Comments on: Seven Scottish Hostels to Close

By: charlie babbage

charlie babbage — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 12:01:59 +0000

Looks like another example of SYHA (Sell Your Highland Assets) selling the family silver to help shore up the organisation and mask its gross mismanagement over the years. paying for multi million pound hostel in Edinburgh means reduced support for the rest of the network (what remains of one). Lack of commercial experience means even in the cities SYHA struggles. The hostel at Loch Ness, perhaps Scotland’s biggest tourism draw for overseas visitors is a disgrace (not even heating the rooms!). Lack of investment and poor management means the opportunity to make money in the tourism honeypots and support the uneconomic ‘real’ rural rustic hostels is lost. This is the fourth round of hostel closures in 10 years, yet very little investment seems to be going into new properties (out of Edinburgh). I find the cynical attempt to mask the true number of closures very disturbing. The sale of ‘disused property in Cannich’, could this be Cannich Youth hostel by any chance? Has the closure of Cannich YHA actually been made public at any time or were they hoping no-one would notice is change of status from awaiting refurbishment/mothball to disposal. As an organisation with charitable status run by members for members surely they must have a duty to at least announce hostel closures and asset sale in upfront manner.

One final comment, how can charging children aged 5 years old the same price as adults to experience the wilds of Loch Ossian and the great outdoors be compatible with SYHA’s aims and objectives and charitable status?

By: Chris Cook

Chris Cook — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:35:59 +0000

There is in fact a simple new mechanism whereby SYHA can BOTH maintain ownership AND bring in both Investors (Capital Partners) and Managers (Operating Partners) in a simple new UK structure - a “Limited Liability Partnership” LLP.

Such “Capital Partnerships” have been used big time (eg a >£1bn portfolio of hotels) in the commercial sector, but also work nicely in the “Not for profit” sector as a way in which capital can be raised, and imaginative new management brought in, on the basis that everyone shares in the value created.

ie SYHA don’t need to sell, don’t need to borrow, and will share in value created, while maintaining “ownership”.

It’s not Rocket Science.

If anyone’s interested, drop me an email or call 01506 845124 : happy to explain more at the AGM.

By: Chris Hunt

Chris Hunt — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:17:25 +0000

There’s further commentary on the closure of Coldingham in The Berwickshire News. Apparently the decision coincides with an initiative to attract divers to the Berwickshire coast. Nobody in the press appears to have noticed the other six closures.

By: Nigel

Nigel — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 14:26:20 +0000

Sad to hear, especially the closures of Armadale and Kyleakin as that means no hostels on the south end of Skye.

I’d be interested to hear the comments of all those who criticised YHA for using exactly the same reasons for closing hostels and held SYHA up as the shining example of an organisation that understood it’s customers, maintained traditional values etc.