standards up.

Tough economic times like this often render such bravado futile, but Taylor says the market for short breaks at his upmarket boltholes are holding up. He has seen difficult times before and plans to get through this challenging period also.

"We were opening Channings when it was Gulf War and recession," says Taylor. "We had to lower and widen our sights a little. Be flexible: the important thing is to decide where you want to be when you come out of recession. No kneejerk reactions. Stick to your values."