They say success breeds success, and one of Bedfordshire’s leading business venues is about to launch two new ventures that will give businesses and individuals both within the resort and further afield the opportunity to grow and flourish.
Wyboston Lakes is a 380-acre resort comprising two residential conference venues, four-star hotel, spa, 18-hole golf course, restaurants, bars and a nature reserve. That aside, it also offers serviced office facilities, and has extended that offering with the launch of Landing Pad – a project that has been three years in development stage and is now ready to roll out and encompasses the existing serviced office and branded training space businesses with a new co-working space offering.
The principle serviced office building has planning permission and funding to extend, adding 11,000 square feet of new space. This can be divided up into units that suit the individual tenant, available on flexible monthly terms, and in an environment that can encompass break-out areas, hotdesking, dining and social facilities and a host of booths, pods and semi-enclosed spaces that lend themselves perfectly to a modern way of working.
The branded training spaces are provided to long-term partners for bespoke training needs, with space that is clearly branded with a business’s own identity and the resort is actively looking for an additional partner to take some available space.
Work to create the new co-working space will start in November as part of a refurbishment of the hotel, all coming quick off the heels of the refurbishment of the existing training centre and conference rooms which ended this month. The co-working space is expected to be ready by February 2022.
Whether in serviced offices or training facilities, clients and delegates can take advantage of the flexibility of a site that can make additional space, dining facilities, or overnight accommodation available to suit individual needs quickly and cost-effectively.
Steve Jones, Managing Director of Wyboston Lakes, said:
“It has become clear in recent years that people think about business space very differently. They want to be in control and they want to know that they are not tied in to something that may not suit their needs in 12 months’ time.
Landing Pad will give them options to take less space, or more space if they need it, combined with the benefits of access to the rest of the facilities available within the resort.
In addition to Landing Pad, Wyboston Lakes is launching Wyboston Venue Management (WVM) through which it aims to expand its work with venues and hotels that specialise in meetings and events, or those that would like to develop that side of the business, and which need the support of an outstanding and experienced team to assist them on that journey.
“We have very strong values and we are in the enviable position of being able to say that we only want to work with nice people,” explained Steve.
“There are a lot of hotels and venues out there that want to offer more, but maybe don’t know how to do so, or don’t have the resources, and Wyboston Lakes has an outstanding senior team that can use their experience to turn around under-performing assets.
“We’re looking to partner up with just a handful of clients over the next few years to build a long-term relationship that will see us managing their venue for them, bringing our experience to their business to help them develop. We aren’t looking to work with those who are looking for short-term profit; we have our own set of values and want to work with people who are aligned with those values for the long term but to be clear, we are also highly commercial in our approach.
“We’ve done lots of listening, generally, about what our clients want and we’ve gone ahead and created something that will make those things happen.”
Venue Management would provide an ideal option for an owner looking to step back from a business, or one who wants to bring in an experienced operator in meetings and events to help them achieve their objectives. Maybe the business has a new owner or needs a change of direction or a refocus.
A management contract with Wyboston Lakes means the owner can hand over all responsibility and enjoy the level of input they want, and the rewards that follow. The relationship will cover all aspects of the day-to-day running of the property and include monthly reviews, budget and business planning, financial, HR, sales, marketing and PR strategies, as well as repairs and maintenance and management of IT systems.
Each venue management contract reflects the Wyboston Lakes values of doing the right thing even when no one is looking, supporting, respecting and trusting one another, treating every penny as though it’s your own and being bold but not reckless.
Steve added:
“We’re very excited about these two new ventures. They have been some time in the planning, and roll-out was expected last year but we didn’t feel that was the right time, given the pandemic and uncertainty in the hospitality sector generally, but now we are ready to move forward.
“And we must continue to evolve and develop, we can’t stand still. We took the decision to concentrate on a sector we know through and through and to expand our offering in this area. We’ve got an outstanding team here and we think we are doing something that is not only right for the business but something that gives our team a positive future and a reason to keep working hard and be part of a business that keeps evolving, which in turn will provide opportunities for those that want to grow.”
Find out more about Wyboston Lakes by emailing sales@wybostonlakes.co.uk or visit www.wybostonlakes.co.uk
