Making A Profit

This was always going to be an uphill battle for the Hamptons “new management”. Prior to the sale, the club took close to £20,000 per month, enough to make a small profit.

The sale of the centre to the Chelmsford Muslim Society (CMS) in February 2020 led to the closure of the bars so the venue could concentrate on “health and fitness”. And here’s where the problems begin:

1.Loss of the primary revenue stream

Without the bars, the venue is unlikely to attract wedding bookings, Christmas parties or corporate shindigs, all big earners for the club.

Add to that the bar takings from the Tea Dancers, Jive and Salsa Nights and any social functions. The venue used to hold very popular comedy nights (taking between £2-4k over the bar) and often hosted some of the best local bands.

A reliable source has revealed to us that the bar turnover alone per month was in excess of £10,000.

2. AT least the sitting tenants are still there

Of course they aren’t ! The Buddhist meditation class was the first to go, swiftly followed by Roamers Caterers, both served with notice to quit by the new owners. Another £2.000 per month lost.

3. Cafe, what cafe?

Would any business in it’s right mind pay the rumoured £1,000 per week rent being demanded by the owners. That’s an awful lot of cappucino’s and flapjacks to sell to even pay the rent. Given the amount of centre visitors at present and footfall, we don’t think there will be a bidding war to open the cafe at Hamptons.

4. Covid damage

The one thing we don’t blame the new owners for. But it has led to a lot of lost and cancelled memberships. Even without the pandemic, why would a social member pay £20 a month with nothing on offer, and only vending machines for refreshments.

5. Lost Bookings

We are aware of at least two dance groups that have found new venues. We are hearing stories of quite substantial increases to room hire prices, which in a climate where most businesses are rebuilding is poor business practice. Even with some new bookings, the revenue generated just from room hire, won’t be enough to clear the club’s debts and pay the bills.

One good point to note is that the Tea Dancers are returning, although the refreshments will be a bit meagre, with Hamptons even refusing to provide some biscuits in return for a £2,000 per month booking.

6. Lost rooms

The old members bar and dance studio have been merged, and are no longer for hire, They seem to be now part of the mosque that has appeared at the back of the club. the same use that the council have previously said requires planning permission to take place. More on that in our next video.

7. Loss of Parking

Another massive headache for the venue. How do you fill a venue with over 500 people, when there’s only 98 spaces in your car park ? The loss of the overflow parking (on the green) will displace many visitors to park in neighbouring streets or risk a ticket. Hardly a selling point for the venue.

8. Loss Of Goodwill

It’s clear to us that the complete lack of openness and transparency from the owners, has damaged the reputation of the business. To run a business like this, you need the complete trust of the community and local residents, and they certainly don’t have that.

The CMS have failed to engage with locals, they are now even ignoring emails from the estate management company

While the owners look to the Lib Dem councillors for support and comfort, it’s not the councillors who will be spending their money at the club, it’s the local community.

THE FUTURE

We identified early on that the Chelmsford Muslim Society planned to convert the bulk of the building to become a huge mosque, keeping some activities (like squash and tennis) to pay for the running costs.

Currently they are pushing the council further and further to granting them their wishes, without applying for planning permission and still plan to install ritual ablution facilities and carpet the prayer area.

Can they survive the ending of the furlough scheme, redundancy payments and a further loss of revenue ?

On what we’ve seen over the last 18 months, we’d have to say no.

KBO