| Brian's 'crazy' idea brought success to Romanby
Brian’s ‘crazy’ idea has brought success to Romanby. Peter Cook reveals the courage and imagination needed to turn a farm into a successful golf complex When former farmer, Brian Craven recalls the magnitude of the decision he took in 1989 he smiles and shakes his head in disbelief. “I must have been crazy, and everyone told me so at the time.” Crazy or not, Brian had the foresight to recognise the problems building up for the farming industry which in his case were to be exacerbated by a certain government minister called Edwina Curry. Brian and his late father Leslie had diversified out of dairy cattle into poultry in the 60’s, an occupation which would be ravaged by the aforementioned minister’s salmonella scare.“She blighted our entire industry, and cost us dearly” declared Brian. At the same time farming for many, was entering a terminal decline. “In Europe 150 acres was classed as part time farming, and I had no desire to become a part time farmer.” declared Brian So an idea that had been fermenting in his entrepreneurial mind for some time rose to the surface. “We decided seriously to consider turning the entire farm land into a golf complex.” Supported by his wife Julie, the Cravens sank £25,000 into feasibility studies, and encouraged by the findings, decided in Brian’s words, “to go for it.” With the government encouraging farmers to diversify, planning permission was a formality. “That was the easy bit” recalls Brian. “The tricky part was establishing a sound financial base. We were not into allowing merchant banks to take our eyes out.” Thus Romanby Golf Course Ltd was founded, with two directors, Brian (Managing) and Wouter Boomsma. Julie Craven and Gladys Craven (Brian’s mother) completed the executive team. It was a traumatic moment for the Cravens when the land, which had been in the family since 1948, was harvested for the last time in 1991. It was planned to use this revenue to help finance the transitional period. Thereafter the entire 155 acres was ploughed and resown, Brian admits to a lot of self doubt as he witnessed this uprooting of his life “We had put everything on the line, and I mean everything and I recalled those ‘you are crazy’ remarks and I wondered if the doubters would be proved right after all.” It took Will Adamson the renowned course designer, two years of feverish activity to transform the land into a golf course which opened for business in 1993. Green fees were paid to Fred Thorpe the club’s first professional in an 8x6 garden shed adjacent to a recently built driving range. Later a temporary portable building was hired to serve as a clubhouse. Understandably Brian was on tenterhooks on the opening day. “I wondered if anyone would turn up” The size of the risk can be appreciated when the cost of laying down a golf course is calculated at between £1-£5 million. In the interests of cash flow, it was imperative to quickly establish support from local golfers. This was achieved by atracting a members section to operate alongside the non-affiliated golfers and visiting parties who also had open access to the course. Brian admits such integration was, and is, a bit of a juggling act, but it has worked well, and currently Romanby has 600 registered members. It says much for Brian’s business acumen that his financial budgets have been on course from day one, and over the past ten years every penny has been ploughed back into the company to make provision for a new permanent club house, an ambition which was realised this year when in July Colin Montgomerie agreed to officially open the £1million building. Under the control of Country Club Manager Mark Boersma and his 24 staff, this splendid new facility provides not only a first class changing area, but also a superb restaurant capable of seating 100 diners, and superbly furnished bars and lounges. Shortly after opening, Brian recruited Grant McDonnell as Marketing Manager whose remit is to attract visitors and societies. This he is achieving in no small way. The received wisdom of golf management companies suggests that a successful course will have a 70% occupancy which translates into 40,000 rounds of golf per year. Grant has so far reached a commendable 63%. Traffic of this nature places a high degree of responsibility on Robert Upton the Course manager who joined Romanby from Cleveland GC. With his 6 green staff, he has produced an ever improving facility where golf can often be played when other courses are closed. After Fred Thorpe retired Brian brought in Tim Jenkins as the new professional. Perhaps the major factor contributing to Romanby's success is a culture of flexibility where everyone shares responsibility and can turn their hands to most jobs. For example when the new clubhouse was under construction forty-six year old Brian could be seen behind the wheel of a giant earth moving machine. “There is no job demarcation here, everyone just does what is necessary”. Just how well they do this is now there for all to see. The Romanby golf complex has risen, phoenix like, from the ashes of an ancient farm site and serves to remind us what imagination, flair and above all a high degree of commercial courage can achieve. This article appeared in the November 2000 edition of
Now & Then Magazine |