Private House Stays' Launch Party

Thursday 13th May marked a special day in Private House Stays’ calendar – the official launch of our brand-new website. Hosted by David Cochrane MBE, the Chief Executive of HIT Scotland, this was a huge labour of love for everyone involved and a testament to the warmth surrounding the PHS community.

The event begins with an enthusiastic hello from faces old and new alike. Founder Cassie welcomes as many attendees as she can by name as they pop in from virtual waiting room, and the chat box fills with greetings. There’s a sense of camaraderie amongst the noise, with the usual muddle we’ve all come to know and love about Zoom calls during lockdown.

After a quick introduction by David, first to speak is Cassie Bouverie with a short presentation on the origin of Private House Stays.

Cassie Bouverie, Private House Stays

The idea first came from Cassie’s experience running a B&B in Edinburgh, and her frustration at the plethora of third-party business wanting to send guests – but in exchange, take 25% of the hard-earned cash. Using her 15 years’ experience working in London in insurance, estate agency, and online information sales in the 1990s – as well as her first-person knowledge from running a Bed and Breakfast – Cassie travelled Scotland to build relationships and trust with property owners in a similar position. Thus, Private House Stays was born.

The key ambition of Private House Stays is to empower small businesses in the tourism sector to generate commission-free bookings. Highlights from Cassie’s presentation were:

• The importance of online presence for business in our industry, especially post-covid
• The ethical and purpose-driven nature of the business
• The desire to make booking accommodation simple
• The exciting new stage we are at, with our new website and software (shout out to Colin from We are Everyone)
• Our work with Edinburgh Napier University to become a Business for Good

A PowerPoint of the website shows off our exciting new features, emphasising a desire to work with clients and innovate. The slide on promoting wellness gets particular applause in the chat box (see our article in the Scotsman here.)

The presentation concludes with a video created by Thomas Haywood, displaying his incredible aerial photography. Gliding through the Southern uplands and swooping over Loch Ness, the beauty of the Scottish landscape (and the possibility for a delightful dram in Dalwhinnie) shows the wealth that Scottish tourism has to offer.

The video is available to watch here.

As Colin identifies, the video shows that it is not just the properties that make our sector what it is – but the environment and experiences unique to Scotland. Private House Stays, he says, ‘oozes quality.’

Deborah Heather, Quality in Tourism

Our first quest speaker is Deborah Heather, CEO of Quality in Tourism. She clicked with Cassie over the ethical aim of both their business – to support the industry to do well. Key notes to take away from her talk were:

• The celebration of character and personality in properties and locations
• To keep an eye out for Quality in Tourism’s Safe, Clean and Legal accreditation – the only one Which? recommends
• That there are bad operators out there; they are on a joint mission to get recognition for the good operators – and reassurance and trust for the guests.

Joanna Jenson, Childs Farm

Next to speak is Joanna Jenson, the founder of the leading UK toiletry brand for baby and child, Childs’ Farm. She’s known Cassie for a long time, and has some excellent advice for building your business:

• Don’t underestimate the importance of word of mouth – including, in the modern age, sharing on social media
• Businesses like Private House Stays help you stand up against organisations that have got ‘fistfulls of cash in their back pockets’, helping to give small businesses a voice in an environment where it is a challenge to be heard
• It’s all about customer service – the best advertising that money can’t buy. Continue a dialogue with customers; do the little things to make their stay more enjoyable. A whiskey on a side or a bit of shortbread in a box is a small gesture that can make all the difference
• ‘If you can dream it, you can do it’

Juliet Bouverie OBE, The Stroke Association

Our third speaker is Juliet Bouverie, CEO of the Stroke Association. Alongside HIT Scotland, the Stroke Association was the recipient of funds raised at the event. Cassie has personal reasons for supporting this charity as her father suffered a stroke four years ago. Juliet talks about how:

• Following a stroke, a person’s world can shrink, and caring responsibilities can weigh heavy on their loved ones. Because it happens in the brain, a stroke effects people emotionally and cognitively, as well as physically
• There are 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK, and tens of thousands of families affected. A stroke happens every 5 minutes, and is the single biggest cause of adult disability in the UK
• Despite its prevalence, stroke research receives only a tiny percentage of government funding – a budget that has been cut in half during the pandemic.
• The mission of the Stroke Association is for there to be less strokes. They provide support services, fund research, and campaign for policy change.

If you would like to donate to the Stroke Association you can do so here. https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/CassieBouverie

Sonia Whittington - Loch Ness Glamping

The owner of Loch Ness Glamping, Sonya joined Private House Stays 10 years ago and has been a valued client ever since. Recalling her early days of running a hotel in Cornwall, when one would take letters and wait for a reply, she talks about the benefits Private House Stays’ booking software has provided her as well as offering general industry advice:

• A complete ‘technophobe’, Sonia never thought she would go online – but Private House Stays provided the support she needed to get going and up to date with the modern world of hospitality
• Other booking sites are faceless, and customer contact is all done through them, which takes away what the industry is all about – it’s a people industry! PHS fulfils the need to be able to connect with your guests
• People are becoming more distrustful of online platforms and like to know that they are talking to a person. That’s the success of what Cassie is doing – running a business that is ‘honest, reliable, and helpful’.
• Whatever you’re into, you can ‘make it your own’ – the hospitality industry lets you incorporate any aspect of your life that you enjoy. For example, when the children were growing up the Whittingtons ran ‘monster clubs’, pet feeding and pony rides; now that they’ve moved on to glamping from their county house hotel, Sonia incorporates petting and brushing the highland cows and Shetland sheep.

Sonia’s talk – much like Joanna’s – highlights the importance of the personal touch in hospitality. Cassie seconds this: ‘If there are any issues with software, or new things you want,’ she says, ‘you just have to speak with us and we’ll see what we can do.’

Gayle Mann, Entrepreneurial Spark

Next to speak is Gayle – author (Misadventures of Entrepreneuring,) co-founder, and all-round entrepreneurial expert. She met Cassie just over a year ago online, and since then the two have had some valuable chicken-soup conversations about the impact of Covid on our industry. Having witnessed her father struggle as an entrepreneur, Gayle became fascinated with the psychology behind people who start and grow their own business. Keynotes from her talk are:

• That what you see here is only a fraction of what goes on behind the scenes
• The silver lining of finding opportunity amongst the disadvantages of Covid: Cassie used the time to rescale, retool, develop herself, and build a team – and has really wrapped herself around her clients, offering remarkable support and encouragement
• This is not just a website relaunch; it is a celebration of turning challenges into opportunities and navigating change

Imogen Russon Taylor, Kingdom Scotland 

Our final speaker Imogen talks about origins of Kingdom Scotland and the parallels she sees with Private House Stays. Touching upon a number of topics that have become themes for the evening, Imogen says:

• She was struck by the attention to detail, and passion for ethical standards held by Private House Stays
• How important the personal touch is. For her, this is telling stories in scent; for Private House Stays and all our partnering properties, this is the unique Scottish experience and excellent customer service we provide
• The challenges of Covid, and the sudden need to come to grips with ecommerce and running online

As the event draws to a close, Cassie thanks all for attending, and highlights the topics that have come to define the evening – that continuing to innovate needs to be at the heart of what we do, that we must continue to grow, and that word-of-mouth works!

‘There’s a lot of support out there’, she reiterates, ‘you mustn’t be frightened to shout for it, because it’s there.’

The event concludes with a nail-biting raffle thanks to some wonderfully generous donations.

Private House Stays would like to thank all who attended for a truly unforgettable evening.

Watch the event in full here: https://www.privatehousestays.com/videos

Blog by Beth Lettington