Hotelier Stewart Spence could easily have been spending his 70th year relaxing at home or taking advantage of more time on his hands for golf and fishing, both of which he loves.
That seemed to be the plan just a few years ago, when he decided to shut the five-star Marcliffe Hotel and Spa at Pitfodels in Aberdeen.
The prestigious hotel was to be demolished to make way for nearly 200 homes following his decision to retire after more than half a century in the hospitality industry.
Mr Spence was all set to bow out, with awards galore and an MBE behind him, in spring 2015. But in March of that year, he stunned and delighted his staff and customers in equal measure by announcing he was not retiring and the hotel would stay open.
A deal to sell the North Deeside Road site to housebuilder Stewart Milne was off and he aimed to get the hotel back to the glory days.
Roll forward more than two years and Mr Spence has faced a double-whammy of a downturn in the north-east economy and a sharp rise in business rates.
He acted to become less dependent on the troubled oil and gas industry a while back and now looks to bouyant golf tourism to fill the gap.
I caught up with him in the hotel’s homely drawing room bar and lounge, surrounded by many original paintings by Scottish artists and a fascinating array of artefacts collected by the Spence family over the years. The focal point of the room is a baby grand piano, with photographs of some of the many VIPs and celebrities who have visited and stayed in the hotel since it opened in 1993.
Inevitably, we discussed the impact of the collapse in oil prices in late 2014 and current efforts to repair the damage caused to businesses across the north-east and beyond.
“It has taken good people to pull together,” Mr Spence said, highlighting how the downturn has been the catalyst for action led by economic development group Opportunity North East.
He added: “We have got to stick together to get out of this mess. It is lovely to see and hear things have now bottomed out, and we certainly seem to be on the turn as far as the North Sea is concerned.
“Companies have learned they can never get back to what they were doing before. This is something we have had to adjust to as well.”
Before the downturn, the Marcliffe was turning over about £7.5million annually. Accounts for the year to September 30 2015 showed turnover down by more than £3million at £4.3million.
The most recent figure, for 2015/16, was up by about £200,000 but Mr Spence said the business was unlikely to return to the “crazy days” of pre-oil crash turnover anytime soon.
“This is the norm for the future,” he said, adding that a recent flood of extra rooms into the local hotel market from new operators setting up shop in and around Aberdeen had also changed the game.
Mr Spence said he realised it was dangerous to rely so heavily on oil and gas during a previous industry downturn, in 1986, when within three months “Aberdeen just emptied” after oil prices slumped to $9 a barrel. “That was when I decided we would never have all my eggs in one basket,” he said.
Golf tourism “saved his bacon” and in the current trading year has accounted for nearly one-third of total sales within the past six months.
“I can never thank Trump enough for what he has done,” he said, adding the US president’s decision to build “the world’s best golf course” at Balmedie, near Aberdeen, was attracting people from all over the world to the region.
To illustrate his point, Mr Spence showed me booking details for a party of 24 people from New Zealand wanting a two-night stay in September.
This and other golfing groups do not just spend money at the Marcliffe – local restaurants and other businesses benefit too.
Just as firms in the oil and gas supply chain have had to cut their cloth and accept reduced rates, the Marcliffe decided some time ago to drop its charges by more than 20%. That and a tumbling pound in the wake of the Brexit vote have made a stay at the Marcliffe an affordable luxury for many overseas visitors.
America is the main market and the Marcliffe started gearing up for more Far East business a couple of years ago, when all its promotional material was translated into Chinese. Mr Spence also aims to take advantage of the “Scottish Samurai” Thomas Blake Glover, the Buchan-born founding father of the industrialisation of Japan.
But it doesn’t stop there – not with a vast army of golfers around the world waiting to be enticed to the country that gave birth to the sport in the first place.
The north-east boasts many excellent courses and with the pound trading much lower against the dollar and other countries since the Brexit vote, there is a huge opportunity to capitalise.
Occupancy rates at the Marcliffe are up this year, although they are still nowhere near pre-down downturn levels, with many customers choosing to pay upfront. It comes after “eight years of trauma” and a period of “horrible uncertainty”, said Mr Spence, whose collapsed deal with Stewart Milne followed an earlier failed attempt to sell the hotel to fellow Aberdeen businessman Ivor Finnie for £17.5million.
One of Mr Spence’s three sons, Ross, is head chef at the Marcliffe. The other two, Greg, Craig, have pursued careers outside the hospitality industry.
His daughter, Jackie, had seemed destined to follow in her father’s footsteps but she died in December 2009 after a long battle with cancer.
Mr Spence said his retirement plan went out the window in 2015 and he was now committed to running the hotel 24/7 “as long as I can still get my fishing holidays”.
Not much was spent on the hotel during the period running up to the planned sale, but about £750,000 has been invested since its owner decided to keep it.
The Marciffe employs about 100 people, including some who have worked for Mr Spence for decades. The hotel’s owner also takes great pride in nurturing young talent and giving them “good prtactical experience”.
It was clear as we sat chatting that Mr Spence still gets a buzz out of day-to-day hotel management as well as a deep satisfaction in providing quality service. Whenever a guest walked past he greeted them as if they were bosom buddies – and that is the way he insists it should be.
At the end of the day, guests will always remember terrific service. If just a few of them tell a few other people what a great time they’ve had, that is the best marketing tool you can have.
