Oldest Ski Company Meets Newest Ski Company
Our very own CEO, Joanna Yellowlees-Bound, goes back to the Erna roots when pondering her latest investment…
Many a morning I sit at my desk and feel the inimitable Miss Low peering over my shoulders wondering what is in store for us today. Tut-tutt! After 20 plus years of working by her side, I still feel her energy permeating our offices, spurring us on to new and exciting adventures. Never have I thought of her more, though, than over these past few weeks after a decision to personally invest in the newly launched Consensio Holidays!
Erna Low on the slopes back in the 1930s
Erna would have loved what the founders, Ceri Tinley and Stuart Pinnell, are doing to launch this new co-operative chalet business — she prized smart, dynamic people sharing new ideas and business models. Thanks to Ceri and Stuart’s wealth of experience in the ski and hospitality industry, they have managed to secure the most luxurious chalets in the Alps and are launching a business that will allow chalet owners to have the pick of the weeks they want AND share the benefits of increased chalet occupancy. In the past, chalet owners would have just received a flat season rental with no uplift on successful occupancy. With Consensio Holiday’s model, they will enjoy the rewards of ownership on a profit-sharing basis, lowering their risk in recessions like this and increasing their gains in better times. And this can only be good for the quality of enjoyment of the consumer, where everyone benefits!
I’m struck by how this parallels another part of our business we focussed on this summer – which is working on behalf of the owners at the Residence Aiglon at Morzine by re-creating a model that empowers the owners themselves, rather than the management company. When the owners of the Aiglon (including my husband and I!) woke up with a jilt one morning last March to find that its management company had spectacularly gone into liquidation, we were left stranded with no rental return to pay our massively spiralling mortgage. So we quickly created a new owners-controlled company to run the building and take charge of the rentals – see www.aiglonmorzine.com It has been a massive few months re-structuring and founding our own jointly shared owners company for Morzine but we are proud of what we have achieved – and bookings are pouring in, with all the upside set to go to the owners themselves!
So while I rummage through my buzzing inbox (with Erna peeking in), I can’t help feeling proud of the fact that we breathe her trailblazing principles in to every new adventure we take.
Have your own peek at Consensio Holidays and let us know what you think!
Joanna
