Crouchers Orchards Hotel

Introduction

Crouchers Orchards are a family-owned hotel and estate set in the West Sussex countryside near Chichester. Having survived two recessions, a financial crisis and global pandemic, they’re a prime example of how innovation and creativity can see a business through the hardest of times.

The business needed to find a new mortgage lender, but, due to being a hospitality business, no high-street bank would listen to them. Their broker pointed them towards Allica Bank. We were more than happy to help.

Who are Crouchers Orchards?

Originally a family home, in the 1990s it was decided to open the house up to the public as a B&B. With the area’s tourism sector booming, the following years saw Crouchers Bottom develop into a renowned multi-purpose local destination, with a bar, restaurant and wedding venue on-site, alongside its extensive collection of hotel rooms.

This included a name change to Crouchers Orchards, the addition of 4 self-catering cottages and a pizzeria called the Cider House Kitchen in 2019.

The story

To build their new cottages and pizzeria, the family took out a mortgage to purchase the plots of land surrounding the estate. After less than year of construction, they were finally completed in late-2019. However, it was at exactly this time that the covid pandemic struck.

“Like most hospitality businesses, lockdown hit us really hard,” Carol van Rooyen, co-owner of Crouchers Orchards, explained. “Especially as the construction work meant we had been operating at half capacity.”

“Thankfully, our new pizzeria business meant we could continue to trade as a takeaway business during lockdown. It was a real stroke of luck, and meant we could keep paying our bills.”

After lockdown, Crouchers Orchards enjoyed an incredibly strong period as it got back to full capacity, along with giving its new pizzeria restaurant the grand opening it deserved. “The fact we have multiple income streams has been vital in keeping us a strong business – we even started growing our own food, which has helped protect against price rises and supply chain challenges!”

How Allica Bank helped

You’d have thought the business’s performance would have made it an ideal customer for lenders. That’s not the experience of Carol and her team, though.

In early-2022, Crouchers Orchards was told they’d need to find a new lender as their existing bank was exiting the UK.

“This was less than ideal. Just as we were building the hotel back up after covid, we suddenly had to find a new lender. And the list of banks willing to talk to hospitality businesses at that time was tiny, regardless of the strength of our business.”

Carol ended up seeking help from Chris Richards, a hospitality specialist at Swoop Funding. “Crouchers Orchards are a fantastic family-owned business,” Chris said. “They’d never been over-leveraged and had shown they knew how to manage the business in tough times.”

“There will always be a lender willing to work with a strong business like Crouchers Orchards. You just need to know where to look, how to make an approach, and manage a client’s expectations throughout. This is where Swoop can add real value"

What's next for Crouchers Orchards?

No surprise, the team is already thinking about how else they can expand Crouchers Orchards. “Our focus will always be on ensuring highest quality, celebrating the local area, and being eco-friendly – we produce as much food as we can on-site. We are also committed to being a good employer. Our staff stay very loyal to us, and us to them.”

“But we’re always coming up with ideas to grow. Next we want to use our available farmland to open up a high-end glamping site!”